Irina Pino’s Diary

What we are witnessing in our youth here in Cuba today isn’t a lack of ambition, it’s a kind of eternal boredom, a not knowing what to do. Nothing fully satisfies them, they get bored of everything they are doing.

Cuba is a tourist destination. A slogan says so. But nevertheless, it is also a long term business. Therefore, many Cubans in exile are seeking out the way to be “repatriated”. And what does that mean? Well, that there are certain facilities involved, which will then translate into benefits.

On the night of Saturday June 17th, it was one of those Saturdays that I haven’t been scammed by bad movies on TV or sterile experiences. This time I won: I was at a concert of Cuban rock band, Anima Mundi, who were playing at the El ciervo encantado theater.

Fernando Perez makes auteur cinema, his unique vision on life in his country is full of symbols and characters who translate his desires, sadness and joy, and they make up a language (another one) to trace our present reality.

A well-attended concert for the 50th anniversary of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was held at John Lennon park. Over two hours of joy, enjoyment and happiness, prove that we need rock concerts which maybe represent the rebellious symbol that Lennon was in his time. (8 fotos)

Emigres who are over 50 or 60 years old are exposed to huge changes in their lives. Their lives get turned around by 90 degrees, or maybe more even. That’s why their uprooting is usually like an incurable pain, although the situations vary.

They are called faggots, pussies, chickens, crazies… but these are all derogatory names. Calling a man a “faggot” is the worst insult you can give him. And that’s because homophobia is as deeply-rooted and entrenched as machismo itself.

Young people having folders full of pornography, which they don’t even hide with subtle names, explicitly calling them: XXX, is nothing new. And of course, we know what’s inside them.

Every weekend, rock addicts go to Submarino Amarillo or the Casa de la Amistad, depending on their individual tastes, and also their means, although recently, many of them used to go to dance with the Los Kent band at the Maison. (7 photos)

Cuban photographer Yanahara Mauri Villareal’s (1984) nudes, border on the grotesque a lot of the time; bodies are normally accompanied by objects which are far removed from the classical beauty that the eye traditionally sees in this art form. (19 photos)