Within contemporary visual arts on the island, Diego Torres is a luminary among the great Cuban landscape artists. However, in our interview he told HT: “I hate for people to pigeonhole me; I don’t even like being called a landscape artist because — though that’s what I do — I try to go beyond that genre.”
Two Cuban women — Estela Estevez and Eria Arrate — came together in order to create, and soon they will taking their works to the United States. As they commented, “The ‘Isla project’ proposes a search related to the feeling of ‘isolation.’”
Members of the popular rap duo Doble Filo (Yrak “Vitalicio” Saenz and Edgar “Edgaro” Gonzalez) granted an exclusive interview to Havana Times. As they noted, “There has always been a wall of misunderstanding when it comes to promoting rap music in Cuba.”
Adrian Berazain: “I define myself as a person who makes songs, has a good time and makes people think.”
Leonardo Padura: “You can’t take on the work of a novel if you’re not obsessed about it, with the story, with its writing. Because to spend two, three, or four years of your life writing a novel, you have to be obsessed with it. That’s the only motor that can drive you in something so crazy.”
Hakely Nakao Chavez, the young leader of the vocal group “Zamba,” shares her fascinating experiences with Havana Times as she explains how “music in Cuba is enjoying great health.”
Mailen Avila is the director of the “Solfa” children’s choir of the Schola Cantorum Coralina. As she commented, “This year we’re again on a CD that has been nominated for a Latin Granmy. The album is “Reir y Cantar,” together with the legendary songstress Omara Portuondo.”
“Aceituna sin Hueso is a band of experimental ethnic music, as it’s usually defined,” said lead singer Miriela Moreno in an interview with HT. ” “My home province of Villa Clara embraces me and is an inspiration, a lantern and a place that gives me a sense of permanency.”
Spanish dance is now taught and recognized at the university level in Cuba. Among those artists who have mastered this style is the dancer Leslie Ung, one of the privileged performers. She commented, “Dancers in this profession here on the island should work more on our Cuban interpretation of flamenco.”
Rene Baños is the leader of the renowned Cuban a capella singing group “Sampling.” In an interview for HT he noted, “Something that regularly catches my attention is the ability and willingness of the most diverse audiences to give themselves enthusiastically to music, to share it, to sing it and to dance with us, even when they don’t know the language or aren’t familiar with the musical style.”