Maikel Castillo, known as DKNO (“The Dean”) in the Cuban rap scene, tells us about his interest in the rap genre and about the “consequences of telling the truth without mincing one’s words.” He said he sings about social issues, for the most part, problems around the world.
Read MoreArt has always reflected the most distinctive characteristics of the historical period in which it has been produced. Portraits, landscapes, sea vistas, figurative and abstract pieces: all have invariably sought to capture their times through different styles. My interviewee, painter and tattoo artist Jose Rene Blanco Salermo, paints canvases and human bodies. A dreamer, he also paints souls.
Read MoreCalle 13, one of Latin America’s most popular bands, released a new song this week featuring an unlikely collaborator — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The song, “Multi_Viral,” also features Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and the Palestinian singer Kamilya Jubran. To create the lyrics, Calle 13 lead singer and songwriter René Pérez asked followers on Twitter to express their social justice concerns in a live brainstorming session with Assange. This is not the first time Calle 13 has made headlines for its political work.
Read MoreScene design is an art of visual perception in which the individual creates and recreates natural or fantastic worlds. It makes use of different techniques that allow feelings, emotions and ideas to be expressed, using drawing as a fundamental basis. I’ll be talking about this topic with the scene designer and creator Eduardo Gaspar Guasch Estuí.
Read MoreA stylist is a professional who acts as a beauty consultant, providing clients with advice on the basis of the fashions and trends of the moment. Ruben Alejandro Collantes, whom we interview today, is such a professional in Santiago de Cuba.
Read MoreIn the 90s, one of the places I frequented to escape from the long power cuts common at the time was La Piragua (near Havana’s ocean drive), where break dancers from different parts of the city performed. There, one felt a wave of joy and physical energy which colored the somewhat somber landscape, young people who escaped poverty, delinquency, prostitution and even worse tragedies through the mystery of bodily movement.
Read MoreIn a Democracy Now! exclusive, the only freed member of the Cuban Five, René González, speaks out after a 13-year imprisonment in the United States. The five Cuban intelligence agents were arrested in the United States in 1998 and convicted of espionage. We include the interview with former parliament chair Ricardo Alarcon.
Read MoreMore than a violinist, William Roblejo is a one-man-show. Having given his violin a unique personality, he performs with a distinctive seal that has earned him a place among the top in Cuba’s music scene. “I’ve tried to do something different with my violin,” he told Havana Times.
Read MoreEmpedrado St. in Old Havana is now home to a private business that attests to the inventiveness of Cubans. D’Brujas (“Witchcraft”) is a shop that sells handmade soaps, produced with natural materials and without chemicals. The owner, Sandra Aldama Suarez, one of the makers of the soap, has a degree in special education. (13 photos)
Read MoreThe documentary OFF_LINE would have been released earlier had the filmmaker not had to wait for an interview, which was ultimately never granted. Finally, the crew decided to release the film through the island’s flashnet, as the trafficking of digital materials via USB (flash) drives – in a territory that continues to be mostly offline – is referred to in Cuba.
Read More