Urban Art in Old Havana
Photo Feature by Ernesto Gonzalez Diaz
HAVANA TIMES – Walking down Paula Street in Old Havana, on a sunny September afternoon, the amount of street art there and surroundings is striking. Many of the works have cultural, social, even political overtones.
Urban art in sometimes borders on illegality due to its criticism or satire towards the established power and Havana is no exception. In general terms, it is the combination of images and texts, on walls and public spaces for the purposes of dissemination and expression. It has an essence of changing and evolving seeking a high-impact attraction for society as part of an urban movement that is almost always rebellious.
In Havana, by government decree, it is prohibited to make these works on the main avenues and arteries of the city. However, entering the streets of various neighborhoods, you can find them. They can appear on an unpainted old wall that beautifies the urban landscape, sometimes they make us reflect. Sometimes they draw attention, rarely leaving us indifferent, because urban art is more than a visual experience, it is a temporal and spatial experience.
