On Eduardo Galeano, America’s Pilgrim
Eduardo Germán María Hughes Galeano (Eduardo Galeano), one of Hispano-America’s most renowned intellectuals, took his last breath on Monday April 13, His narrative was one of my favorites to read.
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Dariela Aquique
The Story of the Ration Book in Cuba
No, it’s not a fairy tale and the “happily ever after” ending remains to be seen. Rather, this is the chronicle of a little book that’s been part of the lives of Cubans for many years: the Ration Booklet. Its fate is today a pending task for the State, as part of their much touted policy of “economic changes”. They have been talking openly for years about its slow elimination.
Read moreChasing Sunsets around Cuba
Sometimes when I feel nostalgic, I take my out my camera to chase sunsets. And there it is: the twilight in perfect harmony with the horizon. No matter if it is a coastline, a panorama setting or the silhouettes that make any city perimeters. (9 photos)
Read morePainting Canvases, Bodies and Souls
Art 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 moreAn Interview with a Cuban Stylist
A 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 moreThe Rumba Is Also Cuba
The Rumba can be found everywhere in Cuba: on the corner, on a Sunday afternoon, when a group of friends get together and beat out the rhythm on the chairs, or on the domino table; in a patio of Havana or Matanzas; or in the crowded poor neighborhood housing of Santiago or Guantanamo.
Read moreCuba: Making Art among Friends
The Variety Show companies draw upon many of the artistic possibilities (theater, dance, circus art, mime, visual art, audiovisual presentation). However, their basis is purely musical, sampling from a variety of sources and thus escaping formal definition. The script doesn’t necessarily have a single unifying theme and the performance is totally eclectic.
Read moreAn Act of Transgression?
Transformism is the term used to describe the practice of those individuals who, for aesthetic reasons, adopt the appearance and cultural demeanor traditionally associated with members of the opposite sex, in order to create a character they can “transform” into. It is also considered a variant of transvestitism.
Read moreThe “Colmenita” of Santiago de Cuba
“La Colmenita” children’s theater group, directed by Carlos Alberto Cremata is without a doubt the most outstanding troupe of its kind in Cuba. Founded 19 years ago, it was such an inspiration that a few years after it was born, similar groups with the same name were organized across the island. “La Colmenita Santiago” is one of these troupes.
Read moreA Cuban Radio Actor and Party MC
The radio, since its first broadcasts in the 1920s to the emergence of new technologies such as satellite radio and more recently internet radio, is a medium that has managed to transcend time. Jose Angel Baez, my interviewee, is one of those talented Cuban radio actors.
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