ART and CULTURE CubaAbsolutely Print Edition 2008

CUBA ART IN THE 1990's
Notes on a decade
Text by David Mateo

Towards the end of the 1980s, Cuban art reached something of a crossroads as the relationship between individual artists and the institutional system came under strain. At this time the position of the government towards certain artists whose works raised questions and doubts regarding Cuban culture and society was widely perceived as having reached the limits of its tolerance, which, prior to this time, had been very open and accepting towards artistic expression.

CHARLES JOHNSTONE
Stark havana a different light

Not many photographers arriving in Cuba manage to elude the island's exuberant natural scenery and spectacular colonial architecture. Postcard-perfect beaches, clear cobalt seas and buildings of exceptional beauty and splendour will usually take hold of the photographer's lens.This is why Charles Johnstone's scenes of Havana are surprising and unexpected, as they explore inexplicably deserted streets and parks-familiar environments photographed beyond any significance conferred on them by regular usage.

CINE POBRE
Probably the most authentic and charming film festival this year
Text by Eva Torres - Photographs by Sven Creutzmann

There where no Hollywood stars or attendant paparazzi. Hype, glamorous red carpet photo shoots and posh after-parties were also nowhere to be seen at the 5th International Cine Pobre Festival in the eastern Cuban town of Gibara this past April. But don't take Cine “Pobre" too literally: while even many Cubans may struggle to find this picturesque fishing village on a map, the International Low-Budget Film Festival has managed to carve out a niche for itself as one of the most interesting and authentic events on the independent/alternative film circuit.

CUBA'S MEDICAL DIPLOMACY
¡Salud!
Text By Conner Gorry

Doctors for export; altruism; humanism; or plain old politics; whatever you call it, Cuba's massive international health program helps the bottom billion. These are the world's poorest and most desperate, to whom prevention, simple interventions, or vaccines can mean the difference between life and death.

CUBAN CONTEMPORARY FUSION
Text by Sue Herrod (with Yvonne Chapman & Hiram Gonzales)

Contemporary fusion is a spontaneous phenomenon that's a key element of Cuban musical life. The idea of blending sounds, of mixing one style with another, has been part and parcel of the island's musical tradition-particularly using African, European, Latin, Caribbean and US tyles. More recently, in the early 1990's, cultural life really opened up. Cuban musicians (NG La Banda and Buena Vista Social Club) met with great acclaim abroad, and the influence of many new styles, instruments, sounds and artists poured into the island. The latter resulted in a further, furious musical mix-blending variations of sounds and styles such as the most aggressive pun, trash, rock 'n roll and hip hop with Brazilian-style birimbao, congas, batás and the most rhythmic clave Cubana-the island's musicians doing what they"ve always done: mixing and spicing it all up. Today, in Havana, for example, many younger musicians play, write and produce together, and so national and international influences have even more of a chance to flower and bloom.

THE NEW CUBAN TIMBA MACHINE ROLLS ON
La Nueva Máquina de la Timba Cubana
Text courtesy of www.timba.com

Salsa Mayor is directed by Maykel Blanco Cueva, a Havana native who studied percussion at the conservatories. Directing his first group at the age of 15, Maykel taught himself to play piano in order to write and arrange his own songs. At 23 he founded Salsa Mayor acting as composer, arranger, pianist and backing vocalist. A year and a half later Salsa Mayor exploded on the timba scene with its first CD: Recoge y Vete. Then in October 2007, Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor celebrated their third anniversary with a special concert at Havana's Salon Rosado de La Tropical. This came on the heels of their first European tour and the eve of their next CD, Anda Pégate, Salsa Mayor's third album release. Salsa Mayor has established itself as “La Nueva Máquina de la Timba Cubana" -one of Cuba's newest music-making-machines.

CIEN BOTELLAS EN UNA PARED
Text by John Dew

This drawing was inspired by the most stunning and beautifully written novel published in Cuba in the last ten years, "Cien Botellas en una Pared" by the prizewinning young Cuban novelist Ena Lucía Portela. Published in 2002, it has been translated into French, but not yet into English. It paints a sharp, compelling tragi-comic picture of the heroine's progress from school in the 1980s to maturity in the 1990s, against the background of a mansion long given over to multi occupation in Havana's louche but still distinguished Vedado district.
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