What’s On Havana, listings and reviews of cultural events in Havana, updated monthly, Havana events and schedules and timetables for nightlife and cultural events

Visual Arts

	Valium Galería La Acacia San José 114 entre Industria and Consulado, Centro Habana Tel. +(53) 7 863 9364 and 8613533	Throughout February / 2009
	For the critic Douglas Pérez Castillo, “The works (about practically any type of reality, whether fictional or concrete) from the series Valium prompt a strong and radical skepticism for the reason that the standards of beauty and comfort which they propose do not fit into the battered landscape he has in front of him. That is why he prefers to…detach himself under the hallucinating effects of a fictional melancholy which may offer an elegant way out to the daily drama in the tropics…Enrique Báster has chosen the discourse of a painting that purifies and exorcises from the perspective of a nostalgia, which as a white lie, the hackneyed phrase of ‘a better world is possible’ tells us.”

	El encanto de un metal Museo de Artes Decorativas Calle 17 entre D and E, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 830 8037	Throughout February / 2009
	Exhibition dedicated to silversmiths in their creation of silverware, which dates back to the early 17th century when the dining room became the principal place for social meetings. The exhibition includes silverware from different artisans, manufactures, countries and periods.

	Viva Museo de Artes Decorativas Calle 17 entre D y E, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 830 8037	Throughout February / 2009
	The artist Lucía Fernández has dedicated this exhibition to the young star of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Viengsay Valdés.

	Exposición Personal de Matilde Pérez Galería Latinoamericana Casa de las Américas Calle 3ra. and G, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 838 2706 al 09	Throughout February / 2009
	Exhibition by Chilean artist Matilde Pérez, whose work is part of a research on the visual effects of abstract forms and colour, seeking to achieve a sense of movement.

	La telaraña de mis sueños Galería La Acacia San José 114, entre Industria y Consulado, Centro Habana Tel. +(53) 7 : 863 9364, 8613533	Throughout February / 2009
	The painter, draughtsman, ceramist, photographer, graphic designer and metal-worker Salvador Corratgé, forerunner in Cuba of geometric abstraction and founder of the group Diez Pintores Concretos. Corratgé, who celebrated his 80th anniversary last November, proves with this exhibition that he is still in the front line of Cuban art.

	Ciudades paralelas Galería La Acacia San José 114 entre Industria y Consulado, Centro Habana Tel. +(53) 7 863 9364 / 8613533	Throughout February / 2009
	The artist Juan Arel Ruiz Contino, from the province of Matanzas, who had exhibited for the first time in the prestigious La Acacia Gallery last year, returns with a new show that delves into the world of the city, exploring the interrelationship between man and the environment, marked by the coexistence of realism and abstraction.

	El Escaramujo: El Universo en mi Casa Casa Fundación Oswaldo Guayasamín Obrapía entre Oficios y Mercaderes, La Habana Vieja Tel. +(53) 7 861 3843	Throughout February / 2009
	The Brazilian artist Fernanda Vargas has drawn inspiration from the song El escaramujo by famous Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez, to express her view of the relationship among human beings, among people and Nature or the every-day evolution of life in works that combine the traditional art of batik with other visual art techniques.

	Esperamos en el Monte Claro Galería Villa Manuela Calle H entre 17 and 19, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 832 2391	Throughout February /2009
	A visual reinterpretation of José Martí’s war journal in twenty-five photographs by the artist Juan Carlos Alom.

	Logotipos Centro Hispano Americano de Cultura Malecón 17 entre Prado and Genio, Centro Habana Tel. +(53) 7 860 6282	Throughout February/ 2009
	After over 25 years as a US resident, the designer Jorge Martell has come back to live in Cuba to renew his link with Cuban graphic design with this exhibition which shows the artistic potentials of apparently commercial brands.

	De la Abstracción al Arte Cinético Casa de las Américas Calle 3ra. y G, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 838 2706 al 09	Throughout February / 2009
	As part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Casa de las Américas, this institution has organized an exhibition of works from its valuable collection Art of the Americas, which includes artists from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, Hungary, Mexico, Rumania-Cuba and Venezuela.

	3 Maneras de Ver el Mundo Galería Julio Larramendi, Hotel Conde de Villanueva Mercaderes entre Lamparilla and Amargura, La Habana Vieja Tel. +(53) 7 862 9294	Throughout February / 2009
	An exhibition by three of the most important Cuban photographers: Liborio Noval, Julio Larramendi and Roberto Salas.

	Mi Cecilia en La Habana Estudio Carmen Montilla Oficios 162 entre Amargura and Churruca, La Habana Vieja Tel. +(53) 7 866 4114	Throughout February / 2009
	Reinterpretations by Iris Leyva of the female figure using the beautiful protagonist of the most important novel of Cuban 19th-century literature, Cecilia Valdés, as symbol. For the critic Hortensia Montero, the artist is “a creator with evident potentials evidenced by her extensive and varied production, which radiates love, spirituality and charm in works where there are no differences between nature, man and space…”

	Julio Girona. Una Historia Personal Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. Edificio de Arte Cubano Trocadero entre Monserrate and Zulueta, La Habana Vieja Tel. +(53) 7 862 040, 861 3858, 863 9484	Throughout February / 2009
	Over 30 drawings, sculptures and collages make up this retrospective of Cuban artist Julio Girona (1914-2002), 1998 National Prize-winner for Art, and one of the most important figures of the abstract movement. The pieces belong to private and the National Museum’s collections.

	Liborio Noval. Fotografías: 1960-2008 Fototeca de Cuba Mercaderes entre Muralla and Teniente Rey, Plaza Vieja, La Habana Vieja Tel. +(53) 7 862 2530	Throughout February / 2009
	A retrospective a the Cuban photographer Liborio Noval, who for years accompanied Fidel Castro during his visits round Cuba and abroad, having documented many national events since 1959.

	Provocaciones Gallería Villa Manuela Calle H entre 17 y 19, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 832 2391	First Thursday of every month / 2009
	Discussion of topics dealing with visual art, conducted by the critic Rufo Caballero.

	Arte y Moda Galería Raúl Oliva Calle13 esquina a I, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 832 9359	Throughout February / 2009
	11 February, 7:00 pm: Exhibition Utopía Escénica, on design. 25 February, 4:00 pm: Panel “¿Hablamos de Postmoda?” (Shall We Talk of Post-fashion?), in which experts will speak of the most recent trends in the world of fashion.

	Light Galería La Casona Muralla 107 esquina a San Ignacio, La Habana Vieja Tel. +(53) 7 861 8544	Throughout February / 2009
	Personal exhibition by Analia Anaya, who making use of installations, filters reality under a magical appearance, at times surrealist, directed at the fleetingness of time and the fragility of life.

	Engañosa Calma del Silencio Galería Galiano Galiano esquina a Concordia, Centro Habana Tel. +(53) 7 862 5365	Throughout February / 2009
	Personal exhibition by Cuban draughtsman and engraver Alberto Sautúa, whose work is characterized by an introspective and emotional quality of a refined eroticism.

	Recarga Galería Servando Calle 23 esquina a 10, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 833 9599	Throughout February / 2009
	Niels Reyes, a graduate of the Arts Institute of Havana, proves once more the potential of portraying highly psychologically and emotionally charged human faces.

	Donde Habita la Luz Galería La Acacia San José 114 entre Industria y Consulado, Centro Habana Tel. +(53) 7 863 9364 y 8613533	Throughout February / 2009
	According to Manuel Crespo, curator of the National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana, in Molano’s pastels “his preference for Cuban late 19th, early 20th-century eclectic architecture is evident....In his paintings, the viewer may find the visual beauty of composition, colour, light....But it is in the surface where perhaps the greater values lie. The coexistence of multicoloured layers shows the artist’s taste for visual textures...They are live, although battered, buildings, which evidence the intervention of its inhabitants, who modify, adapt and also attack their appearance. The absence of the human figure...is completely justified. The artist is reflecting a way of life through the face of its abode, in the manner of poetry.”

Music

VII Festival de Música Antigua Esteban Salas

	Febrero en la Basílica Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís Oficios y Churruca, La Habana Vieja Tel. +(53) 7 862 9683	6:00 pm (unless otherwise indicated) / 2009
	13 February, 4:00 pm: The Chilean Youth Chamber Orchestra will perform music from Chile, Cuba and other Latin American countries, on the occasion of the International Book Fair. 14 February: A Saint Valentine’s Day performance with the pianist Patricio Malcolm and the chamber music chorus Entrevoces, directed by Digna Guerra. 20 February: The Schola Cantorum Coralina, directed by Alina Orraca, and the Canadian Pembina Trails Voices will perform choral music of different periods and styles from Canada. 21 February: Concertante, a trio composed of Leonardo Gell on the piano, Dianelys Castillo on the clarinet and Fernando Muñoz on the violin, will pay tribute to the Cuban composers Juan Piñera and Alfredo Diez Nieto on their 60th and 90th birthdays, respectively. 25 February, 4:00 pm: The Chamber Orchestra of the Guillermo Tomás Conservatory, conducted by Ana Miriam Santana, will perform works by composers Georg Friedrich Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Vivaldi, among others. 26 February: Richard Viellie, professor and head of the Clarinet Department of the Paris Conservatory and first clarinetist of the Paris Opera Orchestra, together with the also clarinetist Lester Chio and the D’Accord duet, with Marita Rodríguez (piano) and Vicente Monterrey (clarinet), will perform works by Mozart, Schumann and Poulenc.

	Concierto de música electroacústica Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Arte Cubano) Trocadero entre Monserrate y Zulueta, La Habana Vieja Tel. +(53) 7 862 0140, 861 3858 and 863 9484	5 February, 7:00 pm / 2009
	On its 30th anniversary, the National laboratory of Electroacoustic Music will perform a concert dedicated to its founder, the late Juan Blanco, that includes Ensemble V by Blanco, and Ajuandejuan by Juan Piñera; the performance of D´Joy from Cuba and DJ Wolf, both electronic music DJs, as well as the world premiere of a documentary by Lester Hamlet dedicated to Juan Blanco, and produced by IBERAUTOR SGAE.

	XXV Festival Jazz Plaza 2009 Theatres and other cultural venues in Havana	12-15 February / 2009
	Presided by Chucho Valdés, the 25th Jazz Plaza Festival will be dedicated to the 36th anniversary of the famous group Irakere. Concerts, recitals and jam sessions will gather outstanding jazz soloists and bands from Cuba and overseas. The organizers have also announced the 5th Theoretical Colloquium, which will include guest speeches, lectures, talks and documentaries, plus the sale of specialized music magazines and CDs. The Centro Provincial de Artes Plásticas and Diseño (Oficios 362 entre Luz y Santa Clara, La Habana Vieja, Tel. +(53) 7 862 3228, 862 3295 and 866 0280) will host the exhibition Maestros del Jazz, by Dutch the photographer Caspari de Geus.

	El Jardín de la Gorda Centro Iberoamericano de la Décima Calle A entre 25 y 27, El Vedado	Third Sunday of the month, 5:00 pm / 2009
	Sara González, emblematic voice of the Cuban Nueva Trova, has resumed her monthly gatherings where the audiences can enjoy, in an informal atmosphere, the performances of some of the best Cuban troubadours.

	Peña de Manuel Argudín Agencia Cubana de Derecho de Autor Musical Calle 6 entre 15 y 13, El Vedado	Last Saturday of the month, 6:00 pm / 2009
	At troubadour Manuel Argudín’s monthly gatherings, anything is possible: from the active participation of a member of the audience to an impromptu performance by concert pianist Frank Fernández or singer-songwriter Amaury Pérez.

	Peña de Rochy Balneario Universitario El Coral Calle 1ra. esquina a 42, Miramar	Last Thursday of the month, 8:30 pm / 2009
	Performance by Cuban singer Rochy with her group and guests.

	Concierto Abierto Sala Villena Calle 17 esquina a H, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 832 4551 al 53	Last Thursday of the month, 5:00 pm / 2009
	Concert and electroacoustic music for soloists and chamber music ensembles, under the direction of Guido López Gavilán.

Retretas de la Banda Nacional de Conciertos

	Concierto Teatro Amadeo Roldán Calzada y D, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 832 4521 al 22	8 February, 5:00 pm / 2009
	The National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Enrique Pérez Mesa, will perform Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for string orchestra in C Major, opus 48, and Johannes Brahms’s Double Concerto, with violin and violoncello performed by violoncellist Alejandro Rodríguez and violinist Ariel Sarduy.

Concierto por el bicentenario del nacimiento de Felix Mendelssohn

	Concierto por el bicentenario del nacimiento de Felix Mendelssohn Teatro Amadeo Roldán Calzada y D, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 832 4521 al 22	1st February, 5:00 pm / 2009
	Conducted by Argentinean Jaime Braude, the National Symphony Orchestra will perform Mendelssohn’s Scotch Symphony, opus 56 in A Minor, and in the second half of the program, several Latin American works, including Bachiana No. 4, by Heitor Villa-Lobos (Brazil); Ocho y medio by Silvestre Revueltas (Mexico), and Tangazo y Libertango by Ástor Piazzola (Argentina).

	En Concierto Teatro Mella Línea entre A y B, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 830 4987	3 February, 8:30 pm / 2009
	The singer-songwriter William Vivanco, an exponent of fusion music, will give a one-time performance with a strong presence of visual arts in the set design and wardrobe, thanks to the collaboration of the painter Vicente Bonachea. Vivanco will not only explore, as customary, into Cuban, American and Brazilian music, but will make new approaches to Asian sounds.

	Trovuntivitis en la Casa Sala Che Guevara, Casa de las Américas Calle 3ra. esquina a G, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 838 2706-09	20 February, 7:00 pm / 2009
	Concert by troubadours from the province of Villa Clara Leonardo García, Raúl Marchena, Rolando Berrio, Yaíma Orozco, Alain Garrido, Yunior Navarrete, Diego Gutiérrez, Michel Portela and Jordán Romero.

	Tardes del Jazz Hurón Azul, Unión de escritores and Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC) Calle 17 esquina a H, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 832 4551-53	Second Thursday of the month, 5:00 pm / 2009
	Jam sessions with important Cuban jazz musicians and bands.

Theatre

Festival del Monólogo y Premio Terry 2009

	Festival del Monólogo y Premio Terry 2009 Teatro Terry Cienfuegos	Del 11 al 15 de February/ 2009
	Sponsored by the Tomas Terry Theatre in Cienfuegos, this Monologue Festival was launched in 2003 with the aim of validating a genre, which by nature demands intense commitment of playwrights as well as actors. Despite being one of the newer events in the domestic cultural scene, this festival has already achieved a standing in the Cuban stage, and at present the most renowned Cuban playwrights, directors, actors and actresses compete in the beautiful Terry theatre. The following plays have been chosen this year: Rico Teatro del Caballero (Havana). Directed by José Antonio Alonso A version of Bruno Storni’s El gran cuento, where the character, superbly played by José Antonio Alonso, tells episodes of Homer’s immortal Odyssey at a train station. ¡Ay, mi amor! Teatro el Público (Havana). Directed by Carlos Díaz. Drama written by Norge Espinosa, with the magnificent performance of the young actor Lester Martínez. Based on the memories of the late actor Adolfo Llauradó, as taped by his wife, who in that intimate milieu gives details of his hectic private life. The theatres have been packed since its premiere in March 2008. En la dicha o Canción a Juana Estudio Buendía (Havana). Directed by Jorge Alba. Lyrical portrayal of the life of the Cuban poetess and painter, Juana Borrero, a precocious and intense child, who died in her youth, and was admired by the intellectuals of the island during the late 19th century. Juicio y condena pública de Charlotte Corday Teatro del Silencio (Havana). Directed by Rubén Sicilia. Written, produced and directed by Rubén Sicilia, this one-woman show (Mirtha Lilia Pedro, who plays several characters) suggests a reinterpretation of the events surrounding the assassination of the French revolutionary Jean Paul Marat in 1793. Secretos de familia La Edad de Oro (Camagüey). Directed by Adriana Quesada. Mauricio (Arián Israel de Pedro Pedro), trapped in despair, recaps his relatives’ immoral memories. Carmen Estudio Buendía (Havana). Directed by Sandra Lorenzo The actress Sandra Lorenzo will perform her own version of Prosper Merimée’s novel of the same name in a one-person show in which the capacity of seduction and the desire of freedom of the immortal gypsy acquire new dimensions. Fátima, reina de la noche Teatro 3 (Havana). Directed by Roberto Perdomo An adaptation of Miguel Barnet’s short story “Fátima o el Parque de la Fraternidad”, winner of the prestigious 2006 Juan Rulfo Award, which reveals, not without humour, the private affairs of Fátima-Manuel, a transvestite from the Havana of our times, with Ulik Anello in his first leading role. Sudario Versus Teatro (Havana). Directed by Osdaldo Rondón. A play by the young playwright Roberto D. M. Yeras. Set in Havana, at night, according to its director, the play “gives us the opportunity to confront a harsh yet lyric text that looks straight in the eye of a hidden reality, marginalized by the ethics of the moment, official safe-conducts, and obsolete paternalisms. Past, present and future are condensed in one time-space. The time-space of rebellion.” Eureka en apuros El Mejunje (Santa Clara) Directed by Nelson Águila The story of a chick that, because he is different, is rejected by his father the rooster. Imaginative production and excellent acting. For children. Sex-teando con Darío Fo Teatro de la Utopía (Pinar del Río). Directed by Reinaldo León. Based on texts by Darío Fo, in this production by Reinaldo León, the charismatic actress Yuliet Montes from the Teatro de la Utopía theater company of Pinar del Río, plays seven different characters in this one-woman show. For the critic Pepe Murrieta, “the most valuable thing of the show…is the beauty that Yuliet achieves in each and every one of her characters.” Monólogo de Casio Teatro del Círculo (Havana). Directed by Pedro Ángel Vera. This play by Edgar Estaco, with actor and lecturer Roberto Gacio in the leading role and one of his best performances is a query into the hipocricy of intolerance and double standards. Voy por cigarros Compañía Teatral Rita Montaner (Havana). Directed by Gerardo Fulleda León. Written by its director, the critic Ines María Martiatu has said of the play: “It is Santiago de Cuba during the carnival, and more precisely, in Magnolia’s dressing room. Singer of a long career, there she receives Serafín ‘Tato’ Armada, the love of her life: her first boyfriend, lover, husband, the father of her children….In spite of the many years together, he still can’t calculate her potential as a singer.” Yo tengo un brillante Icarón Teatro (Matanzas). Directed by Miriam Muñoz. Written by the great Cuban playwright, Nicolás Dorr, the play deals with the heartbreaking story of a former dancer of the legendary Alhambra Theatre, who, old and forgotten, rambles about the miseries and splendours of her life.

	Elizabeth: por si acaso mujer Sala Avellaneda Teatro Nacional Paseo and 39, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 879 3558 / 879 6011	February, Sat and Sun, 8:30 pm / 2009
	Written by Dario Fo, directed by Franco Bozzo, from Teatro El Público. About the play, the directior has said that “We will try to find out what goes on in the private rooms of a lady (?) during two days in…1601…In 1601, this lady, Elizabeth Tudor, is 68 years old, has been queen for 43 years and she’s all alone. Her life goes from a 34-year-old lover who instead of making love to her, conspires against her, to a young and bold playwright…The lack of heirs is added to her loneliness plus the grief of having to bequeath the throne to the son (of a bitch) of her great enemy, Mary Stuart.

El venerable o Las bondades del excelentísimo señor venerable

	El venerable o Las bondades del excelentísimo señor venerable Sala Adolfo Llauradó Calle 11 entre D and E, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 832 5573	3 February / 2009
	The Teatro Caribeño presents this tragicomedy by its director, the Cuban playwright Eugenio Hernández Espinosa, 2008 National Prize-Winner for Theatre, in a coproduction with the Siyaj Company from Guadeloupe, performed by the musician and dancer from that country, Gilbert Laumord and the Cuban actor Nelson González. Orula (god of prediction) and Eleggua (god of the roads), orishas of the yoruba religion, clash with each other for power in a fight that is more human than godly.

	Lo que le pasó a la cantante de baladas Café Teatro del Centro Cultural Bertolt Brecht Línea y 13, El Vedado	Fri and Sat, 8:30 pm; Sun, 5:00 pm / 2009
	Directed by the outstanding Cuban playwright José Milián, the Pequeño Teatro de La Habana presents a new version of this play written by Milián, which opened in 2005 and was very favorably received by the public and the critic. For the playwright, poet and critic Norge Espinosa, “If music is nothing more than a form of nostalgia, here is Olimpia, a diva of song who from her exile in Miami tries to organize her memories in harsh contrast with reality….This play is an urgent tribute to the women who, microphone in hand, gave Cuba a musical expression that is pure emotion that goes beyond any distance…”

	Las amargas lágrimas de Petra von Kant Cine-teatro Trianón Línea entre Paseo and A, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 830 9648	Viernes and sábados, a las 8;30 pm, domingos a las 5:00 pm / 2009
	Teatro el Público, directed by Carlos Díaz, presents this production by the German playwright, actor and filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, in a version by Cuban playwright Norge Espinosa. The excellent actor Fernando Hechevarría plays the role of the famous and rich couturier Petra von Kant, heartbroken because of a devastating homosexual relationship. The sound track is formed by songs sung by Marta Strada, a cult figure of Cuban song of the 1960s.

Dance

	Ballet Nacional de Cuba Gran Teatro de La Habana Prado y San Rafael, Centro Habana Tel. +(53) 7 861 3077-79	6 and 7 February, 8:30 pm / 2009
	Varied concert program by the Cuban National Ballet.

	Giselle Gran Teatro de La Habana Prado y San Rafael, Centro Habana Tel. +(53) 7 861 3077 al 79	12, 13 and 14 February, 8:30 pm; 15 February, 5:00 pm / 2009
	Alicia Alonso’s adaptation of Giselle, based on Jean Coralli’s and Jules Perrot’s original version, will be performed by the younger generation of dancers from the Cuban National Ballet.

	Vida Teatro Karl Marx Calle 1ra y 8, Miramar Tel. +(53) 7 203 0801 and 209 1991	11-15 February, 8:30 pm / 2009
	Rerun of the successful Vida by the Lizt Alfonso Ballet (or Danza Cuba as Alfonso’s company is known in North America), which premiered in June 2007 at the Luminato Arts Festival of Toronto. The show received both critics’ and audiences’ acclaim, having been chosen the third best dance show staged in Canada that year. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) said that it was “an authentic expression of the roots of the Cuban spirit, with songs from the soul and exuberant dancing.” This production is a metaphor of our “past and future” told through the story of a grandmother, Vida (or Life), telling her life´s history, spanning from the 1930s to the present, to her granddaughter Alma. It is a synthesis of Cuba’s history seen through Vida’s own life.

	El Patio de la Rumba El Palenque Calle 4 entre Calzada y 5ta, El Vedado	Saturdays, 3:00 pm / 2009
	A weekly meeting with dancers and musicians from the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional and guests, dedicated to rumba, one of the most popular Cuban musical and dance genres.

Literature and Books

	Premio Casa de las Américas Casa de las Américas 3ra. y G, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 838 2706 al 09	2- 11 February / 2009
	Unpublished novels, testimonies, literature for children and youth, and Brazilian literature will be competing in the fiftieth edition of the Casa de las Américas Literary Award. In parallel with the main event, the panel of judges, composed by important figures of the literary world, will give lectures and readings, and last year’s award-winning books will be launched. Also, a number of special prices will be presented: the José Lezama Lima, for poetry; the José María Arguedas, for narrative; and the Ezequiel Martínez Estrada, for essay. The 2008 winners of these prizes will also be presented. 2 February Sala Che Guevara de la Casa de lãs Américas, 11:00 am: Presentation of the Jury: Carmen Boullosa (Mexico), Carlos Noguera (Venezuela), Grínor Rojo (Chile), Héctor Tizón (Argentina) and Lourdes González Herrero (Cuba) for Best Novel Paco Ignacio Taibo II (Mexico), Hernán Uribe Ortega (Chile) and José Ignacio López Vigil (Cuba-Ecuador) for Best Testimonial Literature; Mauricio Paredes (Chile), Beatriz Helena Robledo (Colombia) and Teresa Cárdenas (Cuba) for Best Literature for Children and Youths; Ana María Gonçalves and Ondjaki (Angola) for Best Brazilian Literature; and Roberto Márquez (Puerto Rico-USA), Félix Masud Piloto (Cuba-USA) and Antonio Aja Díaz (Cuba) for the Special Prize. 7 February Dionisio San Román Bookstore (Cienfuegos), 11:00 am: Launching of the 2008 Casa de las Américas Awards, periodicals and other titles published by the Casa de las Américas’s Publishing House. 9 February Sala Manuel Galich, Casa de las Américas, 4:00 pm: Opening of the Casa de las Américas’s Studies Programme “Latinos en los Estados Unidos” (Latinos in the United States). Panel Los Estudios Latinos en los Estados Unidos (Latino Studies in the United States) with the participation of Antonio Aja Díaz (Cuba), Roberto Márquez (Puerto Rico-USA) and Félix Masud Piloto (Cuba-USA). 10 February Sala Che Guevara, Casa de las Américas, 4:00 pm: Launching of 2008 Prizewinning books: La llave Marilyn, by Laura Yasán (poetry, Argentina); La furia de las pestes by Samanta Schweblin (short story, Argentina); El etnotexto: las voces del asombro by Hugo Niño (social-historical essay, Colombia); La globalización de la naturaleza y la naturaleza de la globalización by Carlos Walter Porto-Gonçalves (essay, Brazil); Los dioses viajan de noche by Louis-Philippe Dalembert (novel, Haiti), as well as the 2007 award-winning novel Un defecto de color by Ana María Gonçalves (Brazil). Other book launchings include: En un abrir y cerrar de ojos by Óscar Hahn (José Lezama Lima Prize for Poetry, Chile); El ejército iluminado by David Toscana (José María Arguedas Prize for Narrative, Mexico) and Elogio de la diversidad. Globalización, multiculturalismo y etnofagia by Héctor Díaz Polanco (Ezequiel Martínez Estrada Prize for Essay, Dominican Republic-Mexico). 11 February Galería Latinoamericana, Casa de las Américas, 5:30 pm: Opening of Cinética, an exhibition by Chilean artist Matilde Pérez. Sala Che Guevara, 7:00 pm: Award ceremony for the 2009 Casa de las Américas Litearary Awards and the prizes José María Arguedas (narrative), Ezequiel Martínez Estrada (essays) and José Lezama Lima (poetry).

	XVIII Feria Internacional del Libro Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña Havana	12- 23 February / 2009
	The most significant and massive Cuban cultural event will have Chile as the country guest of honour and will be dedicated to the Cuban poetess and essayist Fina García Marruz and the historian Jorge Ibarra. The Cuban publishing houses will be launching hundreds of new books, including Vol. III of Historia de la literatura cubana (Editorial Letras Cubanas-Instituto de Literatura y Lingüística); Letra y Solfa: Música, also from Letras Cubanas, a compilation of the chronicles, reviews and essays on music that the famous Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier wrote for the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional; Estatuas de sal, a reprint of the successful selection of short stories written by Cuban women authors, edited by poetesses and narrators Mirtha Yáñez and Marilyn Bobes; and La Habana desaparecida (Ediciones Boloña, the City Historian’s Office ‘s publishing house), a reconstruction, by way of beautiful and detailed drawings by the architect Francisco Bedoya, of the evolution of emblematic spaces and buildings in Havana, such as the Plaza de Armas, the Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro, the walls, the Gran Teatro de La Habana and the Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña, as well as others that no longer exist, e.g., the Teatro Principal and the Cementerio de Espada. As of 24 February, the Fair will travel to other cities throughout the country.

Coloquio latinoamericano Ciudad y Mujeres en la Cultura y la Historia Latinoamericana y Caribeña

	Coloquio latinoamericano Ciudad y Mujeres en la Cultura y la Historia Latinoamericana y Caribeña Casa de las Américas 3ra. and G, El Vedado Tel. +(53) 7 838 2706- 09	23 -27 February / 2009
	Sponsored by the Casa de las Américas Women’s Studies Program and created in 1994 to promote a critical approach to the histories and cultures of Latin American and Caribbean women from the 16th century to the present day, and to recover and make known their cultural production, in its 16th edition, the colloquium will discuss an increasing topical subject seen from different perspectives and approaches: gender, territoriality, space: private and public; urban and rural; civilization and nature; urbanism and architecture in women.

A PREVIEW OF THE COMING MONTHS

X Festival Internacional de Documentales Santiago Álvarez in Memoriam
8-13 March
Movie theatres Cuba and Rialto, Santiago de Cuba

Created in 2000, this festival aims at highlighting the prominent role of the documentary, a film genre that has been somewhat consigned to oblivion by the promotional mechanisms of the larger movie festivals, yet with a tradition of significant quality and acknowledgement in Cuba, among other factors, thanks to the work of the late prize-winning Cuban film-maker, Santiago Alvarez. Although the festival began as a national event dedicated to the memory of the most relevant Cuban documentary maker of all time, throughout the years it has attracted the attention of a number of filmmakers from Latin America, Europe and the United States. With films in competition, parallel screenings and theoretical discussions, the Festival constitutes a space for exchanging opinions and experiences among filmmakers and lovers of this genre.

Festival Internacional de la Trova Pepe Sánchez
Casa de la Trova and Sala de Conciertos Dolores (Santiago de Cuba)
19-23 March

Founded in 1980, orchestras and soloists from Cuba and other countries get together to sing and dance in homage to a legend of Cuban music, admired by Cubans not only for his talent as singer, composer and bandleader, but also for his warmth, unpretentiousness and a touch of eccentricity: Beny Moré. The festival includes tours to Beny’s hometown, Santa Isabel de las Lajas, and to which he dedicated one of his most popular songs. Lectures and exhibitions also accompany the good music played by famous Cuban groups like Van Van, Paulo FG and Adalberto Álvarez y su Son, which turn Lajas and the nearby city of Cienfuegos into gigantic dancing floors.

Bienal de La Habana
27 March-30 April
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, institutions in the Historical Centre and other venues across the city

Founded in 1984 and initially conceived as a competition, the event’s policy was reformulated from its third edition onward to focus on key issues concerning contemporary art, embracing artists from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, with the gradual incorporation of European, American and Japanese artists. A wide-ranging presentation takes over all the city’s principal exhibition spaces and spills out of them into numerous public arenas, turning Havana into an impressive and gigantic gallery. This year’s Biennial will take place under the central theme of “Integration and Resistance in the Global Era.”

Festival Internacional de Música Electroacústica Primavera de la Habana
March
Concert halls in Old Havana

The Spring in Havana International Electroacoustic Music Festival (founded by the composer Juan Blanco as the Spring in Varadero Festival, and held from 1981 to 1993 at the famous beach) is dedicated to the creation of music by electroacoustic means. Outstanding figures have participated in these festivals throughout the years, including Jon Appleton, Max Mathew, Leo Kupper, Ahmed Malek, Nicola Sani, Lejaren Hiller, Manuel Enríquez, Ricardo Dal Farra and Andrew Schloss. In 1998, the festival moved its venue to Havana’s Historical Centre.

	Coloquio y Festival Internacional de Música y Poesía Nicolás Guillén March Cultural institutions in Havana
	The colloquium/festival has organized lectures, panels and debates on the literary legacy of the great Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén; music recitals; poetry readings; popular, symphonic and coral music concerts; and art exhibitions have also been announced for the event.

VIII Muestra Nacional de Nuevos Realizadores
2-5 March
Havana Historical Centre

In commemoration of the 105th anniversary of the birth of the Spanish architect Gonzalo de Cárdenas, the Vernacular Architecture Department has organized its 6th Seminar, sponsored by the City Historian’s Office and the Diego de Sagredo Foundation of Spain. The Seminar will focus on the ravages caused on the vernacular heritage by the hurricanes that hit the Caribbean last year. For more information, write to dtaboada@dap.ohc.cu and eventos@viajessancristobal.cu.