English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana | 27 August 2018 — A group of artists who have been promoting an intense campaign against Decree 349 since July are continuing to pressure the country’s authorities not to implement this law that demands that “commercial spaces for plastic arts” have prior authorization and be registered in the Creators’ Registry. … Continue reading “Artists Denounce Decree 349 for "Criminalizing Independent Art"”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 13 August 2018 — The artists of the campaign against Decree 349, who tried to organize a concert on Saturday at the house of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, were freed at the stroke of midnight on Sunday. Otero Alcántara explained to 14ymedio that he and Yanelys Núñez were arrested in the … Continue reading “"They Warned Us That Cuba Can’t Turn Into Another Nicaragua," Say Detained Artists”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 3 August 2018 — A group of independent artists has decided to confront Decree 349 which regulates the dissemination of culture and catalogs its content, calling it “legalized censorship.” Fifteen creators meeting this week in Havana agreed to carry out actions to show their resistance to some of the measures that … Continue reading “Fifteen Artists Denounce "Legalized Censorship"”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 24 July 2018 — Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara spent two days in detention after the act of protest he tried to carry out last Saturday, along with five other artists against Decree 349 that regulates artistic performances in private spaces. The group was also made up of Soandry del Río, José Ernesto Alonso, Iris … Continue reading “Offensive Against Cuba’s Critical Artists Intensifies”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 July 2018 — Artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Amaury Pacheco OmniPoeta, Iris Ruiz, Soandry Del Rio and José Ernesto Alonso were arrested on Saturday afternoon in front of the Capitol in Havana after an attempt to protest against the recently approved Decree 349 that regulates artistic presentations in private spaces. According to … Continue reading “Cuban Artists Arrested Protesting in Front of the Capitol Against Decree 349”
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernández, La Habana | Junio 19, 2018 — None of the customers who were enjoying the bar and pool on the rooftop of the Manzana Kempinski Hotel this Monday were staying at the accommodation. The luxurious colossus across from Havana’s Central Park is below 20% occupancy according to the calculations of its workers, due to the slowdown in … Continue reading “Occupancy Rate at Manzana Kempenski Luxury Hotel Under 20%, Say Staffers”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 15 May 2018 — The #00Bienal has withstood the pressures of the Cuban Government and concluded its first edition on Tuesday, having completed its program despite them. The authorities, who marked the event from the beginning with accusations of it being financed by the “counterrevolution,” have made every effort to prevent the participation … Continue reading “Cuba’s Independent #00Bienal Resists Government Pressures and Carries Off Event”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 May 2018 — The activist Iliana Hernandez, director of the television program Lente Cubano (Cuban Lens), was released on Saturday after being arrested on Friday when she tried to enter El Círculo gallery, where a show that is a part of the independent #00 Biennial currently taking place in Havana is on … Continue reading “Activist Iliana Hernandez Released from Jail”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 May 2018 — This Saturday the independent #00Bienal was opened, an event that in recent days has been at the center of official attacks. In the vicinity of the site in Old Havana several members of the State Security dressed in civilian clothes were visible but they did not prevent the more than … Continue reading “Independent #00Bienal Opens in Spite of Official Pressures”
14ymedio, Havana, 3 May 2018 — Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, one of the organizers of #00Bienal, lamented the “lack of respect” with which Cuba’s Writers and Artists Union (UNEAC) and the Hermanos Saíz Association (AHS), have addressed the event and the artists who support it, in the statement made public this Thursday. In the statement, … Continue reading “UNEAC Statements Show “A Lack of Respect” Towards Young Artists, Say Promoters of #00 Biennial”
14ymedio, Havana, 3 May 2018 – The Cuban Writers and Artists Union (UNEAC) and the Hermanos Saíz Association (AHS), official entities to which many of the island’s artists belong, accused the organizers of the #00Bienal, on Thursday, of being financed “with funds from the mercenary counterrevolution.” Both associations attacked the promoters of the independent biennial and described … Continue reading “UNEAC Accuses the #00Biennial of Being Financed "With Counterrevolutionary Funds"”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 February 2018 — The organizers of the Havana #00 Biennial, an independent event whose celebration is scheduled from May 5-15, have won the support of several artists and independent spaces on the island, according to Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, one of the promoters of the initiative, speaking to 14ymedio. Among the artists who have confirmed … Continue reading “Independent Artists and Galleries Join a Biennial Outside Official Institutions”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 December 2017 — As we do every year, we have selected a list of 14 people who have stood out over the last twelve months within the Island. People who, through art, music, activism, a sports discipline, politics or from any another sphere, have left a mark. With their drive and determination … Continue reading “Cuba: Faces Of The Year 2017”
14ymedio, Adonis Milán, Havana, 6 December 2017 — For the past two years I have been directing an independent group called Persephone Theater. We recently premiered the play Hamlet Machine, by the German author Heiner Müller, with a staging that shows the overwhelming parallelism between the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and present-day Cuba. I traveled with this … Continue reading “My First Encounter with State Security”
Diario de Cuba, Havana, 23 December 2017 — Activist Lia Villares was released this Friday morning after being detained since Wednesday, activist Rosa María Payá Acevedo said in her Twitter account. Villares, in addition, was fined 500 pesos by the authorities, according to Martí Noticias. During the arrest, “her interrogators told her that she had committed crimes, and in order … Continue reading “Cuban Regime Frees Activist Lia Villares”
