Search results for: 00 Biennial

A Digital Archive in the Diaspora Will Preserve Cuban Cinema

14ymedio, Havana, 11 October 2022 — Classics of Cuban exile cinema such as Conducta impropio [Improper Conduct] (1983), La ciudad perdida [The Lost City] (2005) and Plantados [Planted] (2021) will be collected on October 20 in the Archive of Cuban Diáspora Cinema, a project co-directed by academic Santiago Juan-Navarro and filmmaker Eliécer Jiménez-Almeida. This initiative seeks to organize … Continue reading “A Digital Archive in the Diaspora Will Preserve Cuban Cinema”

Cuba and the Protests of November 15

14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, 7 November 2021 — I have not been able to find out, for sure, why Raúl Castro authorized the appearance of Carlos Lage asking for “deep changes.” Lage is the former Cuban vice president purged a few years ago along with former Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque. I have asked … Continue reading “Cuba and the Protests of November 15”

July 11: The Day Cuban Youth Overturned a Police Car

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 20 July 2021 — In flip-flops and shirtless, Yander ran down Galiano Street to join the crowd shouting “Freedom!” that had just passed his door. In the rush, he forgot the mandatory mask. The mother of this 35-year-old from Havana reached him short-of-breath. “Mi’jo, you left your mask!” she said, and handed him a piece … Continue reading “July 11: The Day Cuban Youth Overturned a Police Car”

Cuban Artist Hamlet Lavastida Detained in Villa Marista and ‘Under Investigation’

14ymedio, Havana, 27 June 2021 — The Cuban artist Hamlet Lavastida is being held in Villa Marista, the State Security headquarters in Havana, and is under an “investigation process,” according to what the authorities told his mother by telephone on Saturday night. Lavastida returned to Cuba from Germany on June 21, after finishing his residency … Continue reading “Cuban Artist Hamlet Lavastida Detained in Villa Marista and ‘Under Investigation’”

The Most Closely Watched Patient in the World

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 26 May 2021 — It is easy to spot them: they wear their hair short and closely observe everyone who passes near the Calixto García Hospital in Havana. They are the members of the State Security who patrol the hospital where the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, the most … Continue reading “The Most Closely Watched Patient in the World”

San Isidro Movement Calls for a National Dialogue Without Excluding the Cuban Authorities

14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 5 March 2021 — The San Isidro Movement (MSI) has launched the Patria y Vida [Homeland and Life] platform to convene a “national dialogue” with all actors in society, including the Government, and build a Cuba that represents “a safe home for all,” and to overcome the serious crisis that the nation is … Continue reading “San Isidro Movement Calls for a National Dialogue Without Excluding the Cuban Authorities”

Challenging Her Dismissal from the Historian’s Office to Denounce "Arbitrariness"

14ymedio, Havana, 10 January 2020 — Claudia Genlui Hidalgo, a worker at the Office of the Historian, was fired at the end of December after giving a talk on independent art at the Embassy of the Czech Republic. Genlui filed an appeal with the Attorney General’s Office this week despite her distrust of the usefulness … Continue reading “Challenging Her Dismissal from the Historian’s Office to Denounce "Arbitrariness"”

’Consolez Vous,’ The Cuban ’Sex Shop’ That Seeks to Integrate Art and Pleasure

14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 9 June 2019 — In a city where basic products are scarce, thinking about buying a sex toy, never mind the taboo, can be a real odyssey. In Cuba there are no stores “for adults” and XXX cinema is viewed with suspicion or persecuted by the authorities. A group of artists wanted to … Continue reading “’Consolez Vous,’ The Cuban ’Sex Shop’ That Seeks to Integrate Art and Pleasure”

Cuban Artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara Released on Tuesday

14ymedio, Havana, 4 June 2019 — The police released artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara on Tuesday afternoon after he spent 24 hours in the San Miguel del Padrón police station, the independent artist explained to 14ymedio. By telephones, moment after his release, Alcántara related that he was arrested on Monday in the middle of the street. The … Continue reading “Cuban Artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara Released on Tuesday”

14ymedio Faces of 2018: Yanelys Nunez, the Artist Who Stands Against Decree 349

14ymedio, Havana, December 27, 2018 — A graduate in Art History in 2012, Yanelys Núñez Leyva (b. Havana, 1989) has this year been one of the most visible faces on the independent art scene of the Island. Along with Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and another group of artists she defied the country’s cultural authorities by … Continue reading “14ymedio Faces of 2018: Yanelys Nunez, the Artist Who Stands Against Decree 349”

Offensive Against Cuba’s Critical Artists Intensifies

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”

Cuban Festival in Washington: One More Victory for Castroism / Cubanet, Luis Cino Alvarez

Cubanet, Luis Cino Álvarez, Havana, 15 May 2018 — Omara Portuondo, Ballet Nacional, Pablo Milanés, Haydée Milanés, Los Van Van, Teatro El Público, Aldo López Gavilán, Jorge Luis Pacheco, Orquesta Faílde, Teatro El Público, Orquesta del Liceo de La Habana… The top drawer talent went to Cuba, to the Kennedy Center, to the Artes de … Continue reading “Cuban Festival in Washington: One More Victory for Castroism / Cubanet, Luis Cino Alvarez”

Luis Manuel Otero: From Athlete to Dissident Artist / Iván García

Ivan Garcia, 15 February 2018 — He’s like a character out of a dark novel by Pedro Juan Gutiérrez. He turned 30 on December 2, 2017, and the life of Luis Manuel Otero has been marked by survival. He still remembers the 12-hour blackouts when he was a kid, in the middle of the Special … Continue reading “Luis Manuel Otero: From Athlete to Dissident Artist / Iván García”

Cuban Faces 2017: Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara

14ymedio, Havana, 25 December 2017 — Restless, hyperactive, media-focused and irreverent, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara (b. 1987, Havana) turned 30 this year in the midst of an unstoppable and controversial artistic work. With his proposal With All And For The Good Of A Few he created three artistic interventions centered on the luxurious hotel Manzana Kempinski. In the … Continue reading “Cuban Faces 2017: Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara”

My First Encounter with State Security

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”