English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
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"”
Havana Times, Lynn Cruz, 31 March 2018 — The first Independent Cuban Film Festival organized outside of Cuba coincided with my ban from entering the International Film School of San Antonio del Los Banos. With Cubans from the country of “Miami” taking the lead, the event had as its forerunner another that had been organized … Continue reading “Chronicle of a Journey After Being Expelled / Lynn Cruz”
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”
Havana Times, Lynn Cruz, 5 February 2018 — I recently read Tania Bruguera’s statements about an artist’s rights. One of them referred to the artist’s right to dissent. Within an authoritarian system, the artist begins to live a double dissidence, first in art, then in society. Having your own voice is always grounds for suspicion among members … Continue reading ““They’re Using You””
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”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 December 2017 — At least five artists have been released in recent hours after being detained by the police on Wednesday while trying to attend a performance at the independent art gallery El Círculo, as a part of the Endless Poetry Festival promoted by the Group Omni Zona Franca, which is celebrating … Continue reading “Cuba Releases at Least Five of the Artists Arrested for Attending a Performance”
See also: Police Arrest Actress Iris Ruiz and Blogger Lia Villares in Havana
14ymedio, Havana, 9 November 2017 — The arrest of Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara has unleashed a wave of solidarity on the internet. The artist Tania Bruguera launched a solidarity campaign that as of Thursday exceeded 300 signatures to demand the release of the young artist. The declaration states that the government’s reaction towards the … Continue reading “More Than 300 People Sign a Petition for the Release of Artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara”
14ymedio, Havana, 25 September 2019 – The Promotion Division of Cuba’s National Council of the Arts and the Wifredo Lam Center for Contemporary Art announced that the 13th Havana Biennial, scheduled to be held next year, will be postponed until 2019. A press release on the Council’s website it explains that due “the extremely serious … Continue reading “Havana Biennial Postponed to 2019 Because of “Serious Damages” from Hurricane Irma”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 January 2017 — Police maintained a strong operation Thursday around the headquarters of the 1010 Academy in the neighborhood of Cerro, in Havana. Activists Joanna Columbié and Georlis Olazabal were arrested while trying to access the site to participate in a conference on constitutional law, said Eliécer Ávila, president of the independent Somos+ … Continue reading “Cuban Police Detain Activists For Second Consecutive Day / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Havana, 8 October 2016 — The Hanna Arendt Artivism Institute (Instar), led by the artist Tania Bruguera, began operations in Cuba with a call to “encourage solidarity, always latent in the Cuban people, with those affected by Hurricane Matthew,” according to a note from the organizers of the independent project. Monday, 10 October, a holiday … Continue reading “‘Artivism’ Institute Calls For Solidarity With Victims Of Matthew / 14ymedio”
Regina Anavy, Reykjavic, June 27, 2016 — Crossing paths with Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo in Reykjavic, Iceland, on June 27, 2016, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with him. Iceland And Future Plans Regina Anavy: I understand you are here on a special two-year grant from ICORN [International Cities of Refuge Network]. Orlando Luis … Continue reading “A Conversation with Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo / Regina Anavy”
