The Fábrica de Arte Cubano Opens Its Doors After the Pandemic and the Death of the Convertible Peso

The cultural center is located on Calle 26, corner of 11th, in El Vedado. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 1 April 2022 — With a ticket price of 250 pesos, the Fábrica de Arte Cubano [Cuban Art Factory (FAC)] resumes its cultural presentations this Friday night after being closed for more than two years due to the pandemic.

“What is the cheapest rum you will sell?” a young man interested in being there asked a FAC employee this Friday afternoon. The state worker replied that the Santiago and Habana Club brands would be the cheapest.

The cultural center, near the iron bridge that crosses the Almendares river, is managed by the musician X Alfonso; before the pandemic, it mainly attracted tourists and artists from the alternative scene who had the resources to pay the price of its tickets and services.

But between the closing of its doors and this opening, there was the Ordering Task* the currency unification in January 2021, which shook a good part of the Cuban economy, raising inflation and shooting up the price of foreign currency in the informal market. Hence, the big question of this restart night is how much the Art Factory will cost now and which customers will be able to afford it.

The event schedule of the first reopening day includes the presentation of the DJs Tievo and Cusko, artists from the National School of Dance, and Roberto Fonseca and Temperamento.

*Tarea ordenamiento = the [so-called] ‘Ordering Task’ which is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and other measures. 

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