JEWELRY DESIGN IS ONE OF THE ARTISTIC manifestations that has developed the most in Cuba in recent years. All over the country, diverses artists, some art school graduates and others self-taught, have enriched the country’s artistic heritage with excel- lent work that can compete with the best on the continent. Cuban jewelry is made out of all types of materials: metals are combined with precious and semiprecious stones, mother-of- pearl, wood, coral, bone, quartz crystals, and more. The most beautiful work is made out of silver, although out- standing pieces can be found in gold, platinum, nickel silver, titanium, and different alloys and combinations. Cuba has ex- cellent jewelry-makers, true masters whose work can be seen in galleries and other exhibition and marketing spaces. All of the pieces created with these metals are very beautiful and enduring. Unique in their design and elaboration, they spark praise from critics and are also very popular. This has made it possible for them to enjoy a good deal of demand among the public, both domestic and foreign. Visitors can take home a lovely piece or two reflecting an intertwining of contempo- rary tendencies with the most authentic traditions of Cuban jewelry-making. SCALE, TITANIUM...

Everyone has secret story to tell, reads the slogan of Boccaccerías Habaneras, the latest film by Arturo Sotto, which will be premiered in Cuba on July 9. It is the first comedy by the producer of Amor Vertical, which nourished from The stories of Decameron, by Giovanni Boccaccio, to present a film full of sensuality, confidence, irreverence and secret passions in an urban environment. The movie is made up of three independent stories, linked by a main thread: the bedroom of a writer who lost has lost his muse, where people go to share their experiences hoping to become literary characters and get some profits out of it. The three stories are:La historiadeltabaco, Los primos and No te lo vas a creer. Each one has a particular style and visuality thanks to photography and other cinematographic elements. About 50 actors take part in the film, which was shot in quite different locations that range from a circus to a tobacco factory for instance. The film is rich in intertextual elements and references. As said by its producer it is not the usual light comedy and it reaches the audience after having received two awards in the categories of best script...

Pieces by Vicente Hernandez, a worthy exponent of the real-marvelous in contemporary painting in Cuba, aim at interpreting symbols and legends of the Cuban and universal culture. Vicente, known as the painter from Batabano, not just for being born there, but for turning this place into a neuralgic and emotive spot in his aesthetic proposal, is exhibiting his work around these days at the Villa Manuela Gallery. Under the title Por si fuera la huella… about ten medium and large pieces surround spectators in a mystic aura of the storms he places us in. There we find zeppelin towns full of houses, a surrealist vision that moves in different directions from the absurd to the sublime. Each piece tells a story of its own, with a beginning and end, and as much interpretations as spectators may find depending on their subjectivity and their experiences. I cannot tell if it is about lifejackets or Noah’s arks, his creations are based in and out of Cuba because he has taken part in different personal and collective exhibits and in prestigious auctions by Sotheby´s, Christie´s and Phillips in New York. The universe he creates and recreates is characterized by its quality and technique....

The first independent film by Fernando Pérez, La pared de las palabras, is ready after two years production, though there is not stilla specific date for its premiere. This is his eighth film, but it is certainly the most intimate and heartbreaking among his productions given that it comprises many autobiographical elements permeated by the subjectivity of writer Zuzel Monné, co-scriptwriter for the film. With an overwhelming emotive content, the film, described by the director of Clandestinos and Suite Habana as a human drama, relies on a harsh and decisive script capable of moving the most reluctant hearts. The story handles emotions spectacularly and the producer reveals his expertise by presenting a genuine piece of auteur cinema. The plot takes place among desperate screaming and devastating episodes in a mental institution. Fernando Pérez walked into the complex world of psychiatric disorders through a thorough research that helped him reaffirm one of the lines in the film: “the fact that everything is upside-down doesn’t imply there is not order at all”. In about one hour and 45 minutes, the film, unfamiliar in the contemporary visual arts, maintains its capacity to get to people’s hearts at all times. Love and motherly instincts,...

Valdés Yasniel is one of those goldsmiths who think that jewelry should reflect the times we live. Dissimilar materials ranging from fabrics to bakelite, overlaps the metal in original designs that can be displayed as rings, bracelets, pendants, earrings and small corporeal sculptures. Clinging to silver as favorite metal he experiences, innovates, creates and deploys his imagination in different techniques, styles, materials, shapes and color ranges to deliver contemporary jewelry infused with the routine and his creative personality. His work, guided by a sophisticated eclecticism, since it has been nurtured by various foreign and domestic influences, as well as dissimilar architectural styles and from the so- called decorative and applied arts, is characterized by the attempt of the materials, the solutions, the structural, the volume, the asymmetrical and constructivist. Several awards in the International Crafts Fair (FIART) and other events support his successful career despite his youth. Yasniel is not subject to a semi-precious gemstone for his combinations, he prepares his own resins and designs the crystals he uses; he does not work thinking on any specific material, he changes it, drills and cuts it. He also customize at will resins and fuse them to other means and formats. These...

The project Una raza, La raza humana, La Habana-Key West Works as a bridge between the so-called two shores, the first artistic exchange between a Cuban museum and other American cultural institutions in more than five decades. It all started with the retrospective exhibition of the artist Mario Sanchez, hosted by the National Museum of Fine Arts (NMFA) in March and will continue over the coming months, as reported by the organizers. In this exhibition the viewer could appreciate the work of Sanchez, a self-taught artist who developed the technique of bas relief carving and painting on wood, known as intaglio, used to record the life and customs of his peers. He captured everyday scenes and took out the spirit out of them from his peculiar technique and characteristic pictorial art discourse. Son and grandson of cigar factory readers, the artist was born six years after the island gained its independence from Spain. His grandparents migrated to Florida during the Ten Years War and settled in Key West, where they participated in the revolutionary actions conducted by José Martí in that place. The exhibition was organized by Frank Nance, specialist in Montero´s work and Hortensia Sánchez, from the MNBA, to...

The Havana Biennial will mark its thirtieth birthday, an event that has been able like no other to take the art of the least advantaged to the legitimized international circuits. Since its first edition in 1984, its aim has been to build an open space for the art of Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean as a way to facilitate the exchange, understanding their values ​​and contribute to its dissemination and universal recognition. The art of our regions takes on the challenge of universality and contemporary cultures enriched from the nuances and accents typical of the identity of each people, and confront tradition and modernity as unmistakable signs of their wealth and strength. "The Biennal has been nothing but the creation of an alternative space for artistic production of that knowledge scarcely seen and reported on major international stages, come to each new edition not for the grace of resources but by the conviction of the need of its existence, "said its founder and first president Dr. Lillian Llanes. To honor such a significant event, organizers set up a "mini-biennial" which includes exhibitions, book presentations and theoretical events. In the lobby of the National Museum of Fine...

Influenced by the dynamics of the modern life style, sculptures and jewelry by Cuban artists Jorge Gil uphold the perfectionist, obstinate and fanciful traits of their creator. Titanium is a relatively new metal in silversmithing and Gil is helping us write its history with his genuine pieces. By observing his pieces we wonder: What’s in a scale? What’s the difference between a small and a large body sculpture?Gil’s unique, exotic and valuable pieces endure hard strokes because they are riveted, sculpted, texturized and forged. This creator always finds a way to avoid welding and find a solution in the properties of the metal. Each day is a new challenge. In Germany, a country with a broad tradition in jewels design, Gil was recently chose amongthe 32 worldwide artists nominated for its emblematic annual design award. Canoa (500 rings) His rings have been referenced in Showcase 500 Rings: New Directions in Art Jewelry (500 Series), a US magazine on the best rings in the world. Since 2012 he is in charge of the Choral Award of the International New Latin American Film Festival and has been the single Cuban artist included in I Love You Design Jewelry and Accessories, first jewelry...

Since late February 2013 Cubans feel the presence and influence of Turkish culture in Havana, as some of its most typical goods can be purchased at a downtown establishment which is peculiarly fitted and decorated. The bazaar, with an original design inspired by Moorish and Islamic styles and a subtle aroma, transports those who come to the tales of the Arabian nights. In the neighborhood of Miramar, right at the popular La Copa shopping center on 3rd and 42 there is this Turkish bazaar, heir to the famous Bazaar in Istanbul, which offers first line imported products of the Eurasian nation. The Turks, from the Ottoman Empire times have had a reputation for good traders, so that in different parts of the world their indigenous products are marketed, highly demanded for their originality, excellent making and undeniable quality, always fusing traditional with experimental and contemporary elements. Rugs, fabrics, jars, vases, tapestries, incense, lamps, food, household items, glassware, spices, jewelry, key chains, decorative magnets, among other items like Turkish eye or nazar, an amulet and a symbol of the culture of this nation, are present on site. You can also purchase layette, clothes, bags, various household utensils, makeup, personal care and...

Renowned producer Magda González Grau will son premier her first full-length fiction film entitled ¿Por qué lloran mis amigas? (Why do my friends cry?). The film deals with social women’s conflicts, which has been a recurrent topic in her work, mostly in the television. OnCuba met with her to talk about the challenge it presupposes to be a woman and a filmmaker in Cuba and, of course, to talk about the film, still in postproduction. Why did you choose a women story for your first full-length fiction? I didn’t actually choose the story, it got to me just as almost all my works. Scriptwriters like my work and they come to me to offer me the direction of their pieces. By taking a retrospective look to my work, you can realize that women issues or women characters are frequent, but I think that’s ok because I am a woman, right? Once, while talking about women in audiovisual production I said every human being is the books he has read, the films he has seen, the experiences he has lived; soby being a woman one is closer to and is more concerned about women’s issues. It is more so if there...

The Pro-electronic Festival was created for years ago for the purpose of boosting Cuban electronic music. The fourth edition of the festival will take place in Havana from July 3 through 5. Once again this space welcomes artistic creation and shows the expressive potential of the Cuban Electronic Music Movement, while promoting recent national productions. The event, organized by the Pm records Cultural Institution, will begin on July 3 at 5:00 pm at the Torreón de la Chorrera so that the audience can enjoy the most passive side of this genre. The Training Session is retaken on July 4 at 2:00 pm at the headquarters of Pm Records. It is dedicated to the debate on contemporary and polemic issues. There will be two lectures, the first one on legal aspects of production and distribution of electronic music, by expert Darsi Fernandez; and the second one on synesthesia in the movement of Cuban electronic music, by specialist Laura Martín. The third moment of the festival has been reserved for the most popular trends of electronic music and is scheduled for July 5 at the Salon Rosado in La Tropical. It is to visualize the young movement of this kind of music,...

Once more Juan Carlos Cremata hits the news. He will soon premier his latest film, Contigo pan y cebolla, inspired in the theater piece by the same name, by late playwright Hector Quintero. The producer of Viva Cuba and Chamaco has been working in this project for almost three years, alternating the production of his films with the staging of theater pieces. OnCuba talked to him about this new film we will be able to watch soon “as a gift for the Cuban family during the summer”. More than 50 years after the premier of the theater piece Contigo pan y cebolla, how are you planning to connect the contemporary audiencewith its plot in this new film? Contigo pan y cebolla is a project we had in mind since El premio flaco. We had talked about it with Hector Quintero before he passed away. The idea was in the air and it started to materialize after he died. We had to pay him homage so we put aside our projects as a tribute to his figure and his presence in the Cuban theater. He knew about the casting and about the project in general even though we didn’t work together...

Filmmaker Rolando Almirante will soon star the shooting of his first fiction film, which is entitled La saga de Daniel. Almirante is known for some of his previous documentaries such as La Leyenda de Arsenioand El proceso and for the popular television show he directs: El triángulo de la confianza. However, this time, he will undertake a challenge with a musical film, a genre that has not had significant exponents in recent Cuban films. This movie will be coproduced by ICAIC (Cuban film Institute by its acronym in Spanish) and RTV Comercial. Gerardo Alfonso will be in charge of the music; he has written tenth songsespecially for this film. The tracks will be interpreted by trova singers Diego Cano and Erick Méndez, among other musicians. The team is currently working on the first stage and will start working with the cast soon. This will definitely be a challenge because they have to find actors with dancing skills or dancers with theatrical skills. La saga de Daniel will be a movie about dance, dancers and the beautiful but complex universe of classic ballet. “As producer I’ve had a debt with dance for several years now. So, I started to make up...

Dorian is no longer a boy and his father refuses to accept his imminent sexual behavior. Dorian is special; he is a sensitive and happy boy with Down syndrome under his father care, who is fighting against the idea of letting him grow up. That’s the plot of the story young Cuban filmmaker Rodrigo Barriuso proposes with the multi-awarded short fiction film For Dorian. The film was produced in Canada with an impeccable arts direction, memorable performances and a perfect use of expressive resources. In just 16 minutes, it reveals universal conflicts such as intergenerational relations, metal disabilities and sexuality in these common people, despite being a taboo in the media today. During the recently concluded ICAIC’s Young Sample (ICAIC: Cuban Film Institute by its acronym in Spanish) this piece was presented the first prize in the categories of short film, best script and best male performance. OnCuba met with Barriuso, who has been trained in Toronto and London and is now living in Canada, to talk about this short film that has been presented about tenth awards and nominations and has participated in more than 30 festivals in 18 nations in four continents. How do you feel about all...

As the girlfriend of feeling, OmaraPortuondobecame the Diva of the Buena Vista Social Club, an indispensable icon of the Cuban cultural heritage of all times. Her life and work, both intense and broad, have been comprised in a recent documentary by Lester Hamlet, which will be premiered soon. The documentary on this renowned singer born in 1930 was released with the title De Cuba… Omara. Fernando Perez a few years ago made a documentary entitled Omara; however, a lot has happened with this artist so this new material brings new things and unpublished statements by different personalities that are acquainted with her and give their vision of her. Some of these figures are Amaury Pérez, Santiago Alfonso, Eusebio Leal, Ángel Diaz, Teresa García Caturla and José María Vitier. With the purpose of knowing more about this new documentary, OnCuba talked with Lester Hamlet, who once again pays homage to the Cuban music. “We had a lot of material on Omara in the archives, but not on her childhood, so this documentary begins with her early years where her talent and personality were shaped. Portuondo used to sing and began her professional career at a young age so the documentary starts...

One of the popular design movements that has transcended to the present day in both the architecture and the visual arts in general is undoubtedly Art Deco. The capital's Museum of Decorative Arts hosts these days a suggestive sample, Divas in Art Deco, in which nearly sixty costumes worn by famous Cuban artists at the time, belonging to the private collection of designer Ismael de la Caridad, offer the viewer an unforgettable journey through the history of fashion designed under this style on the island. The costumes treasured by Ismael and that he has been collecting for several years "to recover the memories of his childhood" accompanied divas of Cuban culture at key moments in their careers between 1930 and 1950, years in which this trend enjoyed greatly splendor in Cuba. Rosa Fornés, Alicia Alonso, Zenaida Armenteros, Mariana de Gonitch, Carilda Oliver, Esther Borja, María de los Ángeles Santana, Aseneth Rodríguez, Elena Burke, Moraima Secada, Omara Portuondo, Zenia Marabal, Olga Navarro and Gina Cabrera, are some of the owners of these precious outfits that are in impeccable condition, worthy exponents of this trend that not only had great influence on the stages, but the daily life of the time. The...

Fiction full-length film Lejos de la Habana (Away from Havana), by Maikel G. Ortiz, on the conflict of immigration and the life of Cubans in Spain, will be screened at the Tower Theater of the Miami Dade College (MDC) next May 24, and the screening will include a debate with its main character and producer Ricardo Becerra. The 96 minutes long film was already premiered in Havana and Galicia, where the shooting took place for three years. It will be presented in Miami with the previous experience of ICAIC’s 13 Young Sample, which granted it an award in the category of Best Production. “Most Cubans have dreamed about living abroad, even temporarily, but none of them can really picture that life. Our film has to do with that; it is about three Cubans living in Spain, who at some point have thought about returning to their homeland. Whether returning or not depends on each of them, but being away from Havana is really hardfor the three of them”, noted Ortiz in an exclusive interview for OnCuba, during the exhibition of the film in that city that shelters many Cubans who are facing similar conflicts. How did the idea for the...

Based on texts by playwrights Henrik Ibsen and Virgilio Piñera, the young actor and filmmaker Raúl Capote Brana made a short-length film named Café templado that will represent Cuban cinema at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival which begins on May 26. "I still have not gotten past the shock of being selected to participate in this important festival," Capote, who has just arrived to the famous event of the French Riviera, told OnCuba. "I hope that events like these help to restore confidence in less experienced filmmakers in the country," said the director graduate of the ISA and of almost twenty EICTV workshops in various specialties, including directing, photography and production. The film, produced independently by The Manigua Films in collaboration with Theatre Apropose was exhibited at the First Festival Socially Relevant Film Festival of New York in March and a few days will debut at the prestigious event in Cannes, in the section Short Film Corner, out of competition. Café templado tells the story of two women who are lost in Havana in a sort of transatlantic drama. It works as a counterpoint of monologues of two very different characters together, but that develop in similar circumstances where there...

Renowned filmmaker Christophe Barratier, chief organizer of the French Film Festival in Cuba, is in Havana like every year chairing the delegation of French professionals that are accompanying the films that make up the selection that will be at the box office until Thursday 22. Despite being immersed in the filming of his latest project, Barratier could not afford to miss this movie event of which he is founder. Barratier has presented in Cuba his multi-award films The Chorus, Faubourg 36 and The War of the Buttons and aims to share with the Cuban public his latest production. Connoisseur of our cinema, he prefers the works of Tomas Gutierrez Alea and Fernando Pérez especially Strawberry and Chocolate and Suite Habana. He admires the spirit and energy of Cuban filmmakers that are capable of producing great films despite the difficulties and limitations; this is one of his inspirations to organize the French Film Festival each year. Barratier is a film director who loves the same thing when standing behind the camera than as simple spectator. His next film is a challenge, as he defines it and he is somewhat nervous and expectant with the impact it will have, addressing the much...

Espacio Aglutinador(Gathering space) was born two decades ago as an “emergency room” and autonomous square for promoting and developing Visual Arts. “I can assure you it was not planned, not carefully organized, nor created over theoretical foundations or interests or backgrounds; it just emerged by accident” noted to OnCuba artist and curator Sandra Ceballos, the soul and manager of this space settled in her house until last April 6, when it started a tour all over the country. During the early 90’s, difficult moments every Cuban recalls, we needed an emerging cultural space in the country to carry out more daring and less prejudiced projects free from censorship. We needed a space for exhibiting visual arts away from canonized boundaries and methodologies for the promotion of officially established arts such as promoting established or new artists from the Cuban Higher Institute of the Arts (ISA by its acronym in Spanish), leaving aside talented artists that had been moved away from the cultural systemic infrastructure of that time. We demanded a place where art weren’t judged by the personality or the attitude of its creators, a place free from taboos that prevented exiled Cuban artists to exhibit their work in Cuba,...

Since he entered the Cuban panorama of visual arts in the late eighties, Carlos Guzmán (Havana 1970) has gone through various paths. His constant quests and restless spirit, have taken him to be a drawer, painter, sculptor, instructor of art, drawing professor and publications illustrator. Due to his accomplishments and increasing international recognition in the last years, he was selected to represent the American continent for UNESCO` National Commission of Andorra in the IV edition of Art Camp event “Colors for the planet”, that will take place next year between the 14 and the 24 of July ,in Ondino, Andorra. Art Camp is an international forum where the plastic artists of the five continents meet and interact sharing their culture and where they will present their own cultures through their artistic creations. Cuba will be represented for first time in this proximate edition with the recognized creator to whom they have endorsed the labels of post-medieval artist. The objective of this event is the creation of a fund of original works that show the creative and artistic work based on UNESCO´ values like the protection of the environment, promotion of peace and of the diversity of cultural expressions. The participating...

An Arabian proverb goes like this: paradise is in the mother's lap, while our apostle Jose Marti stated that the arms of the mothers are like flowery baskets. The truth is that a mother is a sacred, influential and essential being to each of us. So, everyday, beyond the calendar and the significant dates, we must remember and remind her how important her presence and light is in our lives. It is close the date when we celebrate Mother's Day in Cuba, the second Sunday in May and what better tribute to mom that to celebrate it in family, as she likes, taking her to nice place for dinner, so that she doesn’t have to cook or wash the dishes afterwards. Among the various gastronomic places available in the city, there is Moraleja, a place bold and traditional at the same time, a restaurant with a very definite culinary taste. This space emerged from a family dream with the sole aim to please and captivate those who visit, with special emphasis on wine and bakery. With unusual decoration with baroque touches and melodies that generate positive energy, friendship and pleasures found shelter here without predefined limits. A few steps from...

On 17 occasions the Cuban cinemas have witnessed the broad summoning power exerted by French films in Cuban spectators. Organized by the Cuban Films Institute (ICAIC by its acronym in Spanish), the French alliance and the French embassy in Cuba, this 17th edition of the French Cinema Festival will be held from May 2 through 25, with 16 productions: 10 full length films, 4 documentaries and two cartoons, produced between 2011 and 2013. Under the tittle Francois Truffaut, 30 years later, the festival will pay homage to this great filmmaker, with a retrospective sample of four of his most significant works as for instance, Los 400 golpes and Jules and Jim, among others. The event will be opened with the screening of the film Como hermanos, in presence of his producer Hugo Gelin and actors Francois-Xavier Demaison and Pierre Niney. This film was nominated to the Caesar award in the categories of Opera Prima and the actor of the year for Pierre Niney, who was also a candidate to the Lumiere awards in the same category. The story begins when Charlie is no longer there and the lives of three men –Boris, Elie and Maxime--, drastically changes: the three of...

I could never interview Gabriel García Márquez, he hated interviews and never gave me one. I was disappointed. I just talked to him one afternoon a decade ago in Quinta Santa Barbara, home of the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema he presided. That dialogue resembles an inventory of evasive answers which ended up being advice I will never forget as I venture into the best and worst job in the world as he himself called journalism. Unbearably stubborn and persistent as those who know me know that I am, I decided at that time to rip at least two sentences from the Colombian Nobel, and not leave empty-handed for the office. A photo that, like others, a photographer friend of mine never gave me, immortalized the moment that marked a before and after in my view, understanding and interviews. It turns out that for journalism student who always learned more outside than inside the classroom, all dialogue with one of her literary paradigms, at least the smallest, would inevitably mutated in a master class. Of that I was always certain but I never imagined this conversation would be like this. I saw him; I was over a presentation I...

After nine years, the first Cuban animated full film in 3D –Little finger, directed by Ernesto Padron--, will be premiered in the cinemas of the Caribbean island during the first week of July. Little finger was a long and arduous process which seemed it would never come to an end. ICAIC’s (Cuban Film Institute by its acronym in Spanish) first experience in 3D turned it a school for its makers. It was an extended and hard path for the little hero to show his adventures to the public since in the seventies Tulio Raggi cherished the idea and asked Ernesto Padron to design the characters. The old project never materialized, although Padron always thought of doing it The voices of the film have been recorded by Lieter Ledesma, Yoraisi Gómez, Manuel Marín, Corina Mestre, Carlos Ruiz de la Tejera and Osvaldo Doimeadiós and its soundtracks went by Pancho Amat, Edesio Alejandro, the National Symphonic Orchestra, Miriam Ramos, Anabel López and Ernesto Yoel Espinosa. Unlike many people might think, it wasn’t the lack of financing which slowed down the production. We talked to Esther Girzel, director of ICAIC’s animation study and executive producer of the film; Ariel Blanco, its producer, and...