{"id":231503,"date":"2020-12-10T12:01:33","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T17:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=231503"},"modified":"2020-12-10T12:01:33","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T17:01:33","slug":"juan-pin-vilar-we-must-recognize-the-existence-of-independent-artists-and-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/opinion\/juan-pin-vilar-we-must-recognize-the-existence-of-independent-artists-and-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Juan Pin Vilar: \u201cWe must recognize the existence of independent artists and spaces\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several years ago, I was invited by television director and documentary maker Juan Pin Vilar to a program on the Cubavisi\u00f3n Internacional channel, to talk about the promotion of electronic music and other aspects in Cuba. I told him that it was a controversial issue and that he could not leave anything out or overlook pioneering festivals of this genre such as the late Rotilla. He told me to say what I thought, that the hard core of the conversation would be included in the edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, when I saw the broadcast of the program, I was surprised that the most important part of the exchange had aired. I was very satisfied with his work as director and scriptwriter of the space.<\/span><\/p>\n

Juan Pin no longer works in Cuban television (nor do I in the <\/span>Granma<\/span><\/i> newspaper). He is promoting his career as an independent filmmaker and continues to direct works that he considers to have something to contribute to the cultural diversity of the country (I now work for <\/span>OnCuba<\/b>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Juan Pin Vilar\u2019s career has always been surrounded by controversy. He is someone who says what he thinks and that has brought him more than one confrontation in various spaces of culture and communication in Cuba.<\/span><\/p>\n

He has been closely linked to various exponents of the Nueva Trova and music in Latin America. He is very close to Pablo Milan\u00e9s, Fito P\u00e1ez, and was Francisco C\u00e9spedes\u2019s manager for many years. He has played a fundamental role in the organization of the Fito and Pancho concerts in Cuba. I remember that on one occasion I interviewed the Argentine thanks to his intervention. Fito was surrounded by friends and musicians, in one of the dressing rooms of the Karl Marx Theater, and he received me to speak briefly about his return to Havana and the affections he shares with the Cubans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Juan Pin believes in peaceful demonstrations as a way to defend causes that he assumes just. That is why he participated in the recent convocation of Cuban artists and intellectuals who <\/span>gathered in front of the Ministry of Culture (MINCULT)<\/span><\/a>. What initially attracted mainly young people later became a meeting where Cuban artists of different generations met because they had something to say and they felt that the cause could also be theirs.<\/span><\/p>\n

The protesters demanded to speak with Minister of Culture Alpidio Alonso, to present their concerns and annoyances about the barriers that, in their opinion, prevent full creation on the island, and the development of Cuban society. Finally, after almost 10 hours, <\/span>a group of 30 artists was received on behalf of the rest<\/span><\/a>. They met with the deputy minister of culture, Fernando Rojas. In the exchange, Juan Pin talked to these young people and other established figures such as <\/span>director Fernando P\u00e9rez<\/span><\/a> and actor Jorge Perugorr\u00eda.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a very young age, I have participated in almost everything that summons me as a Cuban. That\u2019s why I always say that in these struggles I am summoned by Cuba and the creative avant-garde, which is generally young,\u201d the filmmaker tells <\/span>OnCuba<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent days, the media have referred daily to the demonstrations in front of the MINCULT and one of the triggers that sparked the protest: a group of young people grouped in the <\/span>San Isidro Movement<\/span><\/a> (MSI) went on a hunger strike to demand the release of rapper Denis Solis, member of the collective, sentenced to eight months in prison for contempt.<\/span><\/p>\n

I ask Juan Pin his opinion about the meeting that took place on November 27. \u201cWithout a doubt, it is historical,\u201d he answers sharply.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some media have described as unprecedented this fact that today occupies the center of the Cuban cultural and political debate. In previous years, other events with a certain similarity have put the center of Cuban culture in tension. The so-called email war (2007) is still fresh in memory, a strong cultural controversy born from the appearance on television of two figures directly related to cultural censorship in Cuba in the 1960s and 1970s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike other similar events, social networks had a great weight in the organization of the 27N meeting. This platform is used more and more frequently by Cubans to express their social unrest, as well as by activists for various causes who have joined to demand their rights, as is the case of the LGBTIQ+ community.<\/span><\/p>\n

Juan Pin explains why for him it was historic. \u201cA group of anti-establishment artists has common points with a mass of creators, not only young people, but from different generations, to sit down and talk with an institution that has never wanted to accept its existence. That is a historical and unique incident within the Cuban cultural and intellectual spectrum. It has never happened since 1961, when the meetings at the National Library took place. It has all possible validity; otherwise, I would have refused to actively participate and would have focused on being a mere spectator. That is why I am very grateful to the young people who included me in their agenda, as one of their brothers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Juan Pin is 57 years old, has three children and several short films or teleplays that have not been shown on Cuban television. He has already learned to live with the silence towards his work, which has led him to seek other ways of inserting himself in international cinematographic circuits. During his career, he has been the protagonist or witness of stories that he intends to capture one day in black and white, as he has told me during some of our conversations. Today, without a state job, he writes for various independent media. A week ago, he published a collection interview with singer-songwriter Carlos Varela on the Diario de Cuba site.<\/span><\/p>\n

He has always had close contacts with the youngest filmmakers and artists. Despite the generational gap that separated him from young people who were mostly under 40 years of age, he affirms that he felt comfortable in the demonstration. \u201cI felt comfortable, calm and smiling. I did not personally know most of the young people, but the maturity of their proposals, the language they used, and the infinite love for Cuba, that diverse Cuba that we love and in which we all fit, struck me. The conversation took place in a polite, frontal climate, with antagonistic positions and respect for each one\u2019s opinion. Those kids, without exception, were great. Listening to them meant a hope that Mart\u00ed\u2019s Cuba is possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Last night\u2019s Cuba*<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n