/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/CUBA: Cultural Scene on the Upswing after ‘Lost Decade’

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Mar 14 2000 (IPS) - As the year 2000 progresses, signs have begun to appear in the Cuban capital that a major cultural renaissance is brewing, following the “lost decade” of the 1990s – though residents may not yet be completely aware of what is occurring around them.

The Havana Book Fair, a French film festival, concerts, numerous expositions and the announcement of more than 30 new theatre productions – all within a period of just two months – seem to confirm a revitalisation trend.

Though nostalgia for the cultural heyday of the 1980s still lurks below the surface, Havana residents are beginning to find something to do at night again besides staying home to watch movies or another episode of the latest Brazilian soap opera.

Twenty years ago, Havana’s cultural life included monthly theatre premieres, art show openings on a weekly basis, international film showings, concerts, ballet, and ‘peñas de trovadores,’ a popular Cuban folk music.

Cuba’s economic crisis of the 1990s – arising from the loss of support after the socialist bloc crumbled – meant cutbacks in hours for cinemas and art galleries, the closing down of cultural spaces in order to save electricity, and the reduction of the traditional Tuesday-through-Sunday theatre and concert schedules to weekends only.

Now, however, some schedules are being expanded, though prices are not what they used to be. In many cases, tickets that cost two pesos have now jumped to 10 (the dollar is worth 20 pesos at official exchange houses), and free seats, common in the 1980s, have completely disappeared.

But actor and theatre director Amado del Pino says the mere fact that the “Cartelera Cultural” (Cultural Billboard) is being published again, after disappearing during the last decade, proves that the island nation is on the verge of an artistic revival.

More than 200,000 people visited the Havana Book Fair in February and several hundred movie-goers can be found waiting in line to enter the cinemas showing a French film marathon.

“Himalaya, the Story of a Chief,” a film that premiered last December in Paris to great acclaim, opened the French film festival Feb 26 in Havana. The event is to last one month and will tour throughout other Cuban provinces.

In addition to seeing critically acclaimed films and buying coveted books, Havana residents were able to enjoy the first exposition ever by Argentine cartoonist Quino, creator of the popular “Mafalda.”

As far as theatre, Del Pino said that “after several fairly poor seasons that saw little promotion, February brought signs of recovery with the announcement of more than 30 new works in the city.”

“Though there continues to be a shortage of space and inconsistencies in artistic lines are evident, at least there is an opening for systematic dialogue with the public, who in recent seasons had increasingly abandoned theatre,” he added.

Julián González, president of the National Council of Scenic Arts, said in an interview with the cultural radio station, CMBF, that the official plan is to expand theatre activities to run at least Thursday through Sunday.

According to culture critics, the renewal of the Cuban scene is sustained by the February announcement of so many new theatre works, and by the fact that many of the plays are thematically disturbing or unconventional.

The Critics’ Prize for theatre recently went to “Los siervos” (The Serfs), by Cuban playwright Virgilio Piñera, and directed by Raúl Martín. It was acclaimed as “lucid and anti-dogmatic.”

The theatre environment is still abuzz with the popularity of “Muerte en el bosque” (Death in the Forest), the stage version of “Máscaras” (Masks) by Cuban mystery writer Leonardo Padura. The work uses the story of a transvestite murdered in the Havana forest to explore the reasons behind the island culture’s homophobic tendencies.

“It might look like we are returning to the past, but that’s not true,” commented Wilfredo Pérez, an engineer, age 38. Many Havanans feel that inertia got the best of them, and after “staying at home for so long, it may take some time to get used to going out for the evening again.”