JULY WHAT’S ON 2013 HAVANA ! Santiago de Electronic Music Comedy Cuba Carnival Festival Festival in July 21-29, 2013 Salón Rosado Havana Santiago de July 13, Salón June 30 to July Cuba Rosado de 7, Havana p 35 La Tropical p 30 p 10 PRODUCED BY .COM .COM Cuba Absolutely is an independent platform, which seeks to showcase the best in Cuba culture, life-style, sport, travel and much more... we seek to explore Cuba through the eyes of the best writers, photographers and filmmakers, both Cuban and international, who live work, travel and play in Cuba. Beautiful pictures, great videos, opinionated reviews, insightful articles and inside tips. ALL ABOUT CUBA, ALL THE TIME HIGHLIGHTS HAVANA RESTAURANT GUIDE We have reviewed over 150 places to eat in Havana from the coolest new paladar to the old favorites. Check out. The Ultimate Guide to Dining out in Havana. Like us on Facebook for Over 100 videos including Follow us on Twitter for beautiful images, links to interviews with Cuba’s best regular updates of new interesting articles and regular artists, dancers, musicians, content, reviewa, comments updates. writers and directors. and more. OUR CONTRIBUTORS We are deeply indebted and extremely grateful to all of the writers and photograohers who have shared their work with us. We always welcome new contributors and would love hear from you if you have developed a Cuba-related project, idea, photo series or article. You can contact us at [email protected] page 2 WHAT’S ON HAVANA W ! HAT’S ON HAVANA JULY 2013 ! July is a month so hot that you either need to embrace the sweaty blistering steaming heat or get out of town. If you choose the latter, Santiago de Cuba at the far end of the country hosts Cuba's best carnival toward the end of the month (July 21-29). This is the cradle of Cuban music, so this is a must see for those seeking that authentic experience. There is absolutely no chance of Rolling Stones stealing the show. Earlier in the month (July 3-9), there is another Santiago de Cuba festival, the Festival del Caribe, Fiesta del Fuego which is dedicated to Colombia this year. Back in Havana, there is no let up in activities, exhibitions, concerts, festivals and performances. For those looking for a party with the in crowd, don't miss the III Festival de Música Electrónica Cubana on July 13. Cuba's premier comedy festival also kicks off from June 30 to July 7 and there are loads of activities for kids. We hope you enjoy this review. Any feedback and/or notices about events are always appreciated. You can contact us at [email protected]. Cover photo by Humberto Mayol HAVANA CULTURE PLASTIC PHOTO- CINEMA DANCE ARTS GRAPHY Tribute to the Ballet Nacional de great italian Cuba debut El Museo Nacional Al fin... el mar comic actor Toto performances de Cuba's Origenes de la Galeria Ciudades p 9 p 11 coleccion del Mundo p 3 p 7 MUSIC PERFORMING III Festival de ARTS OTHER EVENTS Musica Back To Musicals IN CUBA Electronica Other events in Havana p 21 Cubana p 23 Santiago de Cuba Carnival p 35 p 12 Fiesta del Fuego p 36 FOR KIDS p 26 The best bars & clubs in Havana Conner Gorry’s Best Live music venues in Havana HAVANA The best place to eat in Havana Elena’s ups & downa to dining out in Havana GUIDE Directory / Address book Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com ART Factoría Habana THROUGHOUT JULY In El ardid de los inocentes, Cuban artists Celia y Yunior, Ricardo Miguel Hernández, Grethell Rasúa, Luis Gárciga, Marianela Orozco, Néstor Siré and Renier Quer make use of photography, video and installation art to delve into the one-to-one relationship between the individual and urban context. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes ! (Edificio de Arte Internacional) THROUGH JULY 22 The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes is celebrating its 100th birthday with two exhibitions related to the anniversary. The El Museo Nacional de Cuba's Orígenes de la colección examines to the museum's first exhibition in 1913 and shows pieces from its present collections, which later became part of other Havana museums. Hitos' Crecimiento de la colección de arte en el Museo Nacional (1913-1963), on the other hand, centres on the significant instances in the museum's life, such as the loan of artwork by the San Alejandro Art Academy in 1913, the purchase of pieces from the Italian collector Salvatore Buffardi in 1925, and the legacy of Rafael Carvajal in 1954. Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com page 3 WHAT’S ON HAVANA ! ART MUSEO NACIONAL DE BELLAS ARTES GALERÍA VILLA MANUELA Through July 1 Exhibition on the centenary of Through July 13 Cristal blando (Soft Glass) is (Edificio de Arte Cuban painter and draftsman the graduation thesis from the Cubano) Ernesto González Puig. Little University of the Arts by known today, his body of work Lisandra Isabel García that is of impressive quality and explores the possibility of suggestive capacity. The show crossing a mirror to find is made up of 45 drawing that another reality. illustrate the artist's first production period (1930-1934) and shows a fruitful Opens July 19 Intra corpora, an exhibitio of assimilation of the European painting and sculpture by avant-garde. Arístides Esteban Hernández Guerrero (ARES). CASA OSWALDO GUAYASAMÍN MUSEO BIBLIOTECA SERVANDO CABRERA MORENO July 5-24 Te voy a contar pequeñas historias que me has contado Through July 15 Dibujos eróticos de Cabrera is an installation by Dayana Moreno is made up of erotic Trigo Ramos that encourages drawings by Servando Cabrera the viewers to interact with her Moreno from the institution's creative environment. collections as well as private ones. This exhibition confirms CENTRO DE DESARROLLO DE LAS ARTES VISUALES why Servando is one of the greats in Cuba's visual art. Through July 8 A selection of graduation thesis by students from the University CASA MUSEO JOSÉ LEZAMA LIMA of the Arts: Zoom (Mari Claudia García); Mácula (Leslie García Through July 19 Saura: el ceremonial de las and Carlos González); De las cenizas is a collection of cosas que ceden (Luis Enrique original engravings, publications and reproductions López); and Vigilantes de la by the Spanish painter Antonio Nada (Linet Sánchez Gutiérrez). Saura. Throughout Paquete semanal is with no doubt a singular exhibition by CASA OSWALDO GUAYASAMÍN July Francisco Masó. By offering Te voy a contar pequeñas computer copies of weekly Through July 24 historias que me has contado… foreign TV shows, he aims to installation by Dayana Trigo both shake off the automatism Ramos, who encourages the with which the public interaction of viewers with her consumes them and question creative environment. society's aesthetic education. MUSEO NACIONAL DE BELLAS ARTES BIBLIOTECA PÚBLICA RUBÉN MARTÍNEZ VILLENA In her project Flat, the Opens July 12 Almacenes Afuera will allow Throughout University of the Arts student (Edificio de Arte visitors to the museum to see July Cubano) pieces from the museum's Aissa M. Santiso Camiade collections that have never explores the image as the been out of the vaults before. representation of ideoaesthetic paradigms that places the viewer in a temporary space in which societal paradigms no longer hold true. Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com page 4 WHAT’S ON HAVANA ! ART CASA DE BENITO JUÁREZ CENTRO HISPANO AMERICANO DE CULTURA Throughout In his exhibition, Orígenes, the Throughout De ver-de-arte, by young artists Mexican artist Miguel Milló has Manuel D. Lugo and Alejandra July collected 22 photographs of July Oliva, evokes the physical and naked women carefully spiritual space of a garden, “adorned” with clay, pigments which invites the blossoming of and accessories made from sensations and instincts natural elements. accumulated by the contact with nature. CASA VÍCTOR HUGO GALERÍA ORÍGENES Throughout In the exhibition De metáforas y metamorfosis, Cuban artists In Skylines, the solo exhibition July Throughout Lázaro Saavedra, Reinerio by Rafael Pérez Alonso, the Tamayo, Rubén Alpízar, July artist offers the image of Eduardo Abela and Mauricio Havana seen from the Malecón Abad take symbols of French in a manner that depicts the culture, such as the Eiffel reflection of another city. Tower or art by Rodin, and re- contextualizes them in their own personal styles. Read more at www.CubaAbsolutely.com page 5 WHAT’S ON HAVANA ! Clothes Lines: Performance Art under the Sun by Ricardo Alberto Pérez Throughout the country, clothes lines dominate the domestic scenery. Simple contraptions, often homemade, are as diverse and unique as this island's citizens. On rooftops, balconies, inner courtyards or back gardens, clothes lines are strung with a Caribbean recklessness that holds everything from kitchen rags that have seen better days to undergarments of every shape, color and size. And all of them are exposed unashamedly too often over public streets, attracting the attention and even photographs of tourists below. A clothes line invites passersby to participate in the lives of the users. Who lives here? What do they like? Just look up. The clothes line tells all. In Havana, and in Cuba more generally, one article stands out on clothes lines: bedsheets. From crib size to king size, bedclothes billow in the wind. And Cubans have clear preferences for flapping white sheets that dazzle in the sun's rays. Okay, there may be a Mickey Mouse bedsheet or two, but it is the flapping white bedsheets that Cuban poets and troubadours have in their poems and songs as symbols of hope and freedom. Hanging out the washing is an art. Which end of a piece of clothing should be hung? Should it be hung dripping wet? Which colors should not be exposed to sunlight and which demand it? For Cubans, even the notion of a ban on using outdoor clothes lines or acts to prevent prohibitions on the use of clothes lines is inconceivable.