Residents of the Pogolotti neighborhood, in the Havana municipality of Marianao, are proud for more than one reason: this was the first working class neighborhood built in Cuba, named after one of the families of the country's most important intellectuals, which has already surpassed its first century of existence.
If this were not enough, there is also the noble history of its residents. Those who first inhabited this neighborhood were manual workers and patriots who took up arms against the Spanish.
On February 24, 2011, the documentary Mi Pogolotti querido (My dear Pogolotti) by Italian filmmaker Enrica Viola, was presented to mark the 100th anniversary of this important area of the capital.
Several initiatives preceded the making of this film, such as the project, “El siglo de los Pogolotti en Cuba,” which gave rise to the book Dino Pogolotti, un piemontés en La Habana, which served as inspiration for two plays written in Italy and performed in Cuba.
Soon after, with the support of the Ministry of Higher Education; the Group for the Comprehensive Development of Havana; the Marianao Municipal Assembly of People's Power; the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples; and the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, the “Sinergia en Pogolotti” project began, whose Cuban representative is Acela Caner Román.
What is Sinergia en Pogolotti?
Sinergia…is a project that can be very broad. It’s not a project to focus on any one thing, but rather if work needs to be done on the Casa de los Jóvenes (youth club), we do it for a year or two. When that finishes, we focus on another need in the neighborhood.
There is also the work with older adults. Here in Marianao there is the Older Adults’ Association, which already has over 100 members. They have met with friends visiting from Italy and have performed plays. It’s a means of insertion.
We have received support from the Piedmont region of Italy, Giaveno City Hall, the Italy-Cuba Friendship Association. Then there is the AUSER association, the Italian Pensioners’ Union, the Torino Regional Museum of Emigration. There are many institutions who want to learn, interact, exchange.
Our real interest is friendship, knowledge, collaboration. That's what Sinergia (synergy) means, it’s uniting the forces we have and for each to make something unique that can be exceptional in terms of relations.
What is the impact in the community?
Sinergia plans to support the projects of the Comprehensive Transformation Workshop, which include the Older Adults’, Community and Youth Casas.
Depending on the needs of the Workshop and these projects, Sinergia en Pogolotti can cooperate. Currently the Casa de los Jóvenes is being renovated.
This space was expanded to devote it to the youth who go there to socialize, but above all to learn, to occupy their time in a productive way.
There are many artists in the Pogolotti neighborhood. We participated for the first time in the last Havana Biennial thanks to the “Arte en Proceso” project. We were joined by personalities such as Nelson Domínguez, who were here and worked with the people.
For us it is important that the community is involved and is reflected in this community work. It is an effort for people to feel attached, part of the neighborhood.
We currently have a new project, which is to produce an Italian and Cuban recipe book, put together by members of the Marianao Older Adults’ Association, and AUSER and the Italian Pensioners’ Union. This supports the knowledge of the people.
The (Italian) pensioners want to come to Cuba. They are revolutionary people of the left. I think people feel happy. For us, the work has been really good.
What has this work meant to you?
I have gained a lot from the community work in terms of the relationship I have with the people of Pogolotti, because they are very good, very enthusiastic people with a strong sense of belonging, as for many years they were very discriminated against.
Nobody has to knock on someone’s door asking for help. When people know that you are in need, they are there for you. That is not an easy thing to find. These are the things I've been appreciating, witnessing the solidarity among people, the help provided.
Tell us about the Pogolotti family...
For us, it is a very great pleasure to have Graziella here. If you were to ask me what do we have to thank Dino Pogolotti for, I would say, ‘For having given us Marcelo and Graziella'.
In Giaveno there is a Dino Pogolotti Society, where an exhibition was recently presented that tells the story of this immigrant, his family and the neighborhood.
We hope that next year we can host an exhibition here in the Pogolotti neighborhood and that we can also show it elsewhere.
My interest is for our work to serve to better appreciate the Pogolotti family because they have extraordinary values which are well known here in Cuba. I would like people to continue valuing the figure of Dino, of Marcelo, who is exceptional, and of Graziella Pogolotti.
And may the neighborhood and people also be valued because beyond the architecture and position, the most important aspect of Pogolotti is the people living here. This is what Sinergia aims to do.
Tell us about the Italian involvement…
Serious work is undertaken with them and we are happy that the region, the government and the authorities of Giaveno are proud. It was almost a revelation for them to discover that there were such important and renowned personalities who came from there.
For us it has also been very good to get to know them. There are things to be thankful for in life. I am grateful that there are many good people in the world, especially here in Cuba and in Italy, and that we have gathered so that, on the basis of what we can each humbly contribute with small actions, we can improve, from the social point of view, life here in the neighborhood.
CONTEXT
Italy in the roots of Cuban culture
Dino Pogolotti (1873 - 1923) was born in Giaveno (Italy). Heemigrated to Cuba and raised a family here. His son Marcelo and granddaughter Graziella became prominent Cuban intellectuals. The first homes to be built in today's Pogolotti neighborhood were constructed on the family's Jesús María estate between 1910 and 1911.
Graziella (1932) is one of the most prestigious Cuban intellectuals. In 2005, she won the National Prize for Literature, and has seen an extensive career as an essayist, art critic and university professor, as well as having won important awards and recognitions for her intellectual work.
Her father, Marcelo Pogolotti (1902 - 1988), was a wonderful painter. He was a founding member of the First European Social Painters Group. Towards the end of the 1920s, he joined the futurist movement in Italy. He also wrote essays and was an art critic. He is considered one of the icons of the Cuban artistic vanguard. (Ecured)
