OFFICIAL VOICE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CUBA CENTRAL COMMITTEE

Reverence for the eternal Giselle

Raúl, Díaz-Canel, Machado Ventura and Lazo pay their respects to Alicia, participating in the Honor Guard.

Raúl Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba; President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez; José Ramón Machado Ventura, Party second secretary; and Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the Council of State and the National Assembly of People's Power, participated in an honor guard for the great Alicia Alonso

Díaz-Canel joins cultural policy discussion

Among the Ministry of Culture’s priorities are raising the quality of programming to better reflect artistic standards. Pictured is the Contemporary Dance of Cuba.

During a leadership meeting of the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists, problems identified during the group’s IX Congress regarding implementation of the nation’s cultural policy were addressed

Cuban design in Mexico

Cuban design in Mexico.

Mexico’s Design Week will welcome Cuba as its featured guest country with an exhibition including a variety of objects, furniture, photographs, models, and graphics, and interactive materials

Cuba in 2019 Tango Championships

Irma Beatriz Peniche and Enrique Guisado, a Cuban couple competes in World Tango Festival and Championships in Buenos Aires.

A Cuban couple competed in Buenos Aires, after qualifying during the First Caribbean Tango Championship held in Havana, in July, where they placed first among 15 duos from the region

Fidel, just as he was

Fidel, just as he was.

A book of photos and text by Jorge Valiente and Sahily Tabares for our historical memory

Cubanness and Cuban identity

Cubanness and Cuban identity.

Fernando Ortiz invited us to work on a common project to develop “a full, heartfelt, conscious, and desired Cuban identity”

Retamar survives

Fidel with Roberto Fernández Retamar.

Roberto Fernández Retamar (1930-2019) advocated for, and was, amilitant intellectual, not simply critical, or merely committed, but an organic part of the revolutionary movement

Criticism and strategy

critica

Artists and the public need critics, not for judgmental or conclusive opinions, but as referential points to guide the exchange of ideas

A phrase Quixote never said

A phrase Quixote never said.

Those who dream of capitalist restoration in Cuba are not interested in debating the cultural war. They hope our people accept as their own the attractions of the "machine," and happily submerge themselves in the limbo of frivolity

Nicolás Guillén in July

Nicolás Guillén in July.

His life had a perceptible splendor, in both his verse and prose, and in the taking of any action in the service of a better world

Work of Fernando declared National Cultural Heritage

ortiz

During a ceremony, on the 138th anniversary of the outstanding intellectual’s birth, held in the Aula Magna of San Gerónimo University College, in Havana’s central historic district, Gladys Collazo, president of the National Cultural Heritage Council, announced that the work of Ortiz has been declared National Cultural Heritage

Salvador

salvador

Floral wreaths by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz and President of the Councils of State and Ministers Miguel Díaz-Canel were sent to the National Theater, where the wake for the ashes of the outstanding actor was held.

The Yankee and the modern

yanqui

As a sign of U.S. cultural hegemony, the identification of“the Yankee” with “modernity” seems to have remerged in Cuba. Those who want to attract clients with a “modern” appeal use symbols of the North: Santa hats, names in English for different spaces, Disney or Halloween costumes

Those who dance, win

Those who dance, win.

Those who attended the unveiling of a plaque placed at the spot where the first concert of Juan Formell’s Los Van Van took place, on December 4, 1969, can attest to the fact that Cubans are a dancing people

Current challenges faced by Cuban culture

Current challenges faced by Cuban culture.

Excerpts from speech by Miguel Barnet, outgoing president of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), during its recent Congress held in Havana, June 29-30

HAVANA’S 500TH ANNIVERSARY

Luces y Sombras: Preserving visual arts heritage

The Luces y Sombras documentary series began with a film on the life and work of maestro Alfredo Sosabravo, titled Personaje frente al sol (Figure facing the sun).

This year, in which the Cuban capital proudly celebrates its 500 years, the City Historian’s Office’s audiovisual production company has chosen 20 films for a Special Collection highlighting contemporary Cuban artists

Korda’s militia woman

Korda’s militia woman.

The story of Idolka Sánchez, the militia face immortalized by Korda’s lens in 1962, one of the millions of women protagonists of the Cuban Revolution

Projections for the new year from the Ministry of Culture

“Imagen 3” community project, organized by Cecilio Avilés.

A special place among priorities is afforded permanent dialogue with creators about their relationship to the Revolution’s Cultural Policy, in defense of identity and sovereignty in the face of imperialism’s colonizing model

Raven Wilkinson fought racism

reven

On December 17, at the age of 83, ballet icon Raven Wilkinson, the first black woman to sign a contract with a major company, passed away

Cuban film posters are unique

el pueblo

The 40th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema will feature several exhibitions of Cuban film posters, including Forty Years in Posters, Again... other classics and Titón: 90th Birthday

A Nobel Prize for Maryse Condé

nobel

The playwright and narrator born on the island of Guadeloupe in 1937, Maryse Condé, on October 12 was awarded The New Academy Prize announced by the Swedish academy, the newly created distinction known as “the Alternative Nobel”

Bebo is Cuban

bebo

The decades he lived far away, first in Sweden and later in Spain, never made Bebo Valdés less ours, or stopped him from promoting Cuban music

José Martí Cultural Society promotes an indispensable legacy

Abel Prieto is the new director of the Martí Program Office, following the path forged by Dr. Armando Hart. Pictured with him are Minister of Culture Alpidio Alonso, and Víctor Gaute, a member of the Party Central Committee Secretariat.

The José Martí Cultural Society has 14,877 active members, grouped in 1,061 clubs, and promotes values like patriotism, solidarity, respect for diversity, anti-racism, and peace, among children, adolescents, and youth, via serious, objective study of the nation’s history

Behind the vanguard: Fruitful and inclusive arts education

vanguardia

The broad and diverse cultural festival entitled “Artes de Cuba: From the Island to The World,” to take place May 8 through June 3 in Washington’s Kennedy Center, reflects the island's sustained and fruitful arts education program, key to the training of new talent

The Cobre Steel Band

dan

With a fruitful, 30-year career under its belt, the Cobre Steel Band has won a spot in the musical tastes of Cubans

LIVING STATUES OF OLD HAVANA

Self-employed street artists

Arigneyis Cruz Fernández as La Dama de la Buena Ventura (Lady of Good Fortune), alongside a real statue in tribute to Chopin.

IN the golden kilometer of Havana’s Historic District, which stretches from Cuba Street to Avenida del Puerto, crossing the Cathedral, Armas, San Francisco de Asis, Vieja and Cristo squares

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