From Martí we learned that only love generates melodies; from Silvio, that wonder is also the work of the greatest feeling. Today we know that to overcome hatred there is no better antidote than the sap of love.
Cuba, its national project, its lofty dreams and its socialist destiny -the only possible way to annihilate social injustices- has a sacred soul. Its soul is its culture, its culture is love.
To attack by all possible means its economy, its prestige and that of its best citizens, the tranquility of its people, seeking confusion, discouragement and distortions is a word of order for the forces of evil, encouraged by an empire that knows of its bravery, and has ample proof of its healthy contumacy.
Culture is not spared from these attacks, just as it does not yield, responding to the country's guidelines. Culture has serious concerns in Cuba, its creators are aware of their "responsibility" for that joy of the spirit, which is nourished by a song, a sculptural work, a staging, a good book, a concert or a dance.
In order not to stop the steps that make it possible to live in an island animated by art, capable of leaving not a few foreigners speechless at the massiveness that cultural events acquire in our lands, the agreements of a Congress -the Ninth Congress of UNEAC-, held just over three years ago, are still being followed, just as the cultural institutions did not stand idly by during the two years of the pandemic. The virtual alternative gained space, the sun came out wherever it could, but the lights of culture, far from dimming, found new scenarios to reach their audiences.
Marked by the resounding victory over the pandemic -without neglecting the responsibility to continue enjoying the undisputed victory of the country- the year 2022 has been besieged by colonizing intimidations that seek to reach the precincts of culture. The provocation has been met with responses.
Regarding these attitudes and what must necessarily continue to be done, Miguel Díaz-Canel, First Secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the Republic, at the Second National Council of UNEAC, said that "our artistic and cultural vanguard is distinguished for having always waged a long and deep battle against cultural colonization," and assured that although "the historical selectivity of UNEAC has been a purifying screen to reject uncritical, banal and impoverishing cultural consumption," it is not enough to close the door to it, but "it is necessary to create, show, make viral the genuine and powerful Cuban and also universal culture, in all fields, to win the fight against mediocrity".
On that occasion, the Cuban President pondered -among others- some television proposals such as Duaba. La Odisea del Honor; Lucha contra bandidos; Entrega and Calendario (this last one from this year, a series whose production meant a real feat given the context in which it was carried out), and considering the boom that audiovisual and dramatized production, cinema and theater have been taking, he alluded to the strength with which the works reach Cubans when they have quality and the capacity to awaken the most beautiful feelings.
Neither Cuba nor its culture have been intimidated by shameful attacks aimed at crushing it. In spite of so many sorrows, this Cuban 2022 will go down in world history as a year of true epics in the sands of art.
The 30th Havana International Book Fair; the 3rd Havana Design Biennial; the 14th Havana Biennial ( its final stage); the 25th Cubadisco International Fair; the 27th Alicia Alonso Havana International Ballet Festival; the 43rd Havana Film Festival and the 24th International Crafts and Gifts Fair are just some of the most visible spectacles witnessed in this joyful archipelago in which culture stars with open doors. Celebrations such as the 100th anniversary of the Cuban Radio and the 50th anniversary of the New Trova Movement, just to mention a few, were celebrated throughout the year.
Towards the end of January 2023, from January 24 to 28, the 5th International Conference for the Balance of the World, With all and for the good of all, Dialogue of Civilizations, will take place in Havana. In the year that marks the 170th anniversary of José Martí's birth, each new cultural battle will have its lights and thoughts.
The man of the Golden Age, the poet of fiery verses, the author of an essay like Our America, the full-fledged anti-imperialist will be revisited by Cuban cultural institutions, and will be remembered in the world, for whose balance he offered his best energies.
Cuba, which in the nobility of its objectives bears Marti's star, resists, enjoys and wins with the winged forces that shape it. Its history sustains it; its culture enlivens it.
Translated by ESTI
