C U L T U R E

• The National Museum of Fine Arts: centenary & contemporary
May 23,2013
The architectural complex of the National Fine Arts Museum, designed almost in the shape of a triangle in Old Havana, is a building of exceptional cultural value, and an essential visit for anyone who decides to explore the wonders of Cuban and universal art.

• I prefer the Cuban prize to a Grammy
May 17,2013
TEGO Calderón expresssed his delight when he heard the news of his nomination for the 2013 International Cubadisco Award for the album Original gallo del país. "I didn’t know that Cuba had considered honoring me with an international award.

• Adigio Benítez, exemplary art educator and revolutionary
May 17,2013
LOOKING back over the history of Cuban contemporary art and artists who profoundly committed to ethics and to their work in their era, the vanguard position of Adigio Benítez Jimeno, whose exemplary artistic and revolutionary mastery constitute his greatest legacy, would have to be noted.

• Talking of Poetry
May 9,2013
THE first thing was discovering a void: simply, something was missing. But, suddenly, everything could turn around; without leaving their place, things were already beginning to be elsewhere. For me, poetry was not in the new unknown but in a new dimension of the known, or possibly, in an unknown dimension of the evident.

• Fina, always modest
May 9,2013
WE know it all too well. Fina García Marruz does not like tributes, acknowledgements, grand stages. Her intellectual stature as one of the most important figures in current Hispanic literature lies within an essentially modest person.

• César’ Portillo – A legend of Cuban music
May 9,2013
THE singer is gone but the song lives on. César Portillo de la Luz , who turned 90 on October 31, 2012, died on May 4, as a result of cardiac arrest. He was a fighter who never hung up his gloves. His work will always be brilliant. He is one of the cornerstones of Cuban music.

• Raúl decorates Fina García Marruz with José Martí Order
May 2,2013
If one asked poet and essayist Fina García Marruz to mention a name, one name amongst the thousands she has heard in the course of her recently celebrated 90 years, she would surely give that of the Cuban national hero, the universal José Martí, to whose work she dedicated countless hours of study alongside her husband, the deceased writer and intellectual, Cintio Vitier.

• Five very special prizes
May 2,2013
FIVE Special Prize winners have been announced, marking the opening of the 2013 Cubadisco competition, the winners of which will be announced at the opening ceremony of the Cubadisco International Fair, being held in Havana, May 18 through 26, dedicated to young people, concert music and the violin, with Ecuador as Guest of Honor.

• A Century of Fine Art
May 2,2013
THIS year the National Museum of Fine Arts is celebrating its first 100 years. After starting its uncertain itinerary in 1913, it relocated to several venues in Havana (most of them not in a condition to house the first art works) until finally moving to its two current buildings, near Parque Central.

• Alfredo Guevara: Loyalty, commitment and clarity
April 25,2013
Alfredo Guevara, founder of Cuban Revolutionary Cinema and one of the key promoters of the New Latin American Cinema, died in Havana on April 19, at the age of 87, as a result of a heart condition which had worsened over recent weeks.

• Bejay: Racism, Cuba & the U.S.
April 25,2013
The ruckus that Cuban-American Republican Congress members Marco Rubio and Ileana Ros-Lethinen created over Afro-American superstars Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s recent visit to Cuba, sheds some light on other issues that go beyond the hostilities from either side of the Strait of Florida.

• Cultural Heritage
April 16,13
A total of 16 works were nominated for the 2013 11th edition of the Monument Conservation and Restoration Competition, to be awarded on April 18, in the José Martí Memorial.

• La Concordia, an astonishing historical novel
April 5,13
WHEN, at 22 years of age, Evelio Traba first heard his grandmother’s fascinating story, he never imagined that the vague idea of turning it into a novel would become a dream come true for the young writer – that it would be so well-received and published so quickly.

• 2nd Festival of Latin American Monologue convened
April 5,13
TO celebrate the 124th anniversary of the Tomás Terry Theater in Cienfuegos, the 2nd Festival of Latin America Monologue has been convened for February next year.

• Rosario Cárdenas, 2013 National Dance Prize
April 5,13
CUBAN dancer and choreographer Rosario Cárdenas has been awarded the 2013 National Dance Prize for a lifetime’s work.

• NATIONAL GUIÑOL THEATER
The legendary Guiñol Theater
April 5,13
HALF a century ago, the efforts and dreams of Carucha Camejo, her brother Pepe Camejo and Pepe Carril for a national puppet theater, became a reality with the founding of the National Guiñol Theater (TNG). Puppet theaters were beginning to become popular with the emergence of groups in Santiago de Cuba, Camagüey, Santa Clara, Matanzas and Pinar del Río.

• San Francisco welcomes Antonio Guerrero’s paintings
April 2,13
WASHINGTON.—A large number of San Francisco residents were present for the opening of the Endemic Butterflies of Cuba collection of paintings by Antonio Guerrero, one of the five Cuban anti-terrorists detained in the United States.
- MIAMI 5

• Luis Carbonell: the living word
March 28,13
MAESTRO of words, poetry recitals and various generations of Cuban artists, Luis Mariano Carbonell reached his 90th birthday with the same oral lucidity which earned him the title of "Watercolor of Cuban Poetry," and made him one of the legends of Cuban and Latin American culture.

• Regional culture for sustainable development
March 28,13
CUBAN Culture Minister Rafael Bernal described as significant the first meeting of ministers responsible for this sector in member countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and affirmed that such collaboration will contribute to cultural and regional integration.

• ART DECO IN CUBA
A special heritage
March 28,13
MANY first-time and repeat visitors to Havana are surprised by the architectural eclecticism which gives the city its very particular flavor. Beyond the colonial style of the enclave of Old Havana, one can find surviving remnants of the "air of modernity" which characterized the city in the first half of the 20th century.

• Wu Opera once again captivates the capital
March 22,13
 ART and dexterity functioned in unison on the stage of Havana’s Miramar Theater during a one-off performance by members of the Zhejiang Wu Opera, People’s Republic of China, on a second visit to Cuba.

• International Book Fair ends
March 22,13
SANTIAGO DE CUBA.— At the close of the 22nd edition of the International Book Fair, Zuleica Romay, president of the Cuban Book Institute (ICL), praised the efforts of organizers, publishers, designers, editors and everyone involved with the industry to make their work accessible to the public. She included published editions and the approximately 1,000 newly launched titles, to be completed in the next few weeks.

• 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ALEJO CARPENTIER FOUNDATION
A growing cultural project
March 14,13
THE Alejo Carpentier Foundation is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Its fundamental objectives – to promote the study and dissemination of the eminent writer’s works and contribute to the development of Cuban culture – have been achieved and the project continues to grow.

• U.S. Music Academy award for José Luis Cortés
March 7,13
THE U.S. Brooklyn Academy of Music has presented José Luis Cortés (El Tosco) with its Diploma of Artistic Achievement. The diploma was for the musical production and orchestration of the Red Hot + Cuba show, staged last December 1 at New York’s BAM Howard Gilman Opera House.

• YOLDANCE
Better Dance Cuban-style
March 7,13
ALTHOUGH relatively new to the Cuban dance scene, the Yoldance Company is recognized nationally and internationally for its musical shows. The cast, directed by Yolena Alonso, has found a way of combining music, dance and drama without ever losing a Cuban authenticity.

• Mario Goloboff: promoting writers
March 7,13
MARIO Goloboff, an Argentine writer and professor at the National University of La Plata, finds it difficult to say which of his two professions he prefers.

• Book Fair Tours Cuba
March 7,13
THE 22nd International Book Fair, having completed its Havana stage, is currently touring Cuba’s provinces, before ending March 10 in Santiago de Cuba.

• CRITICAL EDITION OF ¡ECUÉ-YAMBA-O!
Lines and drums by Alejo Carpentier
February 28,13
"AS I was enjoying the marvelous performances of the group Biankomeko, I went back in time and imagined that it was Día de Reyes (Epiphany), that the cabildos were out and about in the Havana of those days, that they came in here, the Palacio de la Condesa de la Reunión and that she was on this balcony, dropping them the alms that were given to the Afro-Cuban groups who paraded through the streets, ending their route at the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, where the same thing took place."

• EUGENIO BARBA
A licensed genius
February 28,13
I have read and heard so much about director Eugenio Barba that when he was there in front of me I could only smile nervously.

• Book fair concludes in Havana
February 28,13
THE first stage of the 22nd edition of the Internacional Book Fair was officially closed on Sunday, February 24 in the Nicolás Guillén Hall at the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress, the central venue of the literary event attended by 320,000 visitors.

• A Book Fair for all
February 21,13
"WE would like to extend a warm welcome to the more than 700 writers, professionals and artists from 40 countries who are visiting us here and, in particular, to the official delegation from Angola. You will make this 22nd Havana International Book Fair unforgettable," affirmed Zuleica Romay, president of the Cuban Book Institute, upon inaugurating the most important festival of the arts in Cuba, which for 10 days will be centered around La Cabaña Fortress.

• The poetry of Agostinho Neto bursts into the Book Fair once again
February 21,13
THE poetry of Agostinho Neto (1922-1979) is founded upon the life of his people. Although formally written Angolan literature – I am not talking about the rich oral tradition of the diverse ethnicities which coexist in that country – has various exponents dating back to the 19th century, already under Portuguese domination, the founder of the independent nation won, in his own right, a highly prominent place in his country’s literature prior to independence.

• GOYA AWARDS
Juan de los muertos, best Ibero-American film
February 21,13
THE Cuban film Juan de los muertos, directed by Alejandro Brugués, won the Goya Award for the best Ibero-American film at the Goya Awards ceremony held Madrid, February 17.

• ALBA ARTS PRIZE
Our America dances with Alicia
February 8,13
THE awarding of the ALBA Arts Prize to prima ballerina Alicia Alonso not only recognizes her artistic career spanning 70 years, but also her global contribution to the popularity of the Cuban dance school, which represents all of Our America.

• 2012 ALBA ARTS PRIZE
Eduardo Galeano’s contribution recognized
February 8,13
URUGUAYAN Eduardo Galeano received the news that he had been awarded the 2012 ALBA Literature Prize just a few days after presenting in Chile his most recent book Los hijos de los días and publishing an article on the demonization of Chávez, which stated in its first paragraph, "Hugo Chávez is a demon. Why? Because he provided literacy instruction to two million Venezuelans who could not read or write, despite living in a country that possesses the world’s greatest natural resource, that is oil."

• In praise of commitment
February 8,13
IT is no accident that Zuleica Romay Guerra introduced her latest essay, Elogio de la altea o las paradojas de la racialidad (Praise for a Crème-filled Chocolate or Paradoxes of Race), "A reflection of "new and old concerns." Her essay won the 2012 Casa de las Americas Extraordinary Prize for studies of the Black presence in contemporary Latin America and the Caribbean.

• 2013 Casa Prize awarded to Cuban Jesús Arboleya
February 8,13
IN a ceremony held in the Sala Che Guevara of the Casa de las Américas and attended by the Director, Roberto Fernández Retamar, Jesús Arboleya Cervera was awarded the Casa Literary Prize in the Historical and Social Essay category, for his work entitled Cuba y los cubano-americanos. Un análisis de la emigración cubana.

• Ernesto Lecuona ‘s letters: An editorial surprise
February 1,13
AUTHOR Ramón Fajardo has another publishing surprise for the reader at Cuba's 2013 XII International Book Fair, the collected letters of the great Cuban composer and pianist, Ernesto Lecuona, published in two volumes by Ediciones Boloña of the City Historian's Office.

• 22ND INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR 2013
Is reading fashionable?
January 25,13
THERE are many book fairs around the world. However, the influence of new and multifaceted digital technologies is endangering the practice of holding a book in one's hands and reading ones way through it, particularly among young people.

• Casa de las Américas Literary Prize: Continuing value and prestige
January 25,13
THE enormous number of entries for the 2013 Casa Prize, over 700, reveals the interest and prestige it has among writers of "Our America."

• NUTCRACKER TRADITION IN HAVANA
Annual Prizes and Book of Honor entries
January 17,13
THE NUTCRACKER, generally staged around Christmas and the New Year, could be the most popular ballet of all. The National Ballet of Cuba, directed by Alicia Alonso, presented its first national gala performance of the piece on January 1, 2013.

• Frei Betto awarded UNESCO José Martí Prize
January 17,13
THE UNESCO International José Martí Prize will be awarded to Brazilian intellectual Frei Betto during the closing ceremony of the 3rd International Conference for World Equilibrium.

• Cuban film Juan de los Muertos nominated for Goya Prize
January 17,13
THE Cuban-Spanish co-production Juan de los muertos, directed by Alejandro Brugués, is one of four films nominated for Best Latin American Film in the 27th edition of the Goya Prizes, awarded by the Spanish Academy of Arts and Cinematic Sciences.

• Mario García Portela mega-exhibition
January 10,13
THE original style of Cuban painter Mario García Portela stands out in his mega-exhibition Tierra oscura (Dark Land), 23 large-format acrylic on canvas pieces displayed in Havana’s National Library.

• Cuban pianist Darío Martín wins International Music Prize
January 10,13
CUBAN Darío Antonio Martín García won third prize in the youth finals of the 3rd José Jacinto Cuevas National and International Piano Competition held in the José Peón Contreras Theatre, Mérida, Mexico, with the Piano Concerto, Opus 54, by Robert Schumann, conducted by Román Revueltas and accompanied by the Yucatán Symphonic Orchestra.

• 2012: Intense cultural life in Cuba
January 10,13
THE principal result for Cuban culture in 2012 was to have maintained an intense cultural movement, naturally with ups and downs according to provinces, and with highly popular grand events, Deputy Minister Fernando Rojas affirmed to Granma International.

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