HABANA 500
An art exhibition celebrating the 500th anniversary of Havana through graphic design and film.
November 15 - December 31, 2019
Fábrica de Arte Cubano (Havana, Cuba)
Presented by Habana Arte in collaboration with Nocturnal.
HAVANA 500 SILKSCREEN POSTER
by Tito Quintana
HABANA 500
San Cristóbal de La Habana, or simply Havana -a true diva is always known on a first name basis-, is a city with a very distinctive identity in the world’s imagination. Smack in the middle of Hurricane Lane, and historically lusted after by pirates and empires -both bygone and crumbling ones- reached a mediatic nirvana as the decadent playground for the rich and (in)famous in the 1950s that came abruptly to an end in 1959 with the arrival of the Socialist Revolution.
Relative isolation from the tourist circuit helped create a certain allure of mystery and curiosity around Havana. But in a social-media-dominated 21st century, it only takes a quick search on Instagram to find hundreds of daily posts that perpetuate the cliché of a beautiful but crumbling metropolis, stuck in time, and full of vehicles that miraculously refuse to disappear from its narrow streets. The artworks in this exhibition present another angle of Havana, offering an insider’s view of the city as seen from most iconic neighbourhoods. Alongside the artworks, a short story by Cuban writer and artist Larry J. González illuminates the visual complexities of each artwork and takes you through the past, present and future of each barrio.
Today, vibrant, proud and full of contradictions, the Cuban capital reinvents itself day by day, and reclaims its role as de facto Capital of the Caribbean. Welcome to Havana.
