Cuban Art
Sunday, November 1st, 2009I have sadly just bid farewell to Cuba and all the wonderful Artists and friends we met as part of our travels. I am writing this post while sitting on the floor of Miami Airport with my laptop plugged into a column (this is cool!). I am contemplating the 35+ hours of transiting in order to make my way home (this is not cool!). Whilst in Cuba, despite language barriers I did manage to translate my whinging to all and sundry as my return journey approached. My Spanish was limited to say the least and their English minimal, yet in spite of this each and everyone I met could name my route home with a shake of the head and empathy for my journey….Havana.. Montego Bay… Miami… LA… Melbourne - very far.
As I sit propped against a column in Miami Airport wondering what frightful things the carpet I am sitting on has seen, I get to observe the angst as flights are continually delayed and overbooked. The term ‘Stand-By’ seems like a hang over from 80’s airline travel to me, yet in the US it’s seems to be the main means by which the ticketing system operates. Curiously, whether you have purchased a ticket or not, due to constant overbooking of flights you may very well find yourself on Stand-By.
My sister Jennette (a Graphic Designer working in Amsterdam - www.dollyrogers.com) and I have just shared a wonderful 10 days together in Cuba. We had the good fortune to ingratiate ourselves into the life of some of Cuba’s emerging artists in Havana. The people we met were inspiring, kind and extremely generous with their time and knowledge. Rolando Vazquez a teacher at the Havana Art School kindly invited us to visit the school. Jose Manuel one of Rolando’s students invited us into his home, guided us through the city and taught us to Salsa (well he tried!). Milton Diaz Perez a Cuban Architect now artist began our Havana journey and completed it. To Rolando, Jose and Milton - Many thanks. Here are some images of the time we shared with the artists and their environments.
