The Space of the Revolution By Elliott Young On Friday March 13th, a group of thirty artists, journalists, students and activists crowded into the Cuban performance artist Tania Bruguera’s house in Old Havana to hear her side of the story. Bruguera has been artist non grata ever since she attempted to do a free speech […]
BLOG 1
I sit in a overtly gaudy hotel lobby seemingly coming straight out of the film Scareface and stare at an endless oceanic skyline. From this vantage point I can seen a cluster of cab drivers in my foreground and towards the middle of my vision a group of young men and women sit like […]
Central Planning
I’m normally not one for organization or planning, but occasionally events in Cuba can push my limits in those areas. One example- on our most recent trip to Santiago and Baracoa, we decided to travel both ways by plane. All domestic and international flights are controlled by the few existing state airlines, and we chose […]
Yo También Exigo
Tania Bruguera is known for her controversial performance piece that was to involve Cubans standing up in the Plaza de la Revolución last December to speak for one minute about whatever they wished, under the title Yo también exigo (I also demand). The symbolic nature of this gesture (and her reputation as a dissident activist) […]
Sharing a Sunset with My Dad
The sun slowly descends behind the distant hills projecting its final fiery rays of gold and orange across the glimmering water. The darkness of the rocks grows with their elongating shadows, and the hills transform in color from red to orange to purple until they too fall into darkness. The bright sun bobs behind clouds […]