Bay Area art world greets Cuban spirit
HAVANA — From the outside, a building in Santa Clara, Cuba, looks as if it is about to crumble. But inside, a group of schoolchildren prepare to give an American audience a show they won’t forget. Dancers get ready for a competition, various musicians and quartets warm up, and an orchestra plays the theme from the “Harry Potter” movies.
The hope on the faces of the youngsters and their teachers is unmistakable.
Since Dec. 17, when President Obama announced the easing of relations with Cuba, the island nation’s people have been excited about the changes that will come — especially in the art world.
Americans became familiar with Cuba’s Buena Vista Social Club after the 1999 documentary came out, and the Ballet Nacional de Cuba has toured here. But there’s also a chamber group with a Cuban bent that struggles to purchase instruments and artists in Havana who will sell prints for $5 just to survive.
Because Americans haven’t been able to use their ATM or credit cards in Cuba, shopping can be a challenge. Yet the resourceful artists from the co-op Galleria la Lavanderia in Havana have figured out a complicated way for U.S. citizens to wire cash to purchase and ship, say, an abstract map of Cuba or a sculpture of a barbed-wire couch with pillows made of the Cuban and American flags. With the end of the embargo, that method would become a thing of the past.
The Bay Area Cuban arts community is small but vibrant. Some artists have defected, while others — such as José Manuel Carreño — retain their Cuban citizenship and travel back and forth. Some express optimism about the future, but others are still reluctant to talk. Either way, there is an expectation that this is the beginning of a big exchange of ideas, techniques and artists finally able to travel easily between nations.
Anything can happen. Perhaps down the road, one of those youngsters performing in the dilapidated building in Santa Clara will take the stage at Davies Symphony Hall or the War Memorial Opera House.
In this cover story, Chronicle correspondents Allan Ulrich and Jesse Hamlin and staff writer Sam Whiting talk to Bay Area artists about their expectations and how both countries will benefit from this new era of openness.