cuban time
anachronism is a poisonous term. misleading in the least. the term implies marching at the pace of the western world looking down on those societies that go by the beat of different drum. it is applied often along with the term “frozen in time” to describe the cuban society. if i were cuban, i would find that offensive because it would invalidate the lives and struggles of the cuban people for the last 50 years. who is to say where cuba would have been, given the same regime, had they had access to trade with the world for the last 50 years? going in i didn’t know what to expect. but what i heard from the mouth of cubans themselves was a mixture of resignation and also urgency to take destiny in their own hands through inventiveness and resourcefulness patent in everything i got to see over there: old american cars miraculously working with fiat breaks, russian carburetors and even parts machined by hand; men at small tables on the street fixing disposable lighters, eye glasses or old fans or selling food. what marked me was that in extreme poverty they have not just survived “frozen in time,” but they have lived their lives with flair producing art, incredible music, passing on the culture proud of their ancestry, and like the rest of us, hoping for the best.
this exhibition is a sample of an intimate view of the boldness of a people caught in a crossroads of history whose optimism and defiance in spite of repression and poverty are used daily in their lives as a means of survival.
august 2014
http://gozepa.com
http://www.josefernandesphoto.com
anachronism is a poisonous term. misleading in the least. the term implies marching at the pace of the western world looking down on those societies that go by the beat of different drum. it is applied often along with the term “frozen in time” to describe the cuban society. if i were cuban, i would find that offensive because it would invalidate the lives and struggles of the cuban people for the last 50 years. who is to say where cuba would have been, given the same regime, had they had access to trade with the world for the last 50 years? going in i didn’t know what to expect. but what i heard from the mouth of cubans themselves was a mixture of resignation and also urgency to take destiny in their own hands through inventiveness and resourcefulness patent in everything i got to see over there: old american cars miraculously working with fiat breaks, russian carburetors and even parts machined by hand; men at small tables on the street fixing disposable lighters, eye glasses or old fans or selling food. what marked me was that in extreme poverty they have not just survived “frozen in time,” but they have lived their lives with flair producing art, incredible music, passing on the culture proud of their ancestry, and like the rest of us, hoping for the best.
this exhibition is a sample of an intimate view of the boldness of a people caught in a crossroads of history whose optimism and defiance in spite of repression and poverty are used daily in their lives as a means of survival.
august 2014
http://gozepa.com
http://www.josefernandesphoto.com
