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Street Art in Havana
The Cuban capital is a hotbed of urban creativity
I know that the Street Art Challenge has come and gone. But, I’ve just returned from Havana and could not pass up the opportunity to share some of the excellent artwork I saw on the streets of my hometown with my fellow ‘trotters.
Most of the photos below were taken in my barrio, Centro Habana (downtown Havana). What used to be considered a subversive art form — unless its purpose was to praise the government — has now become a vehicle for, chiefly, young people to let their imagination run wild.
However, my first display is the brainchild of a man who was more than an artist. The late Salvador González Escalona was a visionary. Self-taught and inquisitive by nature, he created the Callejón de Hamel (the Hamel Alley) project more than thirty years ago. In it, he mixed his unique Afro-Cuban style with abstract art, surrealism, and cubism. Along the way, he paved the way for many other artists to come, collaborate with him, and show their own work. The Callejón also helped regenerate an area I remember as being rundown, desolate, and dirty (parts of it still are. Not even fifty yards away, piled-up rubbish on the street makes a mockery of the sign that reads “No fly-tipping!”)
From the Callejón, we go closer to home. On Vapor Street I came across this mural with the ubiquitous 2+2=5 tag (I found it in several other places). The man’s face could pretty much sum up the pinch many Cubans feel nowadays. The remote control in his hand represents escapism.
The next picture is the only one from outside my neighbourhood. I happened to be in Santa Fe visiting a relative when I spotted this Charles Chaplin on a wall near the beach we’d just been to. The caption reads “A day without laughter is a lost day”. Bearing in mind that we Cubans have always had a reputation for having a good sense of humour, the frowns and worried faces I saw during my short stay would have sent Chaplin straight to therapy.
Back on home turf, Neptuno Street provided me with this next image. I loved everything about this painting: the mischievous look on her face, the ciggie (looks as if she’s about to burn her fingers), the attitude.
To round things up, my last contribution comes from Hospital Street, off Callejón de Hamel. I love the composition. The puzzled and questioning looks of the Egyptian figures on the wall (at least I think they’re Egyptian), the tired-looking faces of the family walking across the shot (they’ve just been queuing for hours to get some basic products on their ration card) and the aforementioned rubbish dump in the background.
Times are hard in Cuba at the moment. Luckily, plenty of street artists are using their craft as an outlet to try to make sense of the mess they’re in. A mess that shows no signs of ending anytime soon.
Shoutout to the following ‘trotters:
Carol Labuzzetta, MS Natural Resources, MS Nursing for her stunning pictures and beautiful writing.
Maria Kriskovich for a fun tale involving quokkas.
