Se muestran los artículos pertenecientes al tema cultura.
Mantua keeps giving good ballet dancers
Mantua ballet dancer Julio Blanes won the third prize at the 10th International Ballet Student Competition held from March 15 to the 30 in the Great Theater of Havana, with the participation of several European and Latam contestants.With the performance of the Flame of Paris, this 17 year-old ballet student was chosen in 2004 to perform the childhood of Fernando Alonso, as homage to his 90 birthday. Blanes has won important prizes and recognitions such as: first prize and best male performance at the Provincial Ballet Festival of the Vocational School of Art of Pinar del Río in 2005; first mention in the 9th International Ballet Student Competition in Havana in 2006.
Nowadays he is in the second year of his career at the National School of Art and although he does not forget his first teachers, refers to Elena Canga, who has taught him ballet not only as an artistic discipline, but also as the culture of movement.
By: Idalma Menéndez/Translation: Dainarys Campos
La feria entre nosotros
Por: Idania Hernández
Llegó para quedarse por algunos días entre nosotros: energía, colorido, vitalidad se siente a cada paso.
Una gama de personas, bullicios y de libros se enseñorea de la ciudad. Minerva invita a beber de su sapiencia en cada uno de los ejemplares que nos muestra con sus intrincados laberintos: la ciencia, el arte, el amor, la ficción, lo bello, lo feo se nos antoja cual misterio inminente de revelación.
Los hijos de Zeus, Palas Ateneas y Hermes, dioses de la sapiencia y el ingenio danzan tomados de la mano, una gran fiesta arrastra a niños, jóvenes y adultos, para rendir culto al libro y a la lectura.
Un sueño de muchos se hace realidad, y se descorre el velo del conocimiento para asestar un duro golpe a la ignorancia.
Todo un acontecimiento cultural encaminado a lograr la ilustración de un pueblo ansioso por beber en las fuentes del universo del saber.
La literatura contemporánea a la vez que los grandes clásicos se mostrarán al público que sabrá valorar la utilidad de toda la erudición, que a través de la historia, nos han legado sus cultores.
Un derroche de cultura materializa el precepto martiano “Leer es crecer. Una avalancha cultural se propone cumplir las expectativas del ávido lector que comienza el viaje pletórico de emoción y lo termina con melancolía.
Homenaje merecido a dos grandes de las letras cubanas constituye esencia de esta feria que también se viste de gala con la presencia de la cultura gallega, lo que favorece un fructífero intercambio cultural en aras de cultivar a ambos pueblos.
Referente obligado es este tradicional evento que todos los años ansiosos esperamos los lectores para mitigar nuestras ansias de saber y recordar que la eternidad es una de las raras virtudes de la literatura, al decir de Adolfo Bloy Cásares.
Igual que el mar
Sin freno a una pasión que se desboca
el mar sus crines bárbaras agita
y en poema inmortal su pena grita
junto a la indiferencia de la roca.
Con atrevida lengua lame y toca
la dura piedra a cuyos pies palpita,
mas nunca encuentra en su orfandad maldita
amparo en esa piedra con que choca.
Sé de un amor que, como el mar, en vano
lanza sus olas con audacia fiera
en pos de un corazón siempre lejano,
!y sé también que en imposible lucha,
igual que el mar, se arrastra y desespera
junto a una helada piedra que no escucha!
Nicolás Guillén
Vivir, de por sí, trae alegrías y tristezas, pero aún así, siempre vale la pena disfrutar cada día un nuevo amancer.
NO TE SALVES
No te quedes inmóvil
al borde del camino
no congeles el júbilo
no quieras con desgana
no te salves ahora
ni nunca
no te salves
no te llenes de calma
no reserves del mundo
sólo un rincón tranquilo
no dejes caer los párpados
pesados como juicios
no te quedes sin labios
no te duermas sin sueño
no te pienses sin sangre
no te juzgues sin tiempo pero si
pese a todo
no puedes evitarlo
y congelas el júbilo
y quieres con desgana
y te salvas ahora
y te llenas de calma
y reservas del mundo
sólo un rincón tranquilo
y dejas caer los párpados
pesados como juicios
y te quedas sin labios
y te duermes sin sueño
y te piensas sin sangre
y te juzgas sin tiempo
y te quedas inmóvil
al borde del camino
y te salvas
entonces
no te quedes conmigo.
Mario Benedetti
Love still engenders wonders
By: Anyce Figueroa Oñate / Photo: Daniel Mijáns/Translation: Dainarys CamposEvelin Gomez Hernandez is a woman I recall from my childhood, always busy at the theater and the House of Culture.
Then, she was away for some time, or perhaps it was me, because I barely learned news about her, but anyway I grew up listening to my grandmother when from time to time she referred to her and her father as wonderful people.
One day, we began to have common spaces again- I with literature and journalism, she still with theater, like a busy ant- and then I knew that something peculiar was taking place in Pinar del Rio thanks to Evelyn.
“I always longed to have a street theater- she tells- because it means to establish a dialogue with the people who live and walk by the places we work in, and theater feeds itself with these relationships, since we exchange with different persons every time, plus there are all kind of individuals, not only those who go to watch a traditional play in a closed theater.
“But such luck requires a job with quality that calls the audience’s attention, because although street theater forces you to watch, the audience chooses whether to stay and participate”.
“I chose art instructors because they have an academic training and some experience. I taught him the peculiarities of street theater and then those who showed interest formed the group.
“I had the chance to make my dream come true. Tomorrow we may have another street theater company, but I’m glad I endorsed the creation of the first one.
Do you think this way is easier than traditional theater?
“No, I don’t. Street theater is not easy at all, because there are exterior noises, people who sometimes give unpleasant criteria, and we take the risk of being considered as pariahs, because we don’t have a specific place to perform”.
The characters you perform are very peculiar. How do you get the outfits?
We have done everything by ourselves...we buy the fabric, Luis Manuel Valdes, actor of the group, designs everyone’s costumes, and Pilar Paez, our dressmaker fairy godmother, turn them into reality”.
From the street to the opera...
“I don’t like to put myself any limits. I believe there are as many ways to interact with the society as creators.
“I began working as a director assistant about a year ago, at the musical theater, but I’ve been teaching there for four years.
“Victor Maniekov said that to be an actor is difficult, to be a director is very difficult, but to be a theater teacher is almost impossible, nonetheless the challenge, it is one of the most wonderful things has ever happened to me.
People you admire or have to thank
“I have my paradigms: Ignacio Gutierrez, Freddy Artiles, Ruben Dario Salazar, Ulises Rodriguez... on the other hand, there are a lot of people who have supported me, especially in the spirit, I would like to mention them all, but I can’t. I rather thank only my husband and my family for every sacrifice and sincere help; and my father, who is not with me anymore, but I think I owe everything to him... he was the one who understood me and encouraged me the most”.
Evelyn considers herself as a simple and very sensitive person, without big pretensions; but those who get to know her realize she is a very passionate human being, and because she set her heart in everything she does, deserves all the support and the applauses...
“I’m not a conformist person; on the contrary, I always want to go ahead. I want to do many things and become a director. It is very hard to have enough life to do everything I long for the theater; because the artist is not like the athlete who reaches the goal at the end of every race... artists always can make it better and different each time, because the competition is with ourselves... we never reach the goal”.
Van Gogh al desnudo en 20 cartas a Emile Bernard
Un Van Gogh lúcido y terrenal emerge en 20 cartas inéditas hasta ahora, enviadas a su colega Emile Bernard, en las que habla de sus miedos y momentos difíciles, del sexo y sus inquietudes como pintor.Expuestas por The Magazine Library and Museum, en Nueva York, la correspondencia data de 1887 a 1889, cuando el artista holandés vivió en el sur de Francia, dos años antes de poner fin a su existencia.
En las misivas oficia como mentor de Bernard, 15 años más joven que él, hace correcciones a sus originales, le detalla su propia forma de trabajar, habla de la obra de otros colegas y del posimpresionismo en la que se inserta la suya.
Pero también surge el Van Gogh que frecuenta burdeles, el de las penurias económicas, la salud quebrantada, el que tenía conciencia de los trastornos de su psiquis, de su locura progresiva. "Ya sabes que está este problema", confiesa.
En una de las últimas cartas afirma sentirse mejor, algo a menudo común en los suicidas cuando se aprestan a darse a sí mismos el zarpazo final. El 27 de julio de 1890 se disparó un tiro. Dos días después murió.
Las cartas a Bernard permanecerán expuestas hasta el 6 de enero de 2008, escoltadas por varias de sus pinturas y otras de Bernard y Toulouse Lautrec. Van Gogh de cuerpo entero, con sus miedos y obsesiones y sus cuadros como un incendio permanente sobre el lienzo. (PL)
Illustrators are not anonymous anymore
By: María Isabel Perdigón/Translation: Dainarys Campos
Fairy godmothers, beautiful princesses, evil witches and fable animals of infancy tales are not enough nowadays when talking about children’s literature; we have to take into account the new messages and another indispensable element, the illustrators, with their social commitment to reflect people’s culture.
We want to refer today to these creators who almost always remain anonymous, since an illustrated book is like a puppet theater. Some illustrators prefer not to repeat writers’ words in their images, they wish to provide a different reading, to discover new angles and contribute to the necessary variety, that’s why this work requires a great associative power and a rich practice of imagination and sensitivity.
Before 1959, Cuba had little practice in children’s illustration, currently this art benefits from informatics advances and the use of the scanner, which permit the improvement of polichromy and guarantee an excellent reproduction of the originals. Book illustration is a way to spread imaginative strength and plastic ability, it requires imagination, power of synthesis, and an artistic release that demands surge of ideas and to equal infants’ fantasy. Pinar del Rio province outstands for having excellent book illustrators, among them Irina Elen, Alberto Diaz, Adrian Chacon, Margot Rodriguez, Januar Valdes, Manuel Azcuy, Emilio Armenteros, Juan Santos and Yassel Curbelo, etc.
Nestor Montes de Oca and Dagnae Tomas Martinez are two of the best representatives of this art and it turns to be really interesting to listen to their criteria and experiences.
Nestor Montes de Oca “
"I have been lucky to participate in illustration projects very alike to my sensitivity, such as Cuentos de Guane, Román Elé and Pajuela Fina by Nersys Felipe, but I have also illustrated books by Nelson Simon, Rene Valdes, Alberto Peraza, I like to give various proposals to the authors for them to select what they prefer.
"This is a work that implies tenderness, children’s literature is not complete without the image, which is able to suggest different airs and inform about the attitude of the characters and their features.
“Most of children’s books illustrators begin to explore the artistic tendencies of the painting of their time; afterwards they continue searching for personal roads. Today, stories are full of chronological jumps and simultaneous scenes, so the language is fresher, which doesn’t mean less poetic. The thing is to create a personal universe, with a way that identifies your work.
Dagnae Tomás Martínez graduated as a librarian but she dedicates to illustrate books. She has a very own style to make her illustrations, with long figures that many times reveal loved people or very close to her. She reads the text several times, analyzes the characters, underlines attractive excerpts and extracts situations.
She dislikes making exact reproductions of the texts, and tries a thousand times until being satisfied with her labor. Her kid is the principal critic of her work and she feels happy when others try to reproduce her drawings.
Dagnae has illustrated books by René Valdés, Teresa Cárdenas, Olga Martha Perez, among some other writers.
Illustrations should motivate, children in kindergarten approach books without knowing how to read, and drawings are the first way to understand the message of the text, that is very important because it can define the upcoming relationship between the little ones and reading.
Revista Cartelera en Vueltabajo
Por Dainarys Campos
La edición 446 de la revista cultural comercial Cartelera se presentó por primera vez en la ciudad de Pinar del Río en un encuentro que tuvo lugar en la Casa Taller Pedro Pablo Oliva.
Editada por la agencia de turismo cultural Paradiso de Artex y creada hace 25 años, la magazín incluye los hechos culturales más importantes del país en todas las manifestaciones del arte, en Español e Inglés, además de una guía cultural de algunas provincias como Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba, Ciudad de la Habana y ya se suma Pinar del Río.
Mahée Antón, Directora Editorial de Cartelera, lanzó un reto a las instituciones culturales de la provincia para mantener la guía mensualmente actualizada, pues Vueltabajo cuenta con grandes riquezas culturales y naturales que pueden aportar muchos frutos al desarrollo de la publicación.
La presente edición de Cartelera, correspondiente al mes de septiembre contiene, entre otros, artículos relacionados con el Festival de Jazz, los 15 años de la Compañía Folclórica JJ, el Festival de Música Popular Benny Moré y un homenaje especial a Pedro Pablo Oliva en el marco de su exposición Historias de Amor en el Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes y el trabajo que lleva a cabo su casa-taller.
En esta ocasión, la guía cultural de Pinar del Río muestra una panorámica de los principales proyectos e instituciones culturales de la provincia como El Patio de Artex, el Teatro José Jacinto Milanés, el Centro Hermanos Loynaz, galerías de arte, museos, la Casa Taller Pedro Pablo Oliva, tiendas especializadas donde se ofertan obras artesanales y souvenirs cubanos, y otros espacios atractivos para visitantes.
Esta cita contó con la presencia de personalidades de la cultura vueltabajera, familiares y amigos de Oliva y la presentación del joven grupo de música flamenca Toque del Río.
Poetry springs up from canvas
By: María Elena Balán(AIN)/Translation: Dainarys Campos
These days, the National Museum of Fine Arts presents an exhibition of the painter Pedro Pablo Oliva, whose work is considered by some people as poetry that springs up from the canvas.With the title Historias de amor (Love stories), the show includes six paintings, 10 drawings, four ceramic wares and a bronze, made since 1980 and will remain in exhibition until the end of October.Awarded National Prize of Fine Arts 2006, Pedro Pablo Oliva counts on a fruitful work, which contains an epoch dedicated to Jose Marti, an emblematic figure reflected in daily life actions.
Then, he painted on some other topics, also captivating for their lyricism, like that one who takes us back to childhood.Despite his artistic greatness or pehaps due to it, he is a simple man, because modesty is a virtue that glorifies many of those who reach the stars, Oliva said once that he preferred to be defined with a more contemporary term, as a cronist of some kind of pictorial press or a plastic newscast.
His controversial and astonishing images have gone beyond the boundaries of the island with a typic style that attracts the public for its charm and imagination.In addition to his many merits as a creator, he has also carried out very important pedagogical work with several generations of artists, as well as a significant social labor in the financing of some projects like the Workshop House Pedro Pablo Oliva, Cubaneo Awards and the sponsorship of the Art Museum of Pinar del Rio.Graduated at the National School of Art, this painter of Pinar del Rio has made successful exhibitions in Cuba and abroad, some of his works are part of important collections in Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Switzerland, Mexico, Germany and the United States, and of course, at the National Museum of Fine Arts, in the Cuban capital.
Las mujeres vistas por Goya
Francisco de Goya, nacido el 30 de marzo de 1746 en España, fue uno
de los pintores que se deleitó llevando al lienzo las figuras de
mujeres.
La especialista Julia Luzán afirma que ningún otro artista ha sabido
reflejar mejor a las mujeres que Goya y destaca que el creador escruta
en ellas la vanidad, el halago, y da a sus rostros una mezcla de
severidad y abandono. En opinión de Francisco Clavo Serraler,
comisario español de la exposición Goya y la imagen de la mujer,
exhibida en el país ibérico, las féminas tienen una importancia
fundamental en su pintura.
AL LIENZO PROTOTIPOS DE MUJERES
Francisco de Goya dibuja todo los prototipos de mujer de su tiempo:
las trabajadoras, las charlatanas, las majas y las damas más selectas
de la sociedad. El pintor aragonés las exalta en sus cuadros, impone
su presencia, y gracias a su talento ofrece en sus obras datos de un
siglo que iba cediendo, aún con sutileza, a la voz de las mujeres.
Señala la investigadora Julia Luzán que una de ellas, doña María
Josefa Pimentel, duquesa de Osuna, y una de las más acaudalas damas de
la época, no sólo se disfrazó de marinero para acompañar a su cónyuge,
sino que aspiraba a manifestar su superioridad en el plano intelectual
y a brillar en una sociedad de hombres.
A fines del siglo XVIII Goya pinta el retrato de esta mujer,
dominante, de rostro largo y huesudo.
LA DUQUESA DE ALBA
En franca rivalidad con la duquesa de Osuna se encontraba María del
Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Alba. Esta última dominó también los elegantes
salones madrileños. El pintor se enamoró apasionadamente de ella. En
1775 Goya realizó el primer retrato del duque y la duquesa de Alba. La
rica mujer llevaba vestido de muselina blanca con una ancha faja roja.
Una voluminosa cascada de cabellos negros le caía sobre los hombros.
Dos años después, el artista la llevó al lienzo ataviada con una
chaquetilla brocada y una mantilla envolviéndole el pecho.
El cuadro, exhibido en un museo de Nueva York, fue la prueba del
amor que el pintor aragonés dio al mundo. En efecto, la duquesa de Alba
señaló al suelo con una mano en la que lucen dos anillos: en uno está
escrito Alba, en el otro Goya.
Por Teresita Jorge (AIN)
Tendencia, defending our roots
Written and Translated by: Dainarys Campos Montesino
A display of Cuban identity and roots identified the presentations of the rock band Tendencia, during their tour by several cities of Spain, said its director Ernesto Mederos (Kiko).He pointed out that to share with rock bands which are well known for Cubans was really interesting, besides they interacted with the audience in lectures about Ernesto Che Guevara, the Cuban election process and other topics about the reality of our country.The most important concerts took place at the festivals Derrame Rock and Rock & Motos, where the majority of the participants are left-wing rock bands. They were also invited to auditoriums in Santander, Barcelona, Sabadell, Pola de Siero, etc; most of the times playing for more than 5 000 people. During the tour, Tendencia made video clips, recorded some themes and shared the stage with important rock bands such as Fe de Ratas, Barón Rojo, Hamlet, Reincidente and Gatillazo, besides they signed some contrats with Santo Grial Producciones, one of the most important production companies in Spain that is in charge of the distribution of the CD Rebelde.“We are really satisfied with the way we were welcomed in those places, I remember specially a concert we made on July 26 in Barcelona, invited by the Communist Party of that city, and we turned that into a party of Cuban identity, where we played La Guantanamera and many other songs written by Cuban authors.“That mixture of rock with Afrocuban roots caused great impact in the people, they even recognized us in every performance and asked for songs like Aché pa’ te, Rebelde and specially Al machete”, stated Kiko.Currently, the group is preparing their third CD, that will have a special release in important cities of Spain. Furthermore, the band will make a tour by the island next year, together with the Spanish group Fe de Ratas and the Venezuelan rock star Paul Gillman.
Artex markets with new products
By: Dainarys Campos Montesino/ Photos: Osmay Pérez
Arte en Casa is one of the original projects Artex commercial company uses to promote and market the works of the most outstanding artists of the country and everything related to Cuban culture.The project is intended to show in practical products for the house, the image of Cuba through the creations of Cuban painters, among them Pedro Pablo Oliva, Mario Garcia Portela and Arturo Montoto from Pinar del Rio, as well as important artists of the overall country such as Roberto Fabelo, Zaida del Rio, Alfredo Sosa Bravo, Nancy Reyes, Pastor Perez, etc.According to Santiago Reyes, assistant manager of the entity in the province, Arte en Casa (Art at home) gathers fans, umbrellas, towels, curtains, table cloths, jugs, cups, etc, in which these creators reflect their work.“All these products are very well accepted by the people, besides we count on an excellent catalog of Cuban music by Bis Music record company, which includes David Blanco, Haila, Tumbao Habana, Rojitas, etc. Furthermore the CD Guajiro Natural by Polo Montañez continues to be the favorite for the public.“Artex is formed by shops, points of sale and cultural centers like the Marriage Palace in Pinar del Rio city, the square Polo Montañez, Veguero’s House and Decimista’s yard in Viñales municipality, all these options have gastronomic offers and a varied cultural program, in which artists of the province and the whole country
.