Cuba Today

Cuba Today Tour: January 7 to 15, 2016

Program Highlights

  • Presentation of the Plan Maestro (master plan for the restoration of Old Havana) by Jaime Rodriguez, one of the original architects from the City Historian’s Office who initiated the restoration project.
  • Guided Walking tour of Old Havana (UNESCO world heritage site) with an architect from the City Historians Office.
  • Informal discussion with Alfredo Prieto, writer, UNEAC member, and coordinator of the Hampshire College Cuba Program.
  • Presentation and conference with renowned sociologist Mayra Espín.
  • Film screening and discussion with filmmaker Fernando Perez  (Suite Havana, Madagascar, The Wall of Words, amongst others)
  • Day trip to the pioneering eco-village established 1968, Las Terrazas. A UNEASC biosphere reserve, Las Terrazas, is a small community and nature reserve in the Sierra del Rosario mountain range, about 40 miles east of Havana.
  • Presentation and discussion with Leonardo Padura, one of Cuba’s most prolific writers and winner of the 2015 Princess of Asturias Award for Literature, and Maggie Mateo.  Padura, award-winning author of the Mario Conde novels, The Man Who Loved Dogs. Mateo was a part of a generation of women novelists who have documented powerfully in their novels, the impacts of the Special Period.
  • Panel discussion on race with some of Cuba’s most prominent speakers and specialists
  • Visit to the Cuban collection at the Fine Arts Museum (Museo de Bellas Artes) with artist Eduardo Hernandez
  • Visit to the printmaking studio of artists Norberto Marrero and Janette Brossard in Guanabo, a seaside town 20 miles east of Havana.
  • Visit to the community development project known as Fusterlandia. Over the course of 15 years, well-known artist and ceramicist Jose Fuster transformed the old fisherman’s village of Jaimanitas into a work of art by disseminating his colorful ceramics throughout the town. He has decorated his home, parks, clinics, private homes, and community centers.
  • Optional visits to artist studios, artist run galleries, and art venues.
  • Visit to the municipality of Regla across Havana Bay, an important town for afro-Cuban religions. Guided visit the church and museum by musicologist and religion specialist Cary Diez. The visit will culminate with a folkloric rumba dance and music performance.
  • Delicious meals at paladares, privately-owned restaurants in beautiful renovated homes.