Q. In your new exhibit, David, you refer to Cuba as a country that also could be referred to as “Cognitive Dissonance’stan.” Unpack this for us – what do you mean, exactly?
A. I love to unpack. It’s so much easier than packing (see penultimate question/answer).
From Wikipedia: “In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress (discomfort) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values, when performing an action that contradicts those beliefs, ideas, and values; or when confronted with new information that contradicts existing beliefs, ideas, and values.”
I coined the name “Cognitive Dissonance’stan” to add to the way in which Cuba is often described as a world of paradox and contradiction. I also like to refer to it as a perpendicular (not parallel) universe. Cuban reality is replete with conditions, situations and experiences that seemingly do not go together, like poverty and higher education or Kafkaesque bureaucratic limitations and spontaneous adaptability. As a North American one finds oneself awakened to a continuous spring cleaning of the mind.
Q. Barack Obama, the previous president of the U. S. Empire, caused a global stir when he travelled to Cuba to announce the “normalization” of US/Cuban relations last spring. What do you make of this?
A. Actually last spring (2015) Mr. Obama travelled to Cuba to consolidate, not announce, normalization. Normalization was announced by presidents Castro and Obama on December 17, 2014. I was in Havana that day. When I woke up that Wednesday morning my housemate said to me, “you gotta see what’s on the news.” I went over to the TV where a Cuban newscaster was reporting, ”Alan Gross will shortly be leaving Cuban airspace en route to the United States, where, upon his arrival, the three remaining prisoners of the Cuban Five will be released for their return to Cuba.” Later I learned that VT senator Patrick Leahy, who had been involved in the normalization negotiation process, was on the plane with Alan Gross.
The newscaster went on to say, “President Castro will address the nation at noon.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I scrambled to set up my camera on a tripod in front of the TV to record the newscast. While Raul spoke, the doorbell rang. It was a friend of mine, a Cuban Marielito (a member of the 125,000-person boat exodus from Cuba to the US in 1980) who had been deported back to Cuba after eight years in the United States, leaving behind a daughter. He of all people had an intimate take on what was happening at that moment. I invited him to pull up a chair and we held hands, shedding tears as we listened.
The previous night I had been at the US Ambassador’s residence (technically on that date it was the Chief of the US Interests Section’s residence) with my “sociojefe” (pal/boss) Cuban-American musician Arturo O’Farrill, for a reception in his honor, which included a performance by his 18-piece band, the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. They were in Havana to record their Grammy- and Latin Grammy-winning double CD, “Cuba: The Conversation Continues” (for which I did the cover).
To answer your question, first I have to say, I am aware of the U. S. Empire (I read Chalmers Johnson, who reminds me of William Burroughs), but I am not sure that United States of America president Barack Obama is/was president of the U. S. Empire. Just sayin’, not ratifyin’. To continue: I think, ironically enough, that although I didn’t see it coming, Obama’s normalization with Cuba was one of his most effective policies. While executive orders are extremely polemic, in an era when congressional legislation has become an oxymoron, when political obstruction is the default, executive orders take on a new role.
Obama had the vision to realize that the Embargo-Industrial Complex’s stranglehold on Cuba policy had expired both by failure and attrition, and normalization’s moment had arrived; not doomed, not politically suicidal, but actually in tune with the vast majority of non-Cuban-Americans, and a decent majority of Cuban-Americans. And absolutely in tune with market-seeking industries and corporations. I’m describing what I see as the alignment here, not my own aspirations for Cuban-American relations based on my values.
That said, normalization is not normalcy. The two countries have not become allies, friends or even trading partners. They have not come into alignment. An uncomfortable history has not been resolved. Obama’s normalization has achieved the reestablishment of diplomatic relations and the decriminalization of travel to Cuba by Americans. The door has been opened a crack for business, but the embargo still stands. There are still tremendous political, legal, diplomatic, ethical and moral hurdles remaining before we are looking at anything that resembles reconciliation. At this moment it is an open question whether that will go forward or backward.
Q. Talk about your latest Cuba exhibit – did you set out to explore any specific themes or issues?
A. In my August 2016 exhibition, “La Habana Te Llama – Havana Is Calling You,” for the Vermont Festival of the Arts, I updated my three ongoing themes, music, dance and daily life, with images from trips I made in December 2015 and April/May 2016, to reflect current expressions of change, some subtle and incremental, like portraits of people I’ve known and photographed for over 20 years, some more momentary, like the continuing emergence of tattoo art, and some instantaneous, like Fast & Furious 8 filming in Havana. Within a single day I shot, processed, delivered and published (on a Cuban news website, OnCuba.com) photos of helicopters shooting in Central Havana near where I stay.
Q. Talk a bit about these two photos – “Dancers at the Cuban Art Factory” and “Out for a Walk.”
A. These two are almost different manifestations of the same photo, in both content and form. Most centrally, they are both images of people inhabiting themselves, being fully present in public. And both photos have a strong diagonal (diangular?) structure. “Out for a Walk” is a play on words, because 20 years ago in Havana you wouldn’t see gays in the street as out as these two are. I love the way they disrupt the ambient environment as they walk, simply by being themselves. The “Dancers at the Cuban Art Factory,” a man with a Cuban flag shirt and a woman with a Che Guevara shirt were dancing in front of the stage. Their shirts, bouyant, creative fashion and patriotic statements at the same time, were icing on the cake of the joy evident in their dance. It was a challenging photo to take due to the extreme low light conditions. I lucked out.
The Fabrica has been around for three years. It’s the newest, biggest, hippest club in Cuba, which though normal for Brooklyn, was impossible in Cuba as recently as five years ago, primarily for being a private business of such size and prominence. It features music, dance, theater, fashion, film, painting, photography, and sculpture, plus has multiple bars and restaurants. It’s awesome. It attracts an eclectic crowd of Cubans (of course), and among people I have met there, visitors from Belarus, New Zealand, Pakistan, the USA, Mexico, Sweden, Mali, etc.
Q. What will happen to Cuba over the next 5-10 years, based on your wisdom of the place and pulse of the people?
A. Unfortunately for your question, my “wisdom” resides more in the trees than the forest. I don’t know. It’s definitely about the pulse, though.
Q. If you had one wish for Cuba, what would it be?
A. That the Cuban people and Cuban culture may thrive.
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