I was particularly fascinated by the vibrant visual arts in Cuba, from street fairs to the studios of world-renowned artists to national museums. Our tour of the Museo de Bella Artes enabled us to travel through the decades since the revolution, seeing art that rejected colonialism, glorified and then questioned the revolution and always had to contend with censorship.

I was grateful to have a guide for this experience, because I know without her explanations I would have had only a surface impression of what I was seeing.

One of the funniest examples of the effects of censorship was the painting, “All You Need is Love.” Listening to the Beatles was forbidden. But the censor couldn’t admit that he knew where the title came from without admitting he had broken the rules. It was a case of “I know that you know that I know…,” without anyone admitting that they knew. Due to these inane circumstances, you can find an image of Ringo Starr in this painting.

This piece, which spells utopia in Russian, actually says that you cannot have a utopia bound by rules.

One of the highlights of my trip was a visit to the home and studio of Esterio Segura, whose work has been in the Venice Biennial and in locations throughout the United States. He said that whenever “the gate” (censorship) opens, he “pushes through” as much as he can. But when I asked him how he knew where the gate was, he replied that he “never knew” where it was.

Much of his work has dealt with the Cubans determined to leave after the revolution, sometimes with tragic results. He explained that these sculptures represented the toys children left behind when they were sent to the US by their parents, temporarily they thought, to get an education. They were stripped of their identities and many were lost to their families forever.

This piece he said symbolizes the strength we have as humans, but our failure to find the right tools to make a better world.

I started to notice graffiti, “2+2=5,” all around Havana. When I asked our guide about it, she laughed. This was the work of a well-known graffiti artist, she said, meant to question how and by whom truth is created.

Cuba, Art and the Revolution

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