Claustrofobias, the platform for the promotion and publicity of Cuban literature, received the Grand Prize of the Calle B Contest for the Best Digital Publication, a contest in which several press sites in Cienfuegos were also awarded.

In awarding the top prize, the jury highlighted the structural and functional architecture of the website, as well as its appreciable level of updating, with a variety of communicative approaches in the treatment of national and international cultural events.

Organized by the Calle B magazine, from Cumanayagua, and coinciding with the Culture Day in that mountainous municipality, the contest awarded the first and second prizes to the digital portals of the Perlavisión channel and the 5 de Septiembre newspaper, respectively; both with a wide range of information on the events of the Pearl of the South.

The blog Ala Décima won the Third Prize, while the web publications of Azurina, Cienfuegos Patrimonio, Radio Cumanayagua and the newspaper Trabajadores received mentions.

José Sánchez Hernández, director of Calle B and president of the jury, thanked the managers of these platforms for their participation and celebrated their quality, as they are part of the existing digital cultural movement in the country.

(Taken from 5 de Septiembre)

English version Hector Hdez.Azurina.

After the virtual celebration of the 202nd anniversary of the founding of the former Fernandina de Jagua colony, the Office of the Cienfuegos City Conservator (OCCC) and the young lens artist Gabriel Carballo Gutiérrez launched the second edition of the photography contest "La Venus del Sur", dedicated to exalt the feminine beauty in connection with the heritage values of this city.

"The initial idea was to create a project that would keep the population of Cienfuegos entertained for some time, in the midst of the confinement by Covid-19. In its first chapter, in 2020, it was very well received and this year we seek the support of the OCCC, because, far from conceiving it as a beauty contest, the goal is to highlight the traditions, legends and heritage attributes of the Pearl of the South through our women," said Carballo Gutiérrez.

The competition will take place until the end of May and can be followed online through the group La Venus del Sur, open on the social platform Facebook. According to its organizers, the event is sponsored by the Cuban rum brand Havana Club -in strategic alliance with the Office of the Conservator -, along with about 20 local businesses from the private sector, which have joined the initiative.

Sponsors of the second edition of the La Venus del Sur contest in Cienfuegos.

Lisley Peña Benavides, specialist in cultural promotion of the OCCC, praised the potential of the contest, since it is "a fresh idea, fundamentally aimed at young people, a public that interests us a lot, and in terms of the material and immaterial heritage of the city. In fact, the four challenges for the ten girls who are selected, after a nomination process, are related to monuments, the architectural and urban landscape, Cienfuegos traditions and legends, and the image of Cuban rum. For the latter, Havana Club's board of directors proposed the Añejo 7 Años, one of the most renowned rums in the world".

The Office of the Conservator says that the characteristics of the contest will force participants to carry out research prior to the photo session. The jury, headed by Cienfuegos designer Lourdes Trigo, Unesco Excellence Award in 2006, will award one of the two prizes in dispute, after evaluating style, costume design, quality and originality of the photographs. The other will be awarded by the users of social networks, who, with their "likes", will decide the most popular competitor.

The awards ceremony is scheduled for the last days of May, when Cienfuegos will know the winners of the second edition of La Venus del Sur, a contest that oozes identity and is inspired by the local legend of the Black Venus, one of the oldest and associated with the founding act of this bicentennial city.

Taken from SEPTEMBER 5TH

English version Hector Hdez.