The COVID pandemic has restricted the existence of Cubans, but not their creativity. Visual artists consume alternatives to combat stress and perpetuate the spirit that animates them, trying to grasp a peculiar look on our realities and demonstrate that art can be rejoicing, catharsis and social mirror. Likewise, it does not die under any circumstances, even if the pockets are half-empty and there has been little financial support for a little more than a year.

The news that Luis Alberto Perez Copperi (Cienfuegos, 1973) had received at the beginning of the year the First Place in the X Edition of the Contemporary Visual Arts Salon Panorama 42, was little replicated by our media, and it is an injustice to this charismatic painter, who in recent years emerges among the most grown makers of the visual arts in the region. Copperi had been trained at the Rolando Escardó School Visual Arts (1983-1988) and after defining his vocation, he graduated as an architect at the Central University of Las Villas (1998).

After returning to his hometown, he became enthusiastic about drawing and achieved a very personal style, of imaginative lineage, which reveals his mastery of line and values, especially when he does not use conventional supports. His visual texts are accused of a certain lyricism, a pertinent sensuality that hierarchizes the feminine topography, although in recent times he has tried to self-reference and even systematize the figure of José Martí as an anchor of exemplary thought, generally historically contextualized through architectural or insular strata. The environments, likewise, consume the nostalgia for surrealism and the will to experiment with objects and chromatic and/or symbolic underlining. His works circulate in several countries of America and Europe.
(Taken from 5 de Septiembre)
English version Hector Hdez.

A piece of sea invades our eyes and sometimes we do not even realize it. But in Cienfuegos every glance has its own blue. A sheet of water that does not wither and is always there to behold. From the balconies of the buildings, from  patios and terraces  or from our streets that we travel daily, without noticing, in the distance, the existence of the bay that gave birth to us.

The city that we are, 202 years after being founded on April 22, 1819, can only be explained, then and now, in relation to the  beautiful ocean that we were given to live in. It was born from the fascination for a unique and exuberant natural landscape, with ample possibilities for development, and after more than two centuries it is the answer to all the splendor that it reached and that we inherited throughout time. The sea defines every artery that began to spread through the physiognomy of the old Fernandina de Jagua colony.

Its majestic buildings pact harmoniously with the bay that protects them. That heritage of diverse architectural styles and straight and uniform avenues, expression of the modern ideas of the time, acquires sense next to the mantle of saltpeter that shelters it. The Cathedral, the City Hall, the Ferrer Palace, the Cienfuegos Club, the Valle Palace, are admirable monuments without needing more, but sublime in the courtship of their domes with the mirror of water where they are seen.

That magic is given off by the close and intimate spaces that have withstood the waves of the years. The Muelle Real(Real Dock), old and worn, gives from its breakwater one of the most paradisiacal views of the city, while fishermen gather bait and tourists strive to capture the best photos. There, as in the Malecón(waterfront), the sunsets seem to be reserved for couples who calculate their kisses for the moment when the sun says goodbye to the day. No other wall has been so fortunate in matters of love.

We are sea everywhere, and we ourselves are sea. Just as it is impossible to think of Cienfuegos without a coastline, neither are our lives justified without the coming and going of the waves. The bay builds and distinguishes us. It was the reason to build a dream and becomes the inspiration to take care of it. To it we entrust joys and hopes, songs of poets and troubadours. It is cradle and lap, memory and future. Soul of a city that never ceases to captivate us with the passing of 202 years.

Taken from September 5th

English version Hector Hdez Oropesa

Despite the present cloister due to the Covid-19 pandemic, cultural institutions in Cienfuegos will continue to honor the city, on the eve of its 202nd birthday on April 22.

This was made clear by Yankiel Ayala Yero, specialist of the Promotion and Dissemination Department of the Tomás Terry Theater (TTT), which joins -together with other local meccas such as the Roberto García Valdés Library-, the virtual journey for the Cienfuegos Culture Week 2021.

"Our proposal responds to the socialization of historical archives linked to the illustrious date, safeguarded in the Documentation Center and the 'Yolanda Perdiguer' History Room.

"We will also have an online billboard that will combine the past-present of the performing arts with interviews to visual arts creators of the Provincial Center ," Ayala said in a press release.

 Until Sunday 25, the TTT's Facebook page and the Azurina website will be the ideal platforms to access the institution's content offer.

Of special relevance will be the  Painting action  "For my city", planned for Thursday 22, with the presence of notable artists in the field, including Juan Karlos Echeverría, Mario C. Moscoso, Inmaray Tillet and Alberto Veloz Fonseca.

In addition to the anniversary of the city, the 60th anniversary of Uneac and the victory of Playa Giron will also be celebrated, as well as the 35th anniversary of the Hermanos Saiz Association (AHS).

Taken from September 5th

English version Hector Hdez.