Captivating Cuba (Toronto Star)
pedro martori
Yeah ! if Cuba wouldn't have been kidnapped by a thug and restless dictator
it would be today instead of a pre-historric museum of civilization a nation
at the vanguard in many respects.
And this shows quite a lot ...
That Cuba from the past, prior to KaSStro's mafiosi-fascist regime, was at
the top among nations of this continent in most and many of theINDICATIVES
FOR DEVELOPMENT AND LIVING STANDARDS .
A check oin the Statistics of those years of the decade 1950-59 would just
show how much that regimee's propaganda has desinformed the world public
opinion. UNESCO 1953-1959 or any oher international org.
Just an exemple : When Kasstro tookover the mbos in Havabna went on a
rampage stealing and destroying those PARKING METERS set along many of the
streets.That was 1959...! Imagine a city of Canada as Montreal
,a rich nation a bigger one and with infinite resources, had those parking
meters only in 1976 for the Olympic Games.!!!!
If I were to mention a list of things that indicate what was the level of
development and high standards here, I would need more time and space.
These are the facts the regime would never publish or propagandize.
"Juan Felipe" <DeLa...@heaven.com> wrote in message
news:1o9ob.69008$h47....@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
> Of course!!! All those marvels and splendors belong to the Cuba before
> Castro.
> I think you would feel as astonished as if you visited the Ali Baba's
> and the 40 thieves/ cave!
>
> The Toronto Star
> Oct. 30, 2003. 01:00 AM
>
> Captivating Cuba
>
> The whole island may be renowned as a living, breathing museum of history
> But some of Latin America's best art work also housed
>
> By Linda Barnard
>
>
> HAVANA-The bus tour is a necessary evil for solo travellers, the way to
> become familiar with a new place with a minimum of grief, provided you are
> prepared to put up with many sentences beginning with "to your left ..."
>
> But while on a bus tour dubbed "colonial Havana" last June (a surprisingly
> worthwhile outing), there was an unexpected treat thrown in.
>
> One member of the group ditched the guide, spent the day on his own, and
> returned to the bus late that afternoon fairly glowing with the thrill of
> discovery.
>
> "I have found one of the greatest museums I've ever seen," he announced as
> the coach rolled back to the hotel.
>
> He described what he had seen and the hook was set.
>
> Next year on my annual trip to Jibacoa, a jewel tucked away in the Cuban
> countryside far from the tourist-clogged insanity of Varadero, I included
a
> day at the magnificent art museum he described - actually a pair of
museums
> under the banner of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of
> Fine Arts).
>
> Given that Havana itself is a living, breathing, pulsing museum, it may
seem
> overkill to leave its vibrant streets to tour the galleries housed in two
> buildings - the universal art collection and the Cuban art museum. But it
is
> not. The man on the bus was right.
>
> Closed for five years and reopened by President Fidel Castro in July, 2001
> after a $14.5 million (U.S.) restoration that saw the Cuban art museum
move
> into its own modern building just down the street from the universal art
> museum, the collection has no superstars, no da Vinci's Mona Lisa or
> Rembrandt's Night Watch.
>
> What it does have is better in many ways, a compact grouping of pieces
from
> an Egyptian sarcophagus.
>
> They are housed in a glass case that can be viewed from a glass floor in
an
> upper level along with Roman mosaics, stained glass from the Middle Ages
and
> paintings from England, France and Spain. There's even an impressive,
> although brief, collection of Flemish works.
>
> And on the Cuban side, one of the finest art museums of Latin American
works
> anywhere, you can watch the evolution of the island's art from religious
> images of the 16th century through periods of Impressionism, Art Deco and
> Art Nouveau, Modernism and Revolutionary art.
>
> There are also striking installations by Cuba's current bright artistic
> lights, including an arresting display of oversized plates filled with
bones
> and other artefacts by Robert Fabelo called La Mesa 2003 (The Table).
>
> Another interesting work is a collage of boomerangs forming the map of the
> island - a political statement praising ex-pat Cubans who have chosen to
> return. In all, the collection contains more than 30,000 pieces and is
> valued at $600 million (U.S.)
>
> While it's not necessary to hire a museum guide ($2 U.S. for a half day),
I
> knew nothing of Cuban art, so the man who accompanied me was an invaluable
> resource. (Guides can be hired at the entrance when you pay your $5
> admission.)
>
> Highly educated as so many Cubans today are, Adriel Gómez has a master's
> degree in art history, spoke almost-perfect English and possessed an
> encyclopaedic knowledge of art that allowed him to put everything I looked
> at into context.
>
> Like the Louvre, part of the beauty of the universal art museum's
collection
> is the striking interior of the building that houses it. Built in 1927,
the
> former Asturian Center was a grand Spanish social club, a white confection
> built in a palatial style to suit all the requirements of colonial
society.
>
> A sweeping marble staircase rises up from the entry to a grand foyer
beneath
> a huge and stunning stained-glass ceiling that shows Columbus' discovery
of
> the New World. The galleries run around what was the ballroom, an
expansive,
> multi-storied space rimmed with ornate plaster carvings.
>
> Even the museum café is a work of art, a mosaic-ringed room with massive
> carved wooden bar done in a Spanish art nouveau style.
>
> Each gallery's walls are painted a different colour to denote the theme:
> British, Flemish, French, Spanish and so on, while the centre of the
museum
> with its Greek statuary, pottery and impressive collection of Roman
mosaics
> is painted a rich, deep cranberry.
>
> Although the galleries get plenty of natural light through thinly covered
> floor-to-ceiling windows, a new, multi-million-dollar Italian lighting
> system makes the works spring to life. Typical of Cuba, which struggles
with
> shortages, several display cases are dark, the lights burned out, or not
> working.
>
> The museum, which recently celebrated its 90th anniversary, was founded in
> 1913, but its collection swelled considerably around the time of the
> revolution. For example, the American collection of portraits on the
ground
> floor, including George Washington and Henry Clay, were likely in the
> offices of U.S. companies prior to 1959.
>
> I had heard tales that many other pieces were left behind after people
fled
> Cuba for America but I couldn't seem to get a straight answer to my
queries.
> My guide said the bulk of the universal collection was a gift from Joaquín
> Gumá Herrera, the Count of Lagurillas, in 1956, an eccentric who bought
his
> title and travelled the world to add to his massive collection of
> antiquities.
>
> But while the provenance of the collection may spark curiosity, it is the
> works themselves that are the stars of these two museums.
>
> That night I went back to my hotel and told the other guests about the
> museums and their treasures. A few of them hired a taxi the next morning
and
> headed into Havana to see for themselves, returning to spread the word,
just
> like the man on the bus: "I have found one of the greatest museums I've
ever
> seen."
>
>
http://www.thestar.ca/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Articl
>
e_Type1&c=Article&cid=1067342466485&call_pageid=968867506610&col=96904886719
> 6
>
>
> [Visit my CUBA: Issues & Answers Website at
> http://www.netcom.ca/~dchris/CubaFAQ.html -- Dan]
>
>
>
>
>
>
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