Cuba Chronicles
January 3 – February 3, 2008
In Cuba, an island caught between the grandeur of old-world glory, the decay of the immediate epoch, and the energized rebirth of home commerce, I found an urban landscape that reflected a struggle between daily life and the slow forces of Nature; This rivalry is mixed with a religious fervor that has superimposed the old-world African demigods onto the new world Roman Catholic saints.
Havana, its capital city, echoes the architecture of a decadent and multicultural past. In the vestigial remains of a one street Chinatown, we find 13 casinos or clubs each remaining a center for the few old members of that clan to share their morning tea. Trinidad, a city on the south coast, echoes the interior grandeur of the colonial homes, each displaying a family’s eclectic possessions. After fifteen years, I returned to Trinidad and visited the same rooms, discovering that the front room of each home is now a restaurant, a gallery or store, while home life carries on in the back rooms. Santiago de Cuba echoes the deeply entrenched religions of Santaria, Congo, Spiritus and Catholicism. Household shrines often honor all aspects of these beliefs.
Santeria, the religion of saint worship, was widely used in Cuba and refers to the “pagan” worship practiced by the Yoruba and Bantu slaves. Although the slaves had been baptized in the Roman Catholic Church upon arrival in Cuba, their native practices were suppressed by the slave owners. So they developed a novel way of keeping their old beliefs alive by equating the santos from their traditional religions to corresponding Christian saints. Cloaking their gods in Roman Catholic garments, they would pray to them. Gods change names and sometimes sex at midnight; the daytime Santa Barbara changes at night to Chango, god of war, fire, thunder and lightning. The house of a santero or santera is open to all. People gather there to get help in resolving a problem, such as health or illness. Strongly, seventy per cent of Cubans believe in santería and observe its rites. Santiago de Cuba echoes the deeply entrenched religions of Santaria, Congo, Spiritus and Catholicism. Household shrines often honor all aspects of these beliefs and appease the spirit of the dead with glasses of water.
I came to work on this portfolio through shouted invitations to visit people’s homes as I wander down the streets carrying my 4×5 camera on a tripod. Each home lead to the neighboring home and each one-room casa held stored-away treasures of gold trimmed porcelain, doll collections, photos of Che and Fidel when they were young men and memorabilia of a widow of his wife. Despite the cramped conditions of a whole family living in a small space, there is always an entire room reserved for the altar of the family patron saint. One pays tribute by shaking the rattle and placing an offering in front of the santos.
Despite Cuba’s challenges, tangible new energy of reconstruction and restoration heralds this country’s rebirth. The abandoned pleasure gardens and the intimate interiors of homes are in the flux of metamorphoses.
