MODERN CUBAN CULTURE A
CONUNDRUM, ACCORDING TO TERESA BEVIN
Writers and Artists in
Havana Thrive in Spite of Adversity
May 3, 2003 -
Following a trip this April to Havana, Cuba, educator and author
Teresa Bevin is convinced of the importance of maintaining an
open dialogue between the people of the Cuba and the United
States. Bevin, who read from and discussed her bilingual
collection of short stories, "Dreams and Other Ailments /
Sueños y otros achaques," was impressed by the receptivity
and enthusiasm of her literary peers. "The arts are
flourishing in a unique manner right now," she stated in a
recent interview. "There is a sense of community between
the various disciplines in which the artists give creative
support to one another."
Bevin met with members of the National Union
of Artists and Writers and with representatives of the sector
for higher education. On this, her second visit since she
emigrated to the U.S., the Cuban-born writer saw many changes
since her visit a dozen years ago. The legacy of the Cuban
belief in universal education was evident everywhere -- from the
facile manner in which students grasped new science and
technology to innovative forms of artistic creations, to
remarkable comprehension of business theory -- all done with
limited resources and within strict government guidelines.
 Though the influx of tourism from countries
other than the U.S. has opened the eyes of Cuba’s citizens to
modern global society, Bevin sees the evolving culture in Cuba
as running parallel to, not the same as world trends, developing
from the bits and pieces of contact its society has with other
cultures. "Like everywhere else in the world, the artistic
community is stratified, with a small segment at the top of the
pyramid and larger, less–privileged groups towards the bottom.
Like other societies this stratification is not always based on
artistic merit. The difference in Cuba is that the more
successful and renowned artists and writers maintain contact
with the up-and-coming population, thereby creating a
cross-pollination of the old and the new, so that the old never
really becomes antiquated, but continues to evolve."
Much of the artists' and writers' works are
sold abroad, in Europe and South America, and can be easily
found advertised on the internet. As their popularity and
productivity increases, the artists receive an increase in their
stipends from the government -- and sometimes, the opportunity
to purchase a computer or car. But the majority of income
generated by these individuals still goes to the
government. According to Bevin, it seemed that if the
artists devoted the time they spent on their creativity to
working in the tourist industry which generates
"dollars," they would be very wealthy
individuals. "What I saw in these people was fervor
for their country -- not in the abstract, ultra-nationalistic
sense, but fervor for everything they touched or that touched
them. This new breed of artist is the Phoenix of Cuba's culture,
born of history and spreading the wings of a new humanism which
nurtures and feeds an individuality that will not be
suppressed."
Bevin noted that in spite of the growing
entrepreneurial spirit of the Cuban population, the
changeover to a dollar-based monetary system has left some
people on the edge of poverty, passively reinforcing an
unofficial economic classism that the "Revolution"
purportedly was to erase. "It’s not good being old unless
you have someone to take care of you who has dollars," said
one woman.
Bevin recounts witnessing another woman and
her grandson being turned away from a museum because she could
not pay the two U.S. dollars each for entrance. A
"good" monthly income in Cuba is 300 pesos, which is
approximately equivalent to 12 U.S. dollars for all practical
purposes. Four dollars, then, would be the equivalent of 100
pesos - a full third of a person’s monthly income.
"I'm concerned about the resurgence of
antagonistic political posturing between our governments,"
Bevin continued in her interview. "The exchange of
information, education, culture between the two countries is not
an easy proposition right now. If the mutual finger-pointing
continues, who knows what the outcome will be? The people of
Cuba and the U.S. have both suffered enough cultural
deprivation, and both peoples have so much to offer."
Bevin is the author of the novel "Havana
Split," the bilingual collection of short stories
"Dreams and Other Ailments/Sueños y otros Achaques,"
and is a contributor to several college level textbooks on
multicultural mental health and therapy.
She has planned a series of lectures for Fall
2003 in which she will discuss immigration, education and the
literary experience.
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