Friday night, and a huge queue wraps around a block in the Cuban capital. Most people are young and arrive in groups. Gradually, the profile of the agglomeration changes, and older visitors also appear, to fill the place in a few hours.
From Thursday to Sunday, this has been the routine of Fábrica de Arte Cubano, after the relaxation of restrictions to stop the Covid pandemic – which kept the doors of the place closed for almost two years.
The building, which housed an old olive oil industry, was abandoned for decades, until 2014, when it was transformed into a cultural center that hosts rock, pop and jazz exhibitions and concerts. official, or about R$15).
The FAC, as it is called, emerged in the government of Raúl Castro (2008-2018), when several initiatives to foster an incipient private market emerged on the island. The dictatorship began to allow the opening of restaurants, shops, bars and concert halls, in a controlled and bureaucratic scheme, which sought to save one of the pillars of the local economy, tourism.
At first, these businesses ended up in the hands of businessmen linked to the regime or sympathetic to it — in the case of the FAC, the musician Equis (“X”) Alfonso.
Not all ventures persevered. There was the pandemic, but also the expectation of being able to count on the imminent, and then frustrated, rapprochement with the US, then under Barack Obama. The resumption of relations, from this point of view, would bring more tourists and would, in the future, mean the end of the economic embargo imposed in the 1960s.
In practice, restaurants and bars for foreigners started to have the menu marked with “we don’t have that” warnings. The reason may go beyond the lack of supply of ingredients caused by trade restrictions — sometimes the contraband just hasn’t arrived. Stores face a similar challenge, and island-wide shortages were one of the reasons for the July 11, 2021, demonstrations.
The FAC, however, seeks to circumvent the embargo with good humor and local products. Drinks that abound are Cuban rum and national sodas that mimic Coca-Cola and Fanta Laranja.
The cultural center is located in Vedado, a middle-class neighborhood, financial condition for most of the public. In 2019, FAC was chosen as one of the 100 best destinations in the world by the American magazine Time and was even visited by personalities such as former US First Lady Michelle Obama and singer Madonna. As in many other places, the pandemic was a cold shower, closing the place the following year amid restrictions imposed against Covid.
At this stage of reopening, proof of vaccination is not required to enter the FAC. Data from the regimen indicate that more than 94% of the population took the first dose of the vaccine against Covid, 87% completed the first immunization cycle and 57.7% received the booster – the drugs applied were essentially the national Abdala and Soberana , in addition to a smaller amount of the Chinese Sinopharm.
when the Sheet visited FAC, on a Friday in mid-April, there were four shows at the same time, in different rooms. One of them was from Interactivo, a group of more than 30 musicians led by pianist Roberto Carcassés that has been causing a stir on the island with jazz and Caribbean genres. In the middle of the space, a patio serves as a meeting point, and there is a restaurant and a lounge.
Despite the lines around the block and the crowded lanes, the place is not unanimous, as it represents a contradiction, in the view of several activists on the island.
“There should be no art space for some, given to friends of the regime, as is the case with X Alfonso”, says plastic artist Sandra Ceballos. The statement helps to understand the fracture that splits the Cuban opposition after the repression of the 11J protests. Dissidents are divided when it comes to choosing the path to fight the regime amid dripping trials (out of 1,395 detainees, 728 remain in prison and 128 have been convicted) and allegations of human rights violations.
As Abraham Jimenez Enoa, a Washington Post journalist forced to leave Havana, summarizes to Folha: “It’s paradoxical. You have artists and journalists in prison, in exile, on hunger strike. Others go to the FAC and can dance and show their art to people and on social media — as long as they don’t criticize the regime”.
