Havana Highlights

Cigars, salsa music and the colorful yet crumbling Spanish architecture were all featured prominently when the Art Center Sarasota traveled to the 12th annual Havana Biennial, from May 22 to 30, in Cuba.

Art Center Sarasota members who made the trip share their insights and photos from their trip to Cuba with The Observer.

“They are face-to-face people, and they’re very open. They’re sitting at 6:30 in the morning at the Malecón after being up all night playing music, and they’d asked me to dance along.”

– Jane Sydney

“This is my friend Benito, the cigar maker and farmer, inside a tobacco barn,” says Lisa Berger. “He had just rolled that cigar for us. It’s all from an organic farm that supplies all the good tobacco for the cigar makers.” Photo by Lisa Berger.

“I wanted to go to Cuba and see it before the American invasion takes place after relations are normalized,” says Bettina Sego. “Inside the people’s houses, even though they look dilapidated on the outside, they really make them nice and put plants and color everywhere.” Photo by Bettina Sego.

“I’m usually not a people photographer, but in this circumstance I became one,” says Jane Sydney. This photo shows a local band playing for tips from tourists and passersby. Photo by Jane Sydney.