Cuba – The Cultural Exposé

What we’ve been up to… the Havana Cultura: Anthology launch, Shoreditch

Matilda — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 10:39:55 +0000

A few weeks back, I enjoyed the most incredible week of music. Robert Glasper Experiment on a Monday. Miguel Atenwood-Ferguson’s Suite for Ma Dukes on a Tuesday. Then, the launch of the latest Havana Cultura album on a Wednesday, which wasn’t just a fun night out of discussions led by Gilles Peterson and live performances (shout out to Havana Rum for the grub and cocktails), but it absolutely schooled me on everything I never knew about the brilliant, long-running project to champion Cuban artists. I also got to see the stunning Dayme Arocena – who’s been described as the Cuban Jill Scott and recorded her first EP via the initiative. Learn more about Havana Cultura here and check out some pics from the night below.

Pic: Fabrice Bourgelle

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Somewhere You Should Go… the London Latin Music Festival

Lucy Palmer — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:00:09 +0000

Summer is coming and things are starting to heat up (although with the British weather it might be due to our heating being turned up so high…)

La Linea is nearly in London and every April, the Latin music festival takes over various venues in central London to bring the best of contemporary Latin music to our city.

For those not hip to Latin music, the festival presents the perfect opportunity to learn more about it. Brazilian singer-songwriter Ceu is definitely worth checking out, and as the biggest-selling Latin recording artist in the UK, her music combines dub, samba and electronic and she will soon be crossing over into more mainstream music so head to Koko to check her out.

Also the London Lucumi Choir sing songs from the living tradition of Santeria music (also known as Lucumi) brought to Cuba from West Africa. Playing at Rich Mix, their performance also features a screening of “Matanzas: Growing into Music” exploring through music and dance the preservation and renovation of cultural traditions in Cuba today.

While London has a great selection of indie bands and urban nights, La Linea is a chance to inject some new music into your summer playlists. Visit www.comono.co.uk/la-linea for further info. (Words: Lucy Palmer)

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InterNational: Cuba | Photos by Becky Morris Knight

The Cultural Exposé — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:17:39 +0000

Becky lives in Nottingham, UK and has been shooting since she got her first point and shoot at the age of 10. She fell in love with photography as soon as she got her first prints back from the developers and it hasn’t lost that magic for her since. She believes that the move into digital photography has opened up the opportunity to experiment, to take a lot more photographs and to still have that magic when you first see them up on the screen. She particularly enjoys travel photography, with an emphasis on city locations, signs and buildings – but her favourite photographs are always linked to people. For Becky, living and enjoying the travel experience comes first, rather than feeling like she’s spent the whole trip behind the lens.

The Destination: Cuba

“Cuba is a country I have wanted to visit for a really long time and I was especially keen to go while Castro was still alive and involved in their government. It’s a country with a really rich political history, a wonderful musical reputation, lots of dancing and beautiful architecture – how could you not want to visit?! In particular I was interested in seeing a communist country in action, to see how this ideology which is almost forgotten in the west, could translate into a living, breathing, working country and whether it really would be or feel that different.
Cuba is a truly fascinating country. We met a man sitting on a park bench as we had a little break in Havana who said he thought his country was like a living museum, a statement which is both poetic and true. Then he offered to sell us some cigars. That’s Cuba.”

Click here to see Becky’s images on our Tumblr and click here to read her travel tips to Cuba!

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