Culture is one of the many attractions this Caribbean archipelago offers to tourists, which was seen in the collective art exhibition Trazas Urbanas, sponsored by Canadian magazine CubaPLUS and the Tryp Habana Libre Hotel, based in this emblematic establishment of the national hotel industry.
Art by 12 outstanding Cuban visual artists were featured in the exhibition, held on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the publication and the 65th anniversary of the historic hotel. It was attended by Canada’s ambassador to Cuba, John Geoffrey Gartshore, other members of the diplomatic corps, officials of Cuban organizations and companies, visual artists and a large audience.
During the evening, the president of the Latin Music Institute, Daniel Martín Subiaut, presented founding director of CubaPLUS, Dominic Soave, with a plaque recognizing the magazine as a Publication of Continental Excellence, due to its outstanding work “upholding Cuban cultural values in North America and the Caribbean.”
The night was dressed to celebrate with the presentation of Julito Padrón & Cuban Feeling, whose music accompanied a Body Art performance by visual artist Alexis Plasencia.
Specialist Mayda Tirado, in charge of the publication’s art section, told this reporter that CubaPLUS aims to differentiate Cuba as a destination in the Caribbean, promoting not only sun and beach, but also the country’s cultural values, including the diversity of visual arts in its various forms of painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking...
In the future, she said, we will continue to promote traditional tourism in this area, with its privileged climate and sea, but also Cuba’s rich cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, such as music, as well as other diverse aspects of this nation.
The pages of our magazine have reflected the work of two hundred creators of painting, printmaking, sculpture, craftsmanship and photography, both established and up-and-coming figures, leading to the birth of an interesting collection featuring various strands of contemporary Cuban art. The first volume of the CubaPLUS Collection Catalog, with contributions from prestigious critics, has already been published.