Culture of Cuba

Music and dance

In the twentieth century Gender and Guaguanco was popularized over other very danceable rhythms. Including the cha-cha, mambo, salsa and danzon.   Many of these dance rhythms are practiced.  Among the currently most danced are the conga and the casino, as well as timba.

Sports

Cuba stands out in sports such as baseball, boxing, judo, athletics and volleyball. This was demonstrated in the last Pan American Games in a heated game that ended with victory over Brasil.  Cuba is also a very good at javelin, taking medals at the Olympic Games since 2008.  In weightlifting Yohandriz Hernandez achieved a load of 215kg at the past Olympic Games in Beijing, 2008.  Cuba managed to remain a contender in the first World Baseball Classic World in 2006, the highest level of competition in that sport.

Literature and Science Fiction

The literature of the Spanish-speaking Cuban territory, began with the Spanish conquest and colonization. The conquistadors brought chroniclers who drafted and described all significant developments, but with Spanish terms and a Spanish audience. The most important columnist who came to Cuba in the sixteenth century was Fray Bartolome de Las Casas and author whose work includes “History of the Indies.”

Architecture
Architecture in Cuba was manifested mainly in the colonial era. It brought the culture of Spain with its Baroque influence. The first villages were established by a church surrounded by the houses.

These houses had a central courtyard and was covered with bars. There are magnificent religious buildings such as the Convent of St. Francis of Havana.  In addition, defenses were made strong to prevent the attack of pirates and bucaneros.  In the Republican period they built large buildings like the Capitol, modelled in the image of Washington and other large buildings such as the Havana Hilton and Focsa poseriormente Habana Libre.
Triufo after the Revolution had a strong architecture influenced by the Soviet obsession with symmetry and the saving of space.  Entire neighborhoods were built in the style of working-class districts of Moscow and Minsk.

When the Berlin Wall fell, architecture received various currents and the boom of the 5-star hotels occurred with stunning glass and steel facades in the style of the modern skyscrapers of Manhattan or other Latin American metropolises like Mexico City or Caracas.  It has also undertaken a process of restoring the old historic center of the city with great architectural bastions of all currents and trends from the Baroque to the eclectic art.

Painting
The painting of Cuba begins to highlight the beginning of the twentieth century. Among the major painters are Wilfredo Lam, who has works exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, Rene Portocarrero, Amelia Pelaez and Carlos Enriquez. Among the painters of current importance are Tomas Sanchez, Humberto Jesus Castro Garcia, Jose Bedia, Arturo Cuenca, Nelson Dominguez, Alexis Leyva and Roberto Fabelo (Kcho).

Film and theater

Cuba after the victory, made a revolutionary film with limited resources but it was very professional and deserves a mention. Among the films of the twentieth century are:  The Death of a Bureaucra; Memories of Underdevelopment; Caravan was barter; Strawberry and Chocolate and The Beauty of the Alhambra.

Among the recent films widely recognized is the age of the peseta; Viva Cuba and Madrigal.  Much of which have been nominated for Oscar awards, the Goya and the Cannes festival, with winners.
Cuisine of Cuba
Cuba’s cuisine is a fusion of Spanish cuisine, African and Caribbean.  Cuban recipes share the wisdom of the combination of spices and cooking techniques of Spanish and African influences, with some Caribbean spices and flavors.

There are influences from African slaves who cultivated mostly sugar cane plantations, while in the cities were usually a minority. Snuff plantations were inhabited mainly by poor Spanish peasants, especially in the Canary Islands.

The eastern part of the island also received massive quantities of French immigrants and Haitians.  The Caribbean, mainly during the Haitian revolution, housed many seasonal workers for the harvest of sugar cane, and also some Spaniards during the 50s. This meant that the Cuban cuisine became locally traditional.

Among the dishes eaten are rice, meat (especially bananas), vegetables and pork. Among the dishes is the conger, a soup made with beans and rice.   Tamales were popular (corn dish from aboriginal Cubans eaten with cassava) and tostones ladybugs made with bananas and meat.  Eaten at parties and the most coveted is the typical roast pork on a stick fire.
Crafts

In Cuba, the craftsmen are grouped for the high standard of their work, as members of the Cuban Association of Craft Artists (ACAA) in which case they got a card for the demonstration and adoption of the national executive, composed of prominent artists and craftsmen Cuban plastic.

In this way it ensures the marketing and promotion of their works through cultural institutions such as the Cuban Fund of Cultural Property.   This organizes and promotes events within the country and abroad. These artisans work independently in their own workshops and are supported by the political and economic worlds.  They are considered artistic creators.
The craft is varied and grouped into seven arts which have been closely linked to the development of international tourism.  In addition to the domestic market, it plays an important role in the rescue of national identity, since the effort has been directed to artistically recreate our values, popular customs and cubanania in their designs, materials used, as well as generating economic contribution to national development.

Artisans produce works of excellent quality showing a great mastery of the craft, many of them have received various national and international merit, which make them great craftsmen. They are a faithful exponent of Cuban culture.

Your maximum artistic representation within the country, is the International Crafts Fair (FIART) which is held in December each year, where prizes are awarded by FIART, Seal of Excellence, The Work of Life, and Unesco.  This fair is convened by the National Center for Development of Handicrafts, in conjunction with other institutions in the country.