Ruinologist, hydraulic engineer, and author Antonio José Ponte writes in his recent essay, La fiesta vigilada (2007), “La Habana es el escenario de una guerra ocurrida nunca.” Just as Ry Cooder creates a false object of nostalgia by forming a nonexistent orchestra made up of geriatric Cuban musicians that hadn’t been heard since the 1960s in Buena Vista Social Club, an album that (re)awakened foreigners to the beauties of Cuban music, the current Havana is a fabrication of the same kind, a war zone waiting for a nonexistent war to happen.Ruins are a measure of the passing of time and its effects on the people.
La Habana no es sólo la ciudad de las columnas o la ciudad de los palacios, sino además la ciudad de los derrumbes. Abilio Estévez, Los palacios distantes
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