a project by COSPE
in partnership with Fondazione Fabbrica Europa, Asociación Hermanos Saíz (AHS), Centro Oscar A. Romero (OAR), Consejo Nacional de las Artes Escénicas (CNAE), Centro Nacional de Investigación de las Artes Escénicas (CENIAE), MINCULT
supported by the EuropeAid/162608/DD/ACT/CU programme of the European Commission

Context
When comparing Cuba to other Caribbean and Central American countries, the social indicators seem to provide a very positive picture. The economic crisis of the período especial (the name given to the state of emergency following the crisis of the Soviet Union in 1989) has however greatly decreased the quality of life, limiting the opportunities for the new generations, especially in the cultural sphere.
In the last 6 years the culture sector, together with that of sport, has reached 4.1% of GDP, but the 2030 ministerial program for Cultural Development has highlighted a strong lack as regards the new audiences and, in general, the Cuban society.
The artistic production, even if rich in quality, tends to be not very inclusive and to propose stereotypes especially as regards the role of women.

The project
JUNTARTE, whose main actions are developed between Havana and Florence from 2021 to 2022, intends to act on two project lines: on the one hand, by networking the different realities that work in the cultural sector; on the other, by acting to strengthen the creative and productive skills of Cuban cultural operators and artists. This, with the aim of supporting the process of changing the perception of both the productive and economic value and the social and political function of the artistic sector, within which the themes of diversity and inclusion appear little explored and under-represented.

The main activities of the project include a part of research on the “state of the art” of the Cuban cultural sector and a part of training, curated by Fabbrica Europa, through a series of laboratories (talleres) which aim to provide a group of 70 young Cuban artists from different disciplines (theatre, dance, circus, puppetry) with tools to develop their creative and entrepreneurial processes in a dimension of intercultural dialogue and international exchange.

In the months of October and November 2021 Fabbrica Europa held a cycle of intensive talleres aimed at young dancers, actors, performers etc. with the artistic-pedagogical direction of the Spanish director Andrés Morte, assisted by local facilitators from the Asociación Hermanos Saíz. In the first period of work Andrés Morte held a taller with a group of actors and in parallel the choreographer Cristina Rizzo carried out a training programme with a group of dancers. On 28 October the results of these processes were presented to the public at the Bertolt Brecht Theatre in Havana. In the second half of November the director and theatrical author Manuela Cherubini together with Elena De Carolis, actress, director and acting teacher, join the project group to further continue the work with young Cuban artists. On November 26, the final results were presented to the Havana public.

In 2022 JUNTARTE will move to Florence, where some Cuban artists will have the opportunity to meet Italian artists in a production residency. The results will be presented in the context of the 29th edition of the Fabbrica Europa Festival.