Villa Victoria Center for the Arts; WGBH Forum Network; Linda Hirsch on Cuba: Threads of Hope and Renewal

Thank you so much for coming to such a wonderful crowd. Really really excited about talking about this work. Linda and I have been working on this project for almost two years. I'm about a year and a half. Feels like time. It doesn't feel like a while I became the curator here at May of 2008 and soon afterwards reached out to Linda. I was so excited about this show and as Javier just mentioned to you the context of this show is with and this is very exciting. You know we we rebranded and Mark to be a Victoria's Center for the Arts. Formerly we were because of the local tourist center for Latino arts and when we rebranded. We altered our mission somewhat and included a cross dynamic cross-cultural collaboration. And so we've been a

little by a little bit of a corporate ladder to the exhibitions here in the gallery. So it's not you know it's it's not news to anyone that it's not Hispanic or Latino. But put her on her show really does wonderful things for this program and what we really am to do here in the gallery. Basically you know we when we first started meeting I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that Linda has produced over nine years. I believe this year it'll be 10. The first trip was in 2000 and Linda will give us some more details about her her trips to Cuba. But the sheer amount of work is really from a project is incredibly overwhelming. And I was really delighted in our studio visits to go through it to really

to find the real images of humanity. And I really feel like that's the bottom line with a lot of this work. There are some really incredible glimpses and to some cultural Xinhua bit of cultural affectations as well as some of the Jewish cultural affectations. And I think where those lines sort of begin to blend. I really feel like it's where the work really is incredibly strong. Without our going to go into some depth as to exactly what kind of themes are in the work you know before I do that before we get into a discussion about the work itself I want to introduce Linda Hirsch and have her speak to us about her experience and her experiences plural and the work itself. Linda thank you. That was wonderful Evan has been just

tremendous tremendously helpful as he said. Years and years of images hundreds I don't even know how many. And they're all film captured all my images from from Cuba have been filmed capture which then meant I had to scan and digitize and organize and it still hasn't. Been completed. There are many images I can't even find. So thank you to the center in crisis to heaven for his patients and his insurance I think we've broken a lot of records broken a lot of traditions as well with this show. It was intended initially to be a two person show. With a Cuban colleague a very gifted female colleague who when we started talking lived in Cuba Cuba and then sought asylum in the US and I thought oh it will be easy now she's in the US we can do a show together. When in effect it made it

harder and it wasn't possible because to come here from another country and to immerse yourself and to get certified as a doctor has taken her away from. Now this conversation that I have had to have with myself it's it's kind of surreal the looking glass motif which is alluded to in some of my writings and in the mirror piece the installation piece. Over nine years of immersing myself little by little into Cuban culture and the Jewish Cuban culture I have come to look at myself differently. Get back to that. And it's caused me to look at my religious spiritual spiritual beliefs differently. And to look at my fellow human beings with greater affection and and compassion because when you go through that looking glass into any other culture especially the Cuban

one which is so complicated and paradoxical and changing with such a lot of history you know it's like being thrown into the deep end of the pool and thrown out of a boat into the ocean. And it takes a lot of patience and humility a great deal of patience and humility to step back and say Who am I. An outsider too. It's entered this culture even though I understand the religion of the Jewish faith. Who am I to tell their story so in the middle of this nine year period during which I have immersed myself. In the middle I had an epiphany and I realized that you know I can continue telling my version of my experiences. But it's still my story. And I began to raise money for and provide cameras to the teenagers that I was watching grow up. I mean in nine years kids really wow they changed.

And I'm trying to enable them carefully cautiously totally openly nothing surreptitious about this. Because I don't want to cause them. Any difficulties of possible. And I'm enabling them to tell their own story so that's the next chapter. The next show I have hopefully will incorporate work that I've been receiving from Cuba by Flash Drive see the e-mail files every which way conceivable. They've been sending me Little their attempts to document tell their history and so forth. So. Coming back to the beginning when I was Stace with this you know tidal wave of images and Evan and I had to surf through them. You know how do you tell a coherent story. Well again this isn't. Now it isn't just my story. It's a combination of impressions of community. Faith. And family which to me are the three essential is of Cuban of combated that

see that. Because each time I went two times I went alone. So I had nobody to help me. A lot of the way people helped. I was taken into homes that was taken into families I was nursed and bathed literally by people when I became very ill on my last trip and it was sheer stupidity I drank coffee with water that hadn't been properly boiled that can happen anywhere literally. It can happen anywhere. And so when I became this ill and was unable to care for myself. I learned a lot about Cuban. About the essence of compassion. People bathe me massage me fed me I learned how to eat raw fresh yogurt which was a real treat. And when I came home and told the story. People said oh really. Well that's interesting. And. The message is is there something to be learned here.

We can learn a lot from exchanges with other people and you don't have to go to Cuba to learn. You can. You can engage in exhibit missions exchanges e-mails. Etc.. So what else. It's. I think made many of you were probably heard the story I began this journey into the Cuban. Connection quite by happenstance. I was a professional trained practicing psychologist and then started to study photography and began to do freelance work and I was bored at a certain point I became bored a needed challenge and just stepped back from my commercial work and said whatever calls to me I will follow if. If I'm listening if I'm reading and I was at a concert one evening. For.

A client who is a composer whose wedding I had photographed. I was there innocently to hear the music to enjoy a lot of multicultural music rhythms. And while I was sitting listening to the concert. His in-laws were seated next to me my husband was to my right. And there were three parts to the music. The first part was inspired by Prague. Put a last part was inspired by Paris the middle part was inspired by Cuban rhythms and this composer has never been to Cuba. But as I sat there innocently listening to the same thing that's happening to me now and you can't see it because I'm wearing long sleeves the hair just stood up on my arms and on the back of my neck and I thought that's interesting because that's a sign I'm very sensitive to these things. And I turned to his in-laws innocently to say oh he should take this music and tour Prague Paris and Havana.

They said no no no he's not going anywhere. But we are going to Cuba. Without even stopping to ask when why I just said to my how I turned to my husband and I said we're going to Cuba. What out literally didn't hesitate not even knowing if there was room in the group and my husband who's a dear sweet guy said Sure OK I'm up for it. I want to play for you it's a page just a snippet. I don't know how well you'll be able to hear this. This is the piece and it's on a recording. Behind my installation there's a sound installation. Later when you're walking around if it's back on you'll hear a mix of music that illustrates all the different threads or many not all. Many of the different threads that run through Cuban communities Africa and Africa. You know you're Ruben somebody you know Hebrew Israeli led the you know which is Spanish Hebrew mixed together beautiful soulful songs that I've put on this Alex of the who is the performance manager at the center here. I have

his music from Ecuador because I just love listening to him. I mean all the votes of Latin American countries they share the sounds and rhythms but there are some surprises and here is the piece if I can get it to go. It's classical surprisingly. Very orchestral even sounds like an epiphany. Sounds like what it sounds like a bit for me. OK so it starts with this grand sweeping gesture and he goes on some of it is too soft to hear. And Barry. I don't know if you can hear this at all but later maybe if you're interested you can come closer. He has the dance rhythms he has when he has the surf you can see. You can almost feel the surf on the Malecon. He's also seen pictures of the waves on the spray and he

captured all this you hear about. And you know this is it. This was the trigger. And within two months literally I think that was you know with and I'm not even two months. My cousin and I were a little Russian made plane. What's the airline from Russia. Oh gosh. Not our float. But it was a Russian air I was a we went to Montreal on that particular occasion. We thought it was cheaper. We legally had a license. We went to Montreal through a blizzard and took this little tiny aircraft that was made in Russia to Cuba and we held the seat and our knuckles were white the whole time. It was it was quite an adventure. And we had no time to plan I mean literally we just we threw stuff into holes we had our restrictions 40 pounds a little bit more from Canada some of you were gone perhaps from other places. Almost every time I've gone it's been 40 pounds you know how much 40 pounds is not much. You carry 40 pounds to cool but that's it. I learned how to

travel light fast and there. But I learned from the people how to economize and the stores and the products and now you know behind us are market shots. Well friends who have just come back from Cuba. I still want to say Cuba so forgive me if I shift back and forth. These were the good times in 2006 2007 things were on the uptick. Tourism was up. Province was up then they were when Cuba was winning and with several storms in fact two thousand eight. The summer and fall they were hit with three successive tropical storms and then as were devastated a lot of crops were wasted and then of course the world economy took a downturn and now it isn't just our cargo but it's a lot of it related to our cargo. They're hurting and there are food shortages and the shelves the shelves are lined with tomato paste and past a tomato paste tomato sauce pasta. Nothing else. I mean that's it's like almost it's not comedic but it is you look at it you think that someone set that up. No there's a shortage there are real shortages.

There was actually one of the. Questions of I mean that I could have very easily asked you off line but I definitely wanted to be part of this conversation as you know you made your first trip to Cuba in 2000. And I think as everybody in this room knows there's a lot has happened in the last the last 10 years. So I mean my my question is how as you know you you've touched on it in the last you know in the last few statements but how is Cuba changed. You know in the last 10 years over a year over the course of your trip and again these are only my impressions and I disclaimer right at the front of this all. I really do not want you to think that I am an expert. On anything photography or Cuba because. I learned by firsthand experience and by doing that these are my impressions so changes well. There definitely is a renewal. Of religious observance. It's very much out in the open and the churches although a lot of them are still in disrepair are after

people are going on Judaism certainly has seen an interesting open up and down wave of increase in numbers observing and searching for their roots. People leaving for Israel the more they learn about their Jewish roots and the more they want to strive and achieve because they're all educated and highly literate. Many of the Jews are leaving so the numbers have gone up and renewal has gone up and then people dying the elderly of course you know feel that most of them aren't leaving for Israel they're dying. And those who are leaving if the numbers went down in the early 2000s it was fifteen hundred ish then it was down to twelve hundred at one point when I went it was close to 1000 because they were leaving in groups of 100. There were big groups leaving which was very frightening to me maybe not to others but to me it was like a Roman Vishy at times I mean there wasn't going to. Nothing was going to be left. These people were leaving taking the knowledge and the skills with them.

What was going to be left was I documenting a disappearing society so the numbers have gone up and down now there's an uptick in in Judaism I can't speak for the other faiths because there are a lot of conversions a lot of people are intermarried by necessity there aren't a lot of Jews fellow Jews and. So there are conversions. And the numbers are up again. But. The other face you're Ruben some sent her to stick fates which were suppressed and hidden and there are hints in the other room and there's one mural here directly alluding to the media that was not allowed years ago and now it's public and now people can observe their faith and it's become a real hot tourist attraction. Which raises the other issue for them definitely is from all over the world. Downside is. That. My husband and I drove into isolated peninsula areas where they're just ravaging the landscape. And Cuba tries to protect they have in escrow sites.

That's the NSO site next to where that car is it's a beautiful park. They do protect certain areas very very well but the tourism is ravaging the beaches the empty beach in the other room of the bright and barren image will not look like that probably doesn't look like that now that was taken some years ago. The downside is tourism will help. Some parts of the Cuban economy but not all the people certainly it will be distributed and it gives you this this two tier economy which we all know is very very dangerous very dangerous and very destructive. So Tourism is up and the new crop of students at the university with whom I eat dinner and they were buzzing over me likewise. That's the new industry. That is their hearing. It's not even medicine because medicine is suffering. That's another change. We'll come back to that minute. So education is still very very active Tourism is up but I'm afraid it's going to do some damage and they're not even set when our Barbeau is

and whenever it is changed or opened up they're going to be flooded and they won't be able to handle the flood of people who want to go there. It's going to it's going to have some consequences and that ason I had first hand experience. And there are some pictures that allude to my visits of the hospitals. Everyone well not everyone but many of you may know Michael Moore's movie. It it it isn't really like that. That completely. Recently there was a terrible terrible disaster. I don't know all the details yet but a hospital that cared for disabled people and I don't know that nature had a huge number of deaths because the heating system wasn't working properly wasn't repaired or wasn't fuel. I don't know the details but there's a big public investigation and cool but this is highly unusual highly unusual to have something that publicly exposed and some people were documenting this. And so I'm waiting to hear more of this this is

a horrible blow to their esteem. They don't have a lot of medicines that's gotten worse. Their doctors are being exported to other countries. Of course Haiti needs them and that's justifiable. Venezuela is taking a lot of doctors in trade for oil and so Quba is suffering they're not having as many doctors to take care of their own. And certainly the medicines are lacking. And so I ended up in I visited this hospital that woman is having a double mastectomy and to her right is my cousin who lives there. It's another linchpin of my connection to Cuba. This woman is going to have a double mastectomy. The next day my cousin and friends of hers were there to be angels of compassion to provide her with fresh clothing fresh linens fresh food because the hospitals do not do this certain hospitals I cannot speak for all. I mean so I'd like to see the inside out of the hospital settings and then I. Had a little adventure I was robbed one night. Nothing major but because I suffered a little cut.

The policeman said you must go to the hospital we have to go through this routine. And. I left the hospital very quickly when I saw the disarray. It was like a Marx no pun intended a Marx Brothers comedy because I couldn't tell who was the doctor. Who were the patients it was like. Very scary to me it was an emergency room which is scary to anyone. But I'm sure the care was fine but I didn't need care and I signed a release and the policeman was happy to let me go. But that whole night was a true lesson in because nothing of significance was stolen but I screamed at the thief. Maybe all I wanted that he took from me was I needed my exit visa to leave the country and he understood me and as he neatly tore up and took off with other things he dropped my visa for me and I found it and I traced the path of torn letters. To where I suspect he lived and stood outside screaming in the most perfect Spanish everything that I could

think of then went to the police station where I was treated to four hours of no taking the police are very thorough but they didn't catch him. They are printed they were in fact with spotlights and fingerprinted I have my fingerprints are in Cuba now. So I saw their justice system at its best. Now I saw two police stations with undercover policeman etc. etc.. If you want a real lesson in another society I don't advise getting robbed but I actually took sunsets some pictures that my cousin was very angry at me. You're not supposed to photograph in certain places but I'm a photographer so I caught the police and I caught the ambulance I caught the door to the hospital and that was that. So yes that's changed. It's I would say the medical care has suffered. What else has changed. You know we talked to you you touched on you know a lack of physical resource. Yes. You touched on a lot of different kind of resources but there are I was a swing at you and I were going to do a show and putting it together and sort of

talking in some detail about some of the works. And I was amazed to find out that that for these that are on this wall for some of them I'm not sure for which all of them. That there were spiritual resource that were brought in. For those of the congregation it seemed for a goose but they did not have a rabbi. Yes and this this this is a topic of great interest. But as far as the Jew the Jewish Times of the Jewish communities. OK well how does how does a how does that work. Just that what you're asking what I mean I guess the subject being you know of flux of spiritual resources isn't ok as far as I know for revival. The search for renewal started up again around 1993 and it's no coincidence the day because it was shortly after the Russian influence had waned had diminished. And it wasn't it wasn't.

So suffice it to say it wasn't the Cuban government per se that had. Sort of put a lid on religion it was it was more or it was more the Russian influence and then the pope's visit opened that and so then various organizations from around the world the Joint Distribution Committee heard that B'nai Brith. Time to think and seminaries in Latin America and the way they all began to send money and and personnel. But it was never for permanent It was never for anything permanent other than to restore the large central synagogues in Havana which were in total total despair disarray and just falling down. And those have all been restored very nicely and continue to be kept up by influx of funds predominantly but not of schools will be the Joint Distribution Committee. But the question remains how to people learn and are their rabbis OK.

They seminarian often Tina. Is the major source of students who come up to the Central Synagogue in Havana known affectionately as the pop tomato anyone who's ever been who's Jewish or interested in the temples that's where they take you they give you the spiel they show you the pharmacy the books but pharmacy a lot of that stuff stays there it doesn't get distributed as widely. The books they could use more and they have a beautiful computer lab run by courts which which is really impressive and a rec center Spartak center has been restored beautifully. Their chairs are more comfortable than the ones forgive me in the my own temple Sephardic show is has a recreation center used to be huge Now it's half. They're doing OK their leaders have all been leaving for Israel. They have new leaders now. And the Orthodox shul which was in total disrepair It's the oldest poorest population have now got their own website. Their web savvy.

They've gotten very good at attracting tourism and teaching. And it used to be and this is another big change the Central Synagogue which is where the authority resides of the potter Matto used to send tutors to every province. There are approximately 10 to 12. And I have a map later I can show you where the communities are located. They used to send tutors out to go around the country teaching for bar mitzvah rituals. And she. And I just heard and I was shocked and despondent to hear very recently. But that has stopped and I don't know why I have to investigate what the reason is the uptick. The upside is that the young people who are leaders. The boy who is becoming a bar mitzvah in that picture of the boy in the other room becoming a bar mitzvah this young lady becoming a bat mitzvah and others who are in some of the pictures are stepping up to the plate. They're all rising leaders they're being trained because they're parents you know are going to be there forever and they are having to assume responsibilities that

they sort of kind of been trained for but now they're being thrown into it. The spirituality is marvelous the religiosity as with many religions is a little behind. So spiritually you know you sit in a temple anywhere or in a house which serves as a sanctuary in the countryside most of the countryside is they meet in homes. And you listen to the governing the praying and you just want to get up and dance the salsa to it because some of especially the orthodox I've been to many many services and I've recorded them sound like Spanish auctioneer is. Playing salsa music I mean it's like fast in cadence and it's like every rhythmic. My husband was carrying around in one of the temples as a as an honor and I really literally thought he was going to start dancing with the Torah. It was fun. Spirituality. Is it helpful in Cuba you can't avoid it. I mean the people.

It's a kind of sensuousness and an openness to as with my the here is in the music episode being open they're very open they're they're trusting people which is what I'm. I'm concerned with the with the with an increase in tourism and the rapid increases that you know these are very trusting very open people they want they want to embrace the outside they want to be included and involved and. I hope I hope that there is some means to you can't protect people or they need to have to see what it will be. The leaders are the leaders that I've met. I've been in Mom's There's a Muslim community in Cuba. There's some Muslim rhythms on my sound piece if you listen you'll hear pieces that you'll wonder why oh why is that on there. There is a Muslim very tiny population the a mom I met was very bright very curious. The leaders of the Jewish

community are very dedicated and they're overwhelmed. I also have to say that the leader right now who assumed leadership after a very prominent a very tightly controlling leader died unexpectedly and too soon. Dale and Warren who many of you would have met. It was thrust into this role and it's been a huge challenge for her because there are so many demands from within and from tourism. You know the tourists we make demands we show up with satchels of goodies meds and books and money and whatever. And if you know it feels good but you have to think. How is this going to be handled is going to be handled handled properly appropriately. Which is why I stepped back and started to say enablement also is very important here not just assistance and I chide and I will do this I will do this tonight I chide people that when they do go to any other country not just Cuba to be aware of your actions that they

could possibly do more harm than good well-meaning could do more harm. You have to be aware of other peoples needs and respect their boundaries and and just these are fellow human beings. They are very proud. These people are extraordinarily proud and private to a degree which I feel very humbled and honored that they have let me into their lives. It's a kind of presumptuousness that we as Americans often have that we can go and do good and help and fix them and it gets here I think that's that's one thing that I really want to bring. So the conversation is that you know I think it's very easy with this exhibition to to comment as a viewer and to to see these images and to immediately emote. You see these images and and whether you are Jewish or whether you're Hispanic. You see I think part of yourself and in a lot of these photographs that happens immediately

and I think that one thing that should be very very clear is that those moments that are captured that are captured on film by London are the result of of a relationship that has you know happened over nine years and there was a lot of work that went into being able to be invited and be a part of that moment. And some of them were like You write that some of the other crisis that should be together let's throw another tear. But that's you know that was one of the things that I was so attracted to about this project is that you know I think one of the things that we and evidently find ourselves talking about and these artist talks here in the gallery for all the exhibitions that we do is what is the route to your own heritage. What is your understanding of your heritage and for many of the shows here. That question has to do with our Latino heritage that has to do with our live American heritage. And this show poses a very very different question.

It doesn't ask you what your IT asks who you are as a as a human who you are as a human being. And you know I'm I was my my sister and I are fifth generation American. So we before that you know my Our family was in Mexico. So we haven't been Mexican for five generations. I'm fully identified as Hispanics. We were raised Hispanic and I was the first one over there eating those in front of us. The moment the moment that they got here he beat me. But I thought the point being that you know I was raised in America and you know all of my other colleagues at the center. They each have their own story. You know some of them are first generation I was some of them are fifth generation and we all come to this place on a different road and I think one of the really incredible

things about this exhibition is that you could ask yourself that. You've got to look at these images you know the we were talking about these a moment ago the beautiful young girl the bobbins 5 and the boy the barman above her. You know for a lot of the residents of this neighborhood the Javier you know told you a little bit about our community for a lot of the residents like to walk through here they will immediately identify with those people because they look Hispanic. And yet that image will be so foreign to them because of the religious nature of that photograph. And so it allows so many different kinds of people to be a part of this dialogue and I think that that's such. That's we're are incredibly blessed to be able to have that conversation here. We are incredibly thrilled that Linda is the one to be able to bring that to us. And you know the the photographs themselves technically you know are quite

quite exquisite.