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Literature
The country's most famous literary figure is José
Martí, whose life, ideas and martyr's death confirmed him
as a national hero, but other Cuban literary greats include Cirilo
Villaverde y de la Paz (1812-94), Alejo Carpentier (1904-80), Nicolás
Guillén (1902-89) and Guillermo Cabrera Infante (1929-).
Visual Arts
Cuba's filmmakers include Tomás Gutiérrez
Alea (1928-96), whose Strawberry and Chocolate was highly lauded,
and Humberto Solás, whose works also received much international
acclaim. Painters Wilfredo Lam (1902-82) and Marianao Rodríguez
(1912-90) are amongst the most important the country has produced,
and Manuel Mendive (1944-) is regarded as Cuba's foremost living
painter.
Cuisine
Cuban cuisine is a mix of Spanish and African techniques,
using local produce. Dishes like Moros y Cristianos (Moors and Christian;
black beans and rice), arroz con pollo (chicken and rice) and picadillo
(minced beef and rice) are common, as are soups made with plantains,
chick-peas or beans. There are, however, food shortages in Cuba
and eating out can mean long waits at state-run restaurants or hotel
dining rooms. Cuban beer (cerveza) is excellent and the cocktails
are legendary.
Music
African slaves brought rhythms and ritual dances
to Cuba, where they were blended with Spanish guitars and melodies
and then appropriated and developed throughout the Americas (the
USA in the 1920s jumped to rumba rhythms, and these, fused with
jazzy horn sections and drums, became the big-band sound).
Dance
The conga-line dance was developed by slaves shackled
together, while much of contemporary Cuban dance has important associations
with Afro-Cuban Santería religion. The most popular Cuban
music today is son, which developed in the hills of the Oriente
before the turn of the century and incorporates guitars, tres (a
small Cuban stringed instrument with three pairs of strings), double
bass, bongos, claves, maracas and voice. Mambo, bolero, salsa and
chachachá music also derived from this form. The most famous
exponents of Cuban music were Pérez Prado and Benny Moré,
but Cuban music continues to evolve and there are a great many artists
still making great music.
Government Stance
After the revolution the arts were actively supported
by the government: many theatres, museums and arts schools were
founded, musicians were guaranteed a salary and a national film
industry was established. The government has sought to redress the
influence of North American mass culture by subsidizing Afro-Cuban
cultural groups and performing ensembles.
Religion
Historically, Roman Catholicism has been the dominant
religion in Cuba and it remains so, with around 40% of Cubans at
least nominally Catholic and some 4% of the population Protestan.
The loose institutional organization of Santería, an afro-Cuban
religion, hides the fact that a majority of Cubans are affiliated
with this Afro-Catholic religious fusion in one way or another,
and their numbers have grown since the government ended its official
atheism in 1992. True to the country's mestizo culture, Cubans grafted
Catholicism onto African religions brought over by slaves, resulting
in Afro-Cuban equivalent gods for the major Catholic saints - and
the occasional animal sacrifice. When Pope John Paul II crowned
Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre, Cuba's patroness,
devotes of Santería swelled with pride, for they identify
the Virgin of Cobre with their very own Ochun, goddess of love and
abundance.
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