An Act of Resistance Amid the Chaos Reigning in Cuba
David Gonzalez has turned his home into “a cultural refuge for many young people in Havana who perhaps have nowhere else to go”.
HAVANA TIMES – In a city where, for months now, power outages have lasted more than 20 hours a day, a space has emerged where people can enjoy concerts, film screenings, exhibitions, parties, and other cultural activities even when the National Electric System (SEN) is in total collapse. Admission costs just 300 pesos (about 50 US cents at the current exchange rate) because, as its founder, David Gonzalez, told 14ymedio, the intention is not to turn it into a profitable business, but to create a self-sustaining refuge amid the severe crisis gripping the island.
“El Proyecto” (The Project) is the name of this space for cultural gatherings and respite from political pressure. It operates out of Gonzalez’s own home, a colonial mansion belonging to his family that has now been converted into an independent cultural center. Located at the corner of 11th and 14th Streets in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood, the venue has gained popularity, especially among young people, as a meeting place for culture, partying, freedom, and resistance.
“There’s no dictatorship here, there’s no SEN here, there are no problems with electricity or water here, and everyone is welcome,” said Gonzalez, 29, in a conversation with this newspaper, sitting casually on the steps outside the doors of the cultural space. With signs on its walls reading “How much longer?” and “The feeling of collapse,” and decorative details such as a fan paying tribute to the young people imprisoned from the independent El4tico platform, El Proyecto has also become a space for freedom of expression and inspiration for “a change toward a better future” in Cuba.
“El Proyecto arose out of necessity, as a kind of alternative to the chaos we are living through,” Gonzalez says. A graduate in Social Communication and former recipient of a British Chevening scholarship, he explains that the initiative began with film screenings and later expanded to parties and concerts featuring alternative music of various genres, including jazz, folk, and rock. At first, the activities were free, but growing attendance led them to begin charging admission in order to keep them going. To remain operational during prolonged power outages, the center has batteries and EcoFlow power stations.
In addition to concerts, which primarily feature young artists, El Proyecto has also organized visual arts exhibitions, such as the one held this past July 10 in tribute to 11J, “an extremely important anniversary for us as young Cubans,” Gonzalez told 14ymedio, referring to the massive public protests of July 11, 2021, which ended in a harsh crackdown and more than a thousand demonstrators being imprisoned.
For Gonzalez, the 11J exhibition was “our peaceful declaration of intentions” and, he added, sought “to encourage reflection on what we are doing as Cubans in Cuba today.” “It was a tribute to everyone who is in prison, to everyone who cried out for their survival, for their freedom, and who cried out for us as well, representing us as young people, as the Cuban people.”
Gonzalez spoke about how El Proyecto positions itself as an act of resistance against the discouragement that can be generated by “all the things you see around you: the garbage out front, the electricity going out, the lack of water, rising prices, insecurity in the streets…” For the young man, it is about “transforming the chaos,” using it as a catalyst rather than an obstacle, and “understanding what our role is in the midst of that chaos.”
“I feel a responsibility as a young Cuban regarding Cuba’s future,” Gonzalez says of El Proyecto’s intentions. “I don’t think we have the solution here to all the structural problems we have been suffering from for a long time because of our current political system. However, I do believe that, in some way, we are implementing changes.”
“I believe that the sum, the accumulation of small gestures like the ones we are bringing to fruition is precisely what can enable us to achieve that great change we are all dreaming of,” Gonzalez continues.
“There is a very damaging obsession within the social fabric with the idea that only one group of people is going to bring about the great change we need, and I think it has to be viewed differently: in a more horizontal, more humble way, where we create from our own little corner, with the modest resources we have.”
Gonzalez believes creating a refuge where young people feel free to express themselves artistically, without obstacles caused by a lack of resources or government censorship, is an act of “resistance” to the alarming situation the island is going through. “And I think that, in some way, we have achieved that, which makes me tremendously proud,” he says, “having turned my home into a cultural refuge for many young people in the city of Havana who perhaps have nowhere else to go.”
“I think that is precisely where our greatest achievement lies: in managing to create something where people, without turning their backs on Cuba, without turning their backs on its reality, can rethink things and can also find hope through connecting with other human beings,” he adds.
El Proyecto seeks to be accessible to all kinds of people “with the intention that everyone can feel welcome, regardless of their financial means, ideology, or way of thinking.” Gonzalez insists that the space is not intended to become a profitable business: “It isn’t set up with the intention of making money off people; it’s set up so that you can feel it’s an affordable place, where you can come with 500 pesos or 1,000 pesos and have a wonderful time.”
“And this is our way of supporting that change, this is our way of saying that we are here, that we dream of a better Cuba, that we dream of a future,” the young professional says.
El Proyecto also hopes soon to host performing arts, such as dance and theater, thereby expanding its programming to include other forms of artistic expression. Sitting on the steps as he greets neighborhood residents, Gonzalez says he would like to get “people to see us as a beacon, as a light shining in the midst of the darkness,” although he is not referring literally to electricity, “but rather to the message.”
“For me, the important thing is that people associate us with resistance, and with the fact that even if everything in the city is dark, we’re going to keep being here, even if the National Electric System collapses three times in a row.”
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.