The Havana Bienal
with the College Art Association........
Welcome to Havana!
ITINERARY
Thursday 21 May -To- Thursday, 28 May 2015
[1] Thursday, 21 May, 2015 - Miami/Havana
[1:00 pm] - Depart Miami
[2:00 pm] - Arrive in Havana
[5:00 pm] - Check into Hotel Nacional de Cuba with welcome cocktail
[7:30 pm] - Welcome dinner At Kadir Lopez
Kadir Lopez and his brother Kelvin Lopez are graduates of the Instituto Superior de Arte. Their expansive studio and exhibit spaces are located in a 1930’s Havana mansion that has been re-purposed by the artists for their home-workspace. Here the group will enjoy a great and delicious traditional Cuban home-made dinner cooked by the family of the artist. You will have a chance to talk with Kadir, Kelvin, and other artists who will join us and beyond having a fabulous dinner you will enjoy warm conversation about everything Cuban.
[9:45 pm] - American Club
Join us at the American Club on the Prado with a stellar group of American Artists, curators and museum directors from throughout the United States who have traveled to the Bienal from the USA. A variety of Cuban artists, curators and musicians will also be invited. This historic hall was specially chosen for this festive event-that will celebrate the US presence at the Bienal-because it was the American Chamber of Commerce before the Revolution. It was the place where all the good old boys from the States gathered for dinner, cigars and camaraderie, as well as business tips, during the first half of the 20th Century. The main hall still has all of the state seals of the US States on the wall. We are converting this venue into a big dance party for all of our travelers and inviting many of the artists and musicians from Havana. Refreshments will be served.
[2] Friday, 22 May, 2015 - Havana
[8:00 am] - Breakfast at the hotel
[9:30 am] - Old Havana Four Plazas
Tour Old Havana on foot, walking between the four main plazas that comprise Cuba’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. Start at Plaza de Armas, the site of the oldest Spanish fortress in the Americas, the 1519 locale of the first mass in Cuba, and the massive Baroque seat of government, known as Palacio de los Capitanes Generales. Continue to Plaza de San Francisco de Assis and Plaza Vieja, where we will visit artists galleries and historic buildings and get a sense of the structure of the colonial city. Wind through historic streets spanning 5 centuries of historic architecture and end at Plaza de la Catedral and see the Baroque cathedral. You will experience some of the Havana Bienal installations during your walk.
[12:30 pm] - Las Tres Monedas
This is one of the next generation of paladares (private restaurants) in Havana. It's next-gen because it is a combination eating establishment, bar and night-club as well as an artwork in process established and conducted one of the leading new social practice artists of Havana. Unlike many of Havana’s paladares the food here is light and quick with creative tapas being the best description. The bar offers a variety of Cuban and international spirits and the entertainment is high-art music and performances. The place itself is an art work crafted by Kadir (who hosted us for dinner last night at his home). Overall this place gives you the idea that you are in a 1940’s New York City art house looking out at the Old Havana street scene of today.
[2:30 pm] - Taller de Grafica
Stroll to Plaza de La Catedral to visit Havana’s premiere graphics arts workshop. This public center for local artists was established by Pablo Neruda and Che Guevara at the beginning of the Revolution as a place where artists living in and visiting Havana can work on printmaking. Over the years they have developed an inventory of prints by unknown artists as well as more celebrated artists. This is an excellent time to purchase art gifts for yourself and others at great prices.
[5:00 pm] - Return to Hotel to freshen up and relax before dinner
[6:00 pm] - Dinner on your own
Tonight dinner is in a paladar of your choice from a list of the hottest foodie scenes in the City. The tour guide will make the reservations. This is an opportunity to get away from the larger group and dine with a smaller group of friends. You will take a taxi to the meal that we will find for you. The group will have a chance to speak with the Chef and owner of the establishment to discuss food and new opportunities in the food industry in Cuba. The cost of this meal is not included in the trip price.
[7:00 pm] - World Premiere of Cubanacan: A Revolution of Forms at Instituto Superior de Arte, Cubanacan is the first opera produced in Cuba in over sixty years. It is a Cuban/US production that is part of the Havana Bienal. Composed by Roberto Valera one of Cuba's most important contemporary composers, and led by Zenaida Romeu, Havana's most prolific woman Music Director, this epic story about the ideals for the school and art education during the beginning of the Revolution and the tortuous process of building this Post Modern masterpiece.
Picture below is the entrance to the art school which will serve as the stage for Cubanacan: A Revolution of Forms
[3] Saturday, 23 May 2015 - havana
[7:00 am] - Breakfast at the hotel
[9:30 am] - Bienal activities daily
Each morning we will have news regarding what is going on today at the Bienal and plan accordingly.
[9:30 am] - Capitolio Central Park and Prado
Lying on the border of old Havana and Centro Havana municipality, this area is notable for containing numerous architecturally and historically significant buildings that exemplify mid-19th c. urban center. We will begin at the 1877 Central Park, then walk along the 1772 Prado Promenade, see the Moorish-style Inglaterra Hotel, the oldest in the city and the 1929 Capitolio building, which is modeled on the US capitol. We will end at the Bacardi building, the best example of tropical Art Deco.
[10:00 am] - Museo de Bellas Artes Cuban art collection/Bellas Artes Museum (Museum - Art Museum) You will visit the Cuban collections in this striking modernist building which was completed in 1953 and exemplifies the combination of sculpture with architecture in Cuban mid-century modernism. The Palace of Fine Arts houses a collection of Cuban visual art that spans 4 centuries.
[12:30 pm] - Sloppy Joe's
The restoration project of the mythical Sloppy Joe's of Havana is great news for bar and cocktail lovers of the whole world. The project was completed in 2013, with much care and intelligence to reopen the bar with all its splendor, just as it used to be. Now you will be able to enter there as Alec Guinness did in "Our man in Havana" and will be able to have a sip at the amazing mahogany drinks cabinet, opposite the large windows Just like Hemingway did in his day. The food includes tapas and the Sloppy Joe Sandwich as well. There is a great collection of fine liquors and wines from all over the world.
[2:30 pm] - Bienal exhibitions and performances TBD
[7:30 pm] - Dinner on your own (Not included)
Tonight dinner is in a paladar of your choice from a list of the hottest foodie scenes in the City. The tour guide will make the reservations. This is an opportunity to get away from the larger group and dine with a smaller group of friends. You will take a taxi to the meal that we will find for you. The group will have a chance to speak with the Chef and owner of the establishment to discuss food and new opportunities in the food industry in Cuba. The cost of this meal is not included in the trip price.
[9:30 pm] - Explore Havana’s nightlife,
After dinner we will all meet at a designated location and take a leisurely stroll starting at Havana’s front porch, the Malecon. We will then stroll up the Prado and we will end up at the roof of the Inglaterra Hotel listening to Boleros. (Optional on your own)
[4] Sunday, 24 May 2015 - Havana
[7:00 am] - Breakfast at the hotel
[9:30 am] - Morro-Cabana Bienal Exhibitions
We will spend the morning visiting the vast 15th Century Spanish fortifications at the foot of the Havana Harbor that will be converted into vast exhibition halls for the Bienal. El Morro castle was part of the 1st defensive system put in place in the New World by the Spanish crown, while La Cabana resulted from the 2nd defensive system that was made effective in the late 1700’s following the English invasion in 1762. The latter is the largest fort built by the Spanish in the Americas. The two forts together comprise the largest and most powerful defensive complex built by the Spanish Crown in the American continent. The Morro/Cabana complex will be a primary location for Bienal exhibitions and projects. You will spend the morning exploring this vast complex of spaces that will be full of art.
[10:00 am] - Revolution Square
The Plaza de la Revolucion is a compendium of 1950s commercial buildings that now form the center of the government. This is the site where the most famous speeches in the country are made and where Pope John Paul II held his legendary 1998 Mass.
[11:00 am] - Callejon de Hammel
This Alley is located in the working class Cayo Hueso quarter that serves as an open-air Afro-Cuban religious sanctuary. The work of local artist Salvador Gonzalez who has adorned its walls with evocative Santeria murals pays homage to religious cults and currents of African origin. It hosts the famous Afro-Cuban rumbas that take place every Sunday afternoon. This is an organically developed Afro Cuban community art center that has become one of Havana's most important public art and performance sites.
[12:30 pm] - El Aljibe criolla cuisine
An outdoor thatch roof restaurant located in the residential area of Miramar, a few minutes from downtown Havana. A flavor created and maintained by the family tradition since the first restaurant was founded on the El Aljibe farm. The specialty is the El Aljibe Chicken, which combines roast chicken with French fries and fried plantain, delicious black beans, white rice, salad and, for dessert, national sweets.
[7:30 pm] - Dinner on your own (Not included)
Tonight dinner is in a paladar of your choice from a list of the hottest foodie scenes in the City. The tour guide will make the reservations. This is an opportunity to get away from the larger group and dine with a smaller group of friends. You will take a taxi to the meal that we will find for you. The group will have a chance to speak with the Chef and owner of the establishment to discuss food and new opportunities in the food industry in Cuba. The cost of this meal is not included in the trip price.
[9:30 pm] - Bienal activities
We will visit some of the evening receptions and events of the Bienal
[5] Monday, 25 May 2015 - Havana
[7:00 am] - Breakfast at the hotel
[9:30 am] - Ferry ride across Havana Bay
Take the ferry from Old Havana across Havana Bay, to visit the historic City of Regla.
[10:30 am] - Ernest Hemingway's Finca La Vigia
Visit Ernest Hemingway's Finca La Vigia, located on a hilltop in the rural village of San Francisco de Paula, just southeast of the City of Havana. The home has recently been the subject of a massive preservation effort by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as the author left it in 1961. At this farm you will be able to see his sport-fishing boat, the Pilar. This place houses the Hemingway Museum. The Finca Vigia estate and the fishing village of Cojimar are considered the most significant locales for those interested in Hemingway’s history.
[12:30 pm] - Ajiaco Cafe
This Paladar serves meals that could easily make you think you are dining at one of the best restaurants in New York or LA. But as soon as you look up at the scenic tropical scene you will realize you are eating at one of Havana’s best new paladares.
[3:00 pm] - Bienal exhibitions and performanes TBD
We will have news regarding what is going on at the Bienal and plan accordingly.
[6:30 pm] - Classic cars
We will be picked up by a fleet of classic American cars and ride through Havana in style to dinner tonight.
[7:30 pm] - La Guarida
This restaurant, originally a Paladar, has gone on to become one of the most popular high-end restaurants in Cuba. It has shown the way for upstarts in Havana on how to expand with great service and fine food. La Guarida grew in a decade from a family restaurants with four tables to a sought after dining establishments where you will rub elbows with movie stars, ambassadors, and even royalty when they are in town. Anyone who has been to La Guarida will find it difficult to disagree that Enrique and Odeisys have managed to create their own magical place. It has a cosy atmosphere with soft lights, fine table linen, German silver cutlery, candles, Cuban music and a growing collection of Havana’s finest artists. The effect is magnified by the entrance from a run-down Central Havana street. The building, originally known as La Mansión Camagüey, shows its former grandeur from the magnificent wooden entrance door through the marble staircase up the two flights of stairs to the restaurant itself. For visitors to Havana, La Guarida has become a must experience.
[9:30 pm] - Bienal activities
We will visit some of the evening receptions and events of the Bienal.
[6] Tuesday, 26 May 2015 - Havana/Vinales
[7:00 am] - Breakfast at the hotel
Today you have your choice of spending a day in the countryside and see rural Cuba or you can stay in Havana on your own and explore the Bienal.
[9:00 am] - Day trip to Vinales in Pinar del Rio Province
Enjoy this all day excursion to Vinales Valley located in Western Province of Pinar del Rio, a UNESCO world heritage site in Vinales Valley. This mystical place has one of the most beautiful country views in Cuba including "mogotes" which are limestone mountains that come out the valley floor. Take a boat ride through aone of these mogotes and enjoy a typical Cuban lunch while enjoying Cuban country music.
[11:00 am] - Cueva del Indio
This cave was discovered in 1920 and it was outfitted to be visited in the 1940’s, paving its floors and electrifying it. This large grotto was thus named because the local indigenous Guanahatabey people used it as graveyard and a refuge during the Spanish conquest period, the main reason why remains of this native culture were found inside. This cave is 1700 meters long (5100 feet) but only one third of it is visited, combining a short walk and a motorized boat ride through marvelous limestone formations.
[12:30 pm] - Finca Rojas
We will lunch in a beautiful farm located in in the heart of Vinales. Enjoy organic food from the farm to your plate.
[2:30 pm] - Local tobacco farm
You will discover the traditional methods still in use for gorwing tobacco and discuss the crop with farmers who will offer you hand made cigars from the best tobacco grown on this planet.
[7:30 pm] - Dinner on your own (Not included)
Tonight dinner is in a paladar of your choice from a list of the hottest foodie scenes in the City. The tour guide will make the reservations. This is an opportunity to get away from the larger group and dine with a smaller group of friends. You will take a taxi to the meal that we will find for you. The group will have a chance to speak with the Chef and owner of the establishment to discuss food and new opportunities in the food industry in Cuba. The cost of this meal is not included in the trip price.
[9:30 pm] - Bienal activities
We will visit some of the evening receptions and events of the Bienal.
[7] Wednesday, 27 May 2015 - Havana
[7:00 am] - Breakfast at the hotel.
[9:30 am] - Vedado and Havana Moderna visits
After breakfast visit Vedado, Plaza and Modern Havana districts. The morning starts with a stop at Plaza de la Revolucion or revolution Square followed by a visit of the Vedado district which highlights the architecture of the area. We wil drive by the USS Maine monument and the Malecon, Coppelia park, the Havana Libre hotel and the Rampa district. The group will also visit the farmers market, and other places of interest in Havana where they will have the opportunity to interact with farmers who sell their crops directly to the residents of the capital city.
[10:30 am] - Bienal activities.
We will spend the morning visiting Bienal projects and exhibitions throughout the city.
[12:30 pm] - Lunch on your own
We will recommend a paladar or restaurant (Not inlcuded)
[2:30 pm] - Folklorico Nacional de Cuba private rehearsal
Go behind the scenes and witness this extraordinary ensemble of Afrocuban folkloric music and dances. After 35 years and 93 international tours you can't find more authentic Afrocuban performance than this.
[7:30 pm] - Farewell dinner Club Habana
Built by Former President Fulgencio Batista this beautiful Club house is the most exclusive place in Havana catering to business man and diplomats. We will celebrate the trip and our Cuban hosts as it was done in the 1940s in Havana.
[9:30 pm] - Bienal activities
We will visit some of the evening receptions and events of the Bienal.
[8] Thursday, 28 May 2015 - Havana/Miami
[7:00 am] - Breakfast at the hotel
[9:00 am] - Check out of Hotel
[11:30 am] - Lunch on your own ( Not included)
[12:45 pm] - Transfer from a Havana hotel to the airport
Transfer to and from hotel to airport.
[4:00 pm] - Depart Havana to Miami