“Impro Cubano”, is a photographic essay that fragmentarily describes Cuba in times of cultural and political change. Within my series I focus on the talent of improvisation and the lifestyle that is influenced by residue. Cuba was a „playground” of the cold war , later isolated and dependent on relations to communist countries.
Due to problematic conditions in the later “Era of Fidel” it was missed, to give more chances to individual developement of it’s society. Only by Raul Castro the new laws and opportunities for self-led businesses such as tourist housing (Casa Particulares) was opening up new options for the Cubans. The socialist influenced Cubans need to rely on their talent of “juggling” with hard circumstances as import of technical goods was limited.
One of the main ethics seemed to be the principles of helping each other inside the society and recycling everything. The best indicator for this was seeing, how they supported each other to repair cars on the motorway.
I was witnessing that they could make a useful good basically out of anything - for examble rubber tubes to fix loose parts , fans to dry hair or an Lada engine to replace the usual V8 in one of the Road Cruisers of the 50’s and 60’s.
Since reformations of Raul Castro Cubans now reiceive new options through economical changes - the state is facing bancrupty while the individuals gain more prosperity by visitors and any business connected to it; whether it’s Taxi rides, agricultural tourism or the "booming" Casa particulares where foreigners may sleep traditionally. My series gives a note of how Cuban Improvisation works, what time has written into the streets of Havana , Trinidad and Pinar del Rio and somehow what a gentle and quirky culture they have preserved despite all the throwbacks.