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• Arts and Culture
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• 11 / 12 / 2007

- I had never had a harder and more complex responsibility than this. And I think all of the Vice Presidents of the Executive Group of the Organizing Committee of the VII Congress could say the same. Because the destiny of our artists and writers, the protection and safeguard of their works and the respect to hierarchies and personalities depend on this event.

Miguel Barnet hardly remains in his seat. He listens and answers my questions while he paces around his office. His day began early that morning at the Fernando Ortiz Foundation, which he presides, and he will now spend long hours at the big house on the corner of 17 and H. He is a founder of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (NUWAC), and for the last 21 years he had been one of its Vice Presidents before taking his current post. However, such a great deal of time and devotion had never been demanded from this writer, who has just been awarded with the José Donoso Award in Chile for his lifetimes work. Its the fourth award he has received in just a few months.

- The Foundation, the NUWAC, your own work...does Miguel Barnet create time?

- I dont know where all this energy comes from. I always keep my tank full, so I dont run on empty. It if I didnt do that, I would feel Im being irresponsible. I have, indeed, the Foundation, I also have my small work...and now I have this responsibility as the Senior Vice President of the Executive Group. I took it for my revolutionary discipline and for the trust I have in the human quality of the members of the organization. I also felt compelled to accept it because of the fact that our president Sergio Corrieri is such an intelligent, moderate and honest man, and because our managing board includes such a lucid and brilliant woman like Graziella Pogolotti, not to mention the devotion shown by the rest of the team. These people may or may have not been closely related to the NUWAC, but they are all aware of the responsibility they have. They know they are working on strengthening the foundations of the organization and helping it have a wider cultural scope, so it can support the most valuable and genuine artists, no matter what their origin is, from the most selected and cultured ones to the most popular ones. That is why the Union paid homage on the same day to Alicia Alonso and the National Ballet of Cuba, for their recent success in Paris, and to Los Muñequitos de Matanzas for the work they have done with rumba. Those are two different artistic expressions. Yet, they are both taken into consideration.

- What kind of NUWAC do you want to have?

- Our goal is to have a renewed NUWAC. We want it to have a new image and to give it new contents. It will look like a common place, but its not. We think there should be young people in the managing board, especially talented ones. Young people who have proven their abilities with their work. We dont want to turn the NUWAC into a guild. We want it to be an association of the most remarkable creators of the country, who can stand up to the mark left here by its founders.

- The founders of the NUWAC left their mark. But the spirit of the organization waned a lot during the 1970's and the 1980's. It was in the 1990's when the NUWAC became again what it once was, or perhaps it was then that it truly became the NUWAC for the first time. Do you agree on this comment?

- The NUWAC had its own alarm clock. It was Abel Prieto, our current Minister of Culture. We gained so much with Abel. The NUWAC widened its scope and its relations, as well as its presence and influence on the national life. Abel was a milestone in the fate of our organization, and the mark he left here is the path we should all follow. Carlos Martí also made very positive things. The Villa Manuela Gallery and the navigation room were his ideas. Those who have come after them have the responsibility to fill the gaps that were left along the road, to rescue everything that was once part of the NUWAC and to wake it up from its lethargy. They have to promote cultural activities and to revive foundational principles.

- When one goes to the sessions of the working commissions and hears the opinions from people there, you get the feeling that many members of the NUWAC ask and expect too much from it. They even speak about problems that do not concern the NUWAC, or whose solution is beyond its reach. Whats your opinion on this?

- Its about problems of the State and society in many cases. The Congress should not be seen as an ¨open Sesame!¨ event that will face all the difficulties and solve all the problems. But it can definitely contribute to reviving the close dialogue we have with the countrys authorities concerning those issues. That is something the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba has achieved. We have a fluid dialogue, and the Congress should strengthen those bonds. There is a single cultural policy. Its a unitary policy within all the diversity, a policy of understanding every work, no matter how critical it can be. Its not about tolerating, but accepting different ways of thinking, provided that it doesnt damage the basic principles of our national identity.

- There certainly is a single cultural policy, but it is applied in different ways. Books are one thing, but the press and TV is a different story. What can the NUWAC do about it?

- Thats where the NUWAC has to play the important role of achieving balance. Culture is the highest expression of politics. If politicians are not educated, they are more likely to fail.

- The NUWAC always brought together the best of art and letters in the country. During the last ten years, its membership has doubled. Has quantity replaced quality?

- There was an excessive growing in some organizations. And we have the opposite situation: there are some artists who are not members of the NUWAC and we would need them to be here. As a provisional guideline, which cannot only serve the Congress, but it can also be useful for the work of the organization, we have agreed not to accept any new members for the time being and to make sure all the current members are up to date with their contributions. The guideline resulting from the Congress on that respect will follow the procedures and decisions it deems appropriate, and it will determine the acceptance of new members. But there will be no purge among the current members.

- What about the work in the provinces?

- They are working in an intelligent and rational way, and weve found plenty of understanding in the provinces. Some members of the Organizing Committee and the Executive Group travelled to the interior of the Island in order to look for, identify and define the problems. The lists with the people who were going to be members of the organizing committees in each territory were made, and they were submitted to the vote of all the members and were approved. The meetings flowed democratically and people talked freely.

- Whats your opinion about the work made so far by the different committees, by the Executive Group and by the Organizing Committee?

- I would say theres been a lot of interaction and its been based on a motto: The voice of all members should be heard. We dont have an exact date for the Congress. We think we could do it between April and May. We have had to postpone it. Thats nothing new. Its good, to a certain extent, to have time to think. Many things have been solved. The war of e-mails that took place early this year rests now in the ideas rather than in people.

- If the Congress were being held right now, what would Miguel Barnet, the writer and not the Senior Vice President, say before the delegates?

- I would speak about issues related to the respect for culture and for the popular expressions of that culture. I would speak against the mercantilism that distorts the genuine values, and against those who make profits out of values that have a religious background. I would talk about the urgent need to legitimise our literature and the Cuban art, and I would try everybody to think about the ways to break away with the hegemonic barriers imposed by the groups that hinder our presence abroad. Finally, I would speak in favour of the copyright payments in all the expressions of the artistic and literary creation, so that writers and artists get the right compensation in accordance with their hierarchies, although in many cases those copyrights will not allow them to live exclusively from their work.

- Whats the current status of our culture worldwide?

- There are no limits from our side. There are artists who travel abroad and bring their work with them. There are agreements with similar institutions and every artist is free to travel whenever he is invited. The problem lies on the rightwing consortiums that try to crush the Cuban culture with a political purpose. There was a boom of Cuban literature in the Spanish publishing houses. It also happened in other countries. Then, those very same publishing houses have become quite reluctant and they would only accept those titles that reflect a dirty realism, or that deal with controversial topics of the Cuban reality. Or they would only take dissident writers. When I say dissident writers, Im not referring to Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, who is a respected writer whose work I value.

- Does Miguel Barnet feel optimistic with the work done so far?

- Im an optimistic person. Our small managing team has been very active and participative. We are fully aware of the responsibility we have.

Source: By Ciro Bianchi, Cubanow