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Our Man in Cuba
Members Lunch with Damian Smith
Hosted by:
August 3, 2016 @ 10:30 pm - August 4, 2016 @ 12:00 am
– Members' Lunch with Damian Smith Curator, Writer, Director, Words For Art. PhD Candidate, Centre for Art, Society and Transformation (CAST) RMIT University
This lunch is a rare opportunity to hear how Melbourne and Havana have started a significant cultural dialogue. Cuba has opened up to the world and Melbourne’s Damian Smith is at the forefront of our Cuban cultural connection.
He has been endorsed bythe Biennale de la Habana and the Cuban Ministry of Culture to create and curate an event in the 2018 Bienale De la Habana between Melbourne and Havana. One of the most significant cultural events to occur in Cuba, it is the so-called ‘Biennale of the Third World’ rated amongst the top five Biennales internationally.
This Melbourne/Havana Biennale project is Intercambio: a conversation between two trains, – the Hershey Line running from Casablanca, Havana and the Upfield Line in Melbourne. The Hershey Line was built by the eponymous chocolate baron Milton Hershey, it stands as a metaphor for the changing face of Cuban society from the pre-revolutionary capitalism to now. Today the Hershey Line Train is a rickety ride to the crumbling sugar mills of a country in transition. Contrasted with the Upfield Line’s gentle suburban commute to Flinders Street Station. The question is where are we going now?
Damian will discuss his sometimes amusing experiences of living in Havana over the last year and how he found that Melbourne and Cuba are even closer culturally than we think!