Exclusive access to Cuba’s most important visual art institutions…
If you have a fine taste for visual arts, Cuba provides an opportunity for art expedition. We offer you exclusive access to Cuba’s most important visual art institutions and a good chance to interact with some of Cuba’s greatest artists.
You will have the opportunity to learn about the Cuban Arts Educational System from elementary schools to the Instituto Superior de Arte.
We also organize specialized art conferences hosted by an art critic and winner of the Cuban National Prize for Cultural Journalism, curator, former art galleries director and professor of the National Academy of Fine Arts San Alejandro, all in a friendly and relaxing atmosphere.
Itinerary
• Arrival at the Airport of Havana “José Martí”. Meet your guide and driver. Transfer to La Pachanga, a private restaurant, where you will have your first breakfast in the island.
• Check in Private Houses.
• Departure to Old Havana to enjoy the diversity of architectural styles introduced in the island during the last four centuries by its immigrants.
- Panoramic tour around the Art Nouveau-inspired National Capitol Building, the Art Deco Maxfield Parrish reliefs at the Bacardi Building and the neo-classical Revolution Museum, that was once the presidential palace.
- Walking tour through Old Havana visiting its main squares: Plaza de Armas, Plaza de San Francisco de Asís, Plaza Vieja, and Plaza de la Catedral. In the last Plaza, you will find the Graphic Arts Workshop, a cooperative graphic print shop established in 1962 by muralist Orlando Suarez that shows the interesting and progressive work of local artists and offers an opportunity to purchase art that is not in the tourists fair.
• You will enjoy the handmade quality and aesthetic value along with the fresh smell of ink, the sounds generated by creative activity, and a pleasant conversation with the artists in a unique artistic atmosphere.
• Right next door to the Graphic Arts Workshop, you will enjoy a delightful lunch at Doña Eutimia private paladar.
• Visit to the National Museum of Fine Arts. During this visit you will have the privilage of being guided by Toni Piñera, art critic, curator, former director of art galleries, and National Prize for Cultural Journalism, who defines this museum as The Cathedral of Cuban Art. You will visit the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) dedicated exclusively to housing Cuba Art collections.
• Return to the casas to freshen-up and get ready for the evening activities.
• Visit to the house of a plastic artist. All the members of the group will have the possibility of painting in a medium-large format canvas together with the artist, who will finish the work and then raffle it for free among the members of the group. Good luck!!!
• Dinner with the artist at a private paladar.
• Return to Private Houses
ACCOMMODATION: Casa Particular in Havana
GRADE: Comfortable
MEALS INCLUDED: Dinner
• Breakfast in the Casa Particular.
• Visit to the National Academy of Fine Arts San Alejandro founded in 1818 in the convent of San Agustín, Havana, Cuba. It is the oldest institution in Latin America that has been teaching since its establishment, it is only preceded by the University of Havana. Here you will be delighted with a specialized conference on the history of Cuban plastic arts, receive information on the structure and operation of the academy, visit its exhibition halls and classrooms, and exchange with teachers and students.
• Visit to the Visual Arts school of the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA), The University of Arts of Cuba, established in 1976, by the Cuban government as a school for the arts.
• At present the ISA has five schools for pre-degree education: Music, Visual Arts, Theatre Arts, Dance Arts and Arts and Audiovisual Communication Media. Meet some professors and share a great time with the students while learning about this University and enjoying its spectacular architecture.
• Lunch at a private restaurant Vista Mar, located in Miramar neighborhood.
• Return to the casas.
• After some time to freshen up, go on a tour in old classic convertible cars to enjoy the fresh air and beauty of Havana's Malecon and the Bosque de La Habana, a small jungle in the middle of the city.
• Dinner at a private paladar.
• Visit to the project ROX950, In Search of the Sun: “The true beauty in the simplicity of the exclusive”, which builds the imaginary of its creator, Rosana Vargas, and places it in the most contemporary slopes, while implying its altruistic feeling when being constituted in light and path for unemployed young people who learn from their teachings in the office of fire and forge. Here you can exchange with its founder and learn about how difficult the art of goldsmithing in Cuba can be developed.
• Enjoy a dinner and a whole range of art manifestations in one of the most emblematic places of Havana, the Cuban Art Factory (FAC). A whole concept where you will taste the art with your five senses.
• The bus will depart back home at 10:00 p.m. Those who choose to stay longer can take a taxi outside the place.
ACCOMMODATION: Casa Particular in Havana
GRADE: Comfortable
MEALS INCLUDED: Breakfast
• Breakfast in the Casa Particular.
• Visit to Fusterlandia, a creative project developed by the painter and engraver José Antonio Rodríguez Fuster. Fuster has revived the fishing town of Jaimanitas, in the outskirts of Havana, by decorating over 80 houses with ornate murals and domes to suit the personality of his neighbors, building a chess park with giant boards and tables, and TheArtists’ Wall composed of a quilt of dozens of tiles signed and donated by other Cuban artists.
• Visit to the artistic studio of Kadir Lopez. Much of his work is inspired by a meditation on time: blurring the past, present and future. He criticizes the effects of progress or lack of it, and its spiritual, economic and political effects on society.
• Visit to the Cristobal Colón Necropolis National Monument, one of the most valuable in Latin America due to the richness of its sculptures and architectural forms. It has a striking religious iconography and elaborate statues making this a must visit.
• Lunch at La Divina Pastora, a place where you will enjoy a tasty meal and one of the most beautiful views of the city, as well as the calm waters of the entrance of the Bay of Havana.
• Visit to the art studio of Roberto González, Manuel Lopez Oliva, Zaida del Río.
• Return to the casas.
• Visit to the house and art studio of Flora Fong. Contemporary artist, highlighted by the way of bringing to the canvas or cardboard native landscapes, in which the tropical sensuality and Asian tenacity excels.
• Dinner at a private paladar, where you will enjoy a cigar and rum pairing.
• Return to private houses.
ACCOMMODATION: Casa Particular in Havana
GRADE: Comfortable
MEALS INCLUDED: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
• Breakfast in the Casa Particular.
• You will enjoy an exclusive and unique experience in Cuba. You will meet a man with a peculiar story who will open the doors of his house to delight you not only with his personal story but also with other surprises.
• Transfer to José Martí International Airport. Go back home!
MEALS INCLUDED: Breakfast