About halfway in my Cuba trip I ran into a schoolteacher named Rafael. He told me about the Afro Cuban Religion in Havana. This place was in Centro Habana and was called Callejon de Hamel. We took a crowded bus outside of Old Havana and ended up there in about thirty minutes. To me it felt like a village dedicated to the arts, music and Afro Cuban culture. It was completely different than all of the other areas that I had seen previously.

It’s put on by a community organization dedicated to preserving these cultures. I went on a Tuesday but I guess it gets even livelier on Sundays. I saw work from local artists and an incredible dance performance. This painting captures my mood from that day. Art created using Procreate on iPad Pro.