Los Van Van founder, Juan Formell celebrates a Latin Grammy Award and UK Womex award, together with Ivette Cepeda and talks to Gainza Moreno of Cubarte, Cuba:

Watch this video of Los Van Van 'La Maquinaria'

Exhibition of original Cuban Art coming to Beverley

The economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba resulted in a loss to Cuban sports of $1.07 million USD last year.

Pre- 1959 Cuba was not a cultural desert. Jose Martí, the national hero, was after all a poet and writer, who wrote famously "Ser culto es ser libre" (to be cultured is to be free). However publishing was very small scale, there were few bookshops and even the National library relied on authors' donations. In the 1950s less than a million books were produced each year, mostly text books destined for private schools. Many aspiring writers went abroad to get published including Alejo Carpentier. Small literary groups produced magazines but relied on private patrons. Cuba had a high level of literacy by regional standards (around 75%) but for the majority poor and rural society, literacy and access to books was very much lower. The revolution changed all of this, putting culture at its centre – with the emphasis on active and creative participation by and for the benefit of all and to help build a shared vision and ideals.
As public libraries and bookshops here in the UK close, academics at Nottingham university have spent the last few years looking at Cuba's approach to reading, writing and books and the network of activities that binds these together.

Considered the most international and recognized Cuban actor for his unforgettable Diego in Strawberry and Chocolate (1993), Jorge Perugorría is a versatile artist who has tested his strength in the world of visual art and is now starting to feel comfortable in the director's chair.

'Leave to Remain' is the debut album by Wara, the young revolutionaries of the UK's Latin music scene, and follows their critically acclaimed self-titled EP (Movimientos Records, 2011). The genre-defying 'Leave to Remain', released 1 July 2013 on Movimientos Records, sees the band take their trademark sound to higher grounds, effortlessly combining Cuba's most danceable rhythms and styles – timba ("Cuban salsa"), songo, cha-cha-cha, rumba – with contemporary urban elements such as reggae, soul, hip-hop and jazz. The songs are threaded with bilingual, conscious lyrics that inject social and political commentary into their music in a variety of ways: there are songs that directly touch upon the topics of migration, identity and displacement ("Somewhereland", "Leave to Remain"); "Run for Cover's" London-riot-fuelled policeman theatrics followed by an acoustic remake of "Flesh and Bone" that goes straight to the soul, and finally a delusional tirade by whining party scene divas in "Caprichoso".

There is little interest in zombies in Cuban culture – fans of the paranormal tell tales of vampires, demonic possessions and ghostly hauntings, but the shambling creatures so popularised in Western horror movies remain in the shadows. Juan of The Dead, however, brings the zombie into the Havana sunlight in glossy, wisecracking gore.

Since Buena Vista Social Club's 1997 album is the best-selling World Music album of all time, it's not surprising that tourists who come to Cuba (mostly Spaniards, Italians, and Canadians) expect to hear traditional son and boleros like "Dos Gardenias" when they visit. As a result, if you walk down Calle Obispo in Old Havana, you are assaulted by the sounds of live son groups on every block.

Cubadisco is the annual fair dedicated to the Cuban music recording industry and each year consists of performances, events and awards to artists, both Cubans living on thr island and artists living outside of Cuba.

"Pablo", the first feature film directed by Yosmani Camagüey Acosta, won two awards at the New York International Film Festival 2013 recently.

Acosta won the award for Best Director, while actor Omar Franco won hands down in the category of Best Supporting Actor, said Bobby Estany, producer of the film.

With rigorous dedication, Manolito Simonet listened to the chords of several instrumentalists in the Havana studios of Abdala. He perfected every detail of the "Violinada", the show where the violin was the main protagonist, presented at Cubadisco 2013. Simonet explained that this project gave praise to a key instrument in popular music. "It has been basic, fundamental and many interesting things have been done", commented the leader of the Trabuco, as Simonet's group is called.

Over 11 thousand Cubans have accessed Internet services since June 4 when the Cuban Telecommunications Company, ETECSA, announced the opening of 118 new Internet navigation rooms.

The bonds of prominent Cuban filmmaker Manuel Pérez Paredes (Havana, 1939) with the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC), since its founding up to the present day, have allowed him to witness several of the events that have marked the artistic and cultural activity of the Caribbean nation.

Virtue and experience distinguish the work of this creator, who has recently been awarded the 2013 National Film Prize, the highest distinction awarded by the Cuban film industry.

In an assembly with the filmmakers, specialists and workers of the Animation Studios of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industries (ICAIC) held last Friday, May 10, the presidency of that institution set out the main targets to be fulfilled by the reorganization project of the institution ruling the Island's cinematographic activity, which will result in the achievement of a better setting for the development of Cuban cinema.