With the star on my forehead

ARTICLE

WITH THE STAR ON MY FOREHEAD

BY: ALICIA GARCÍA SANTANA

(In gratitude to Eusebio Leal Spengler)

 […] The root, the starting point of the feelings that we can call Cuban, because of ethnicity and ubiquity, are of a cultural nature. Those who have assumed that legacy in its fullness have a sign, the one that Martí foreshadowed in the beautiful image of the star that everyone who served the country wears on his forehead […]. 

Eusebio Leal Spengler: "La Patria sana y salva", in Fundada esperanza, 2003. 

A few years ago, my Master Dr. Francisco Prat Puig invited me to accompany him to the recently opened museum in the city of Havana, recognized as that of the Captains General. Prat had an interview with the director of that institution to organize a series of lectures to be given at the museum. The director, Eusebio Leal, received him with great expressions of respect and affection. On leaving, Prat told me: you have just met a young man who will make "history." The Master was not mistaken. We have witnessed a personal story that out of love for the past, born of a deep feeling of belonging, Cubanness and service, has been fused in the spaces, streets, buildings, monuments and life of the city of Havana. We have witnessed the useful return of dozens of buildings and spaces, so mistreated by time and human actions, that it was impossible to incubate hope of recovery. The task has been simply colossal. In the texts Not to forget, testimony is offered of the lamentable state in which the saved buildings were found.

I remember being once in the Plaza Vieja and seeing the Santo Angel building collapse before our astonished eyes. The Old Square was a gigantic restoration challenge, since not only the surrounding buildings were deeply damaged, but an underground parking space had been built on which a public park was placed. To safeguard it, an international campaign had been launched because it was a highly valuable space for Havana, for national culture and, in general, for urban testimonies linked to the dawn of Modern times. The Old Square was designed by the engineer Bartolomé Sánchez in 1559 according to the principles of the golden rectangle, recommended by the Renaissance. It is the first Renaissance space in America. Moreover, in the following centuries, palaces were built in its surroundings that respond to a new architectural type that the Renaissance fostered and the Baroque generalized.

 What has been said about the urban-architectural and historical meanings of the Plaza Vieja illustrates the cultural, spiritual motivation that bases and legitimizes the efforts to rescue the material testimonies of the past. It is not restored for the sake of it, but to fix in time and space, the historical-cultural meaning that these testimonies show. Saving them for that reason alone is reason enough, which also justifies the declarations of National Monument and World Heritage Site with which the Urban Historic Center of Old Havana has been distinguished, the area previously occupied by the walls and the fortification system. . But things did not end at that point. The restored structures have been resignified through the granting of new functions, in service of the most dissimilar needs, demands and aspirations of its inhabitants, of Havanans, of Cubans and of their visitors. The edges of the refunctionalization of Old Havana are infinite in an economic, social, cultural and symbolic sense. It is the reliable expression that ancient spaces can be constituted in the most modern areas of a city, for the satisfaction of the needs of life and spirit. 

The rescued buildings have been destined for decent housing, study centers for schoolchildren of different levels, health centers for children with deficits, shelters for the elderly and innumerable entities that reveal the profound humanity of the work carried out in the historic center. It is accompanied by the necessary economic facilities in the form of hotels, restaurants, shops and others, so that the service provided becomes the economic support of the actions on the city. "Jewels of the Crown" of this work are the cultural facilities that give new meaning to the old city, and that respond to the most diverse aspects of the cultural work of a people: art, archeology, plastic arts, music, dance, theater, literature, science and history. Actions that derive from an excellent management for conservation and revitalization represented by the establishment of the City Management Plan, an instrument of analysis and strategy that supports the arm of the project that it executes, accompanied by a notable promotion and communication work and a enormous work for the technical preparation of workers and experts responsible for restoration and heritage work in a broad sense. 

 The rescued buildings have been destined for decent housing, study centers for schoolchildren of different levels, health centers for children with deficits, shelters for the elderly and innumerable entities that reveal the profound humanity of the work carried out in the historic center. It is accompanied by the necessary economic facilities in the form of hotels, restaurants, shops and others, so that the service provided becomes the economic support of the actions on the city. "Jewels of the Crown" of this work are the cultural facilities that give new meaning to the old city, and that respond to the most diverse aspects of the cultural work of a people: art, archeology, plastic arts, music, dance, theater, literature, science and history. Actions that derive from an excellent management for conservation and revitalization represented by the establishment of the City Management Plan, an instrument of analysis and strategy that supports the arm of the project that it executes, accompanied by a notable promotion and communication work and a enormous work for the technical preparation of workers and experts responsible for restoration and heritage work in a broad sense. 

For the end of this succinct enumeration I have left two of the most spiritual actions of the Office of the Historian of Havana: the first, that of museums, archives and libraries. There are innumerable objects of the national heritage in custody, works of art, documents, photographs, texts, maps, plans, books and saved manuscripts. It would not be easy to accept the loss of the Ichthyology book, the Yucayo Dictionary, Maceo's shirt ... it is impossible to list how much saved and to ponder how much it matters; the second is the recovery of public spaces and the restoration or insertion of monuments of high symbolic significance (suffice it to mention the copy of Martí's equestrian sculpture) and commemorative plaques. The city speaks: it tells its history and that of the nation. 

I know that there are no words that can give the measure of the difficulties faced. There are multiple severed dragon heads: financing, techniques, materials and understanding. When I learned that the National Capitol was going to be restored, we thought it was impossible. We knew the magnitude of the deterioration of the building. And there it is. By art of an iron will, the emblematic building recovered its destination as the seat of the national government. It is a symbolic victory. 

Admired and dear Master: every Cuban is proud of his and your Work. Infinite thanks for your generous life, put at the service of this cause without measuring cost or consequences; thank you for existing and founding legacy. 

PHOTOS

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