Abstract
The history of printed travel guides dates back to the 1600s when young aristocrats set off on their Grand Tours to see and experience the art and architecture of France and Italy. The guidebooks they used helped explain what they needed to see and why it was important. Based on my own love of travel, I developed a series of guides to urban places that explore how visual culture helps define a place’s identity. In this paper, I explore these guides, which focus on urban places in a state of flux and inbetweenness. “You must visit Havana before it changes.” This commonly heard phrase defined many people’s excitement at the recent hope of thawing tensions between the US and Cuba. I first visited Havana in January 2015, just two weeks after the surprise announcement between President Obama and Cuban leader Raúl Castro calling for improved relations. My last trip to the island was in January 2017, only days before the inauguration of Trump and two months after the death of Fidel Castro. On those trips and others, I was an urban explorer with eyes open, who documented Havana gathering stories of what I had found from the perspective of an educated and curious observer. Havana Habana portrays a sense of place through images, maps, dialogues, lists, interviews, and other found scraps. It presents the condition of the city through descriptions of its architecture, design, popular and high culture, political history, museums, sports, films, souvenirs, people, and fragments of everyday life.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Photography, Design History, Propaganda, Architecture, Urban Environment, Pop Culture, Visual Culture, Cities in Transition, Cultural Awareness, Latin American Studies, Cuba, Havana, Tourism, Book Design, Photo Book, Field Guide, Souvenirs
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