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Exhibition in La Marca

Walking past the pastel-colored colonial buildings of old Havana de Villegas Street, you willcome across a small shop with colorful bags of hard plastic, printed T-shirts and cheerful littleblooms with palm trees and dripping hearts. For a country where, according to many, time has

Hipsters from Havana: the youngentrepreneursChanges are slowly getting under way insocialist Cuba. For the first time in sixty years apresident has been appointed who did not fightin the revolution, a constitutional order isforthcoming and the number of privatecompanies is growing. A small group of hipentrepreneurs is working hard on the road.

Yvette Nieuwstad 18-07-2018

Reading time: 6 minutes

BACKGROUND F ILE WITH ALL GOOD NEWS

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stood still, it looks particularly hip and Western. The store is owned by Idania del Rio (36),born in a small village near Havana, and now the proud owner of Clandestina, the very firstprivate clothing brand of Cuba.

And that is very special. Until 2010, hardly any private companies existed in the socialistcountry. Everything was owned by the state. You worked for a government salary between 20and 30 dollars a month, something that the majority of Cubans still depend on. Until eight yearsago. The government had serious shortages and the then president Raúl Castro introduced anew economic policy: Cubans could become entrepreneurs. There was a list of 178 authorizedprivate professions and one was allowed to employ staff. The first Cubans gathered a startingcapital with the help of relatives abroad. They became a taxi driver, started a restaurant(paladar) or rented a room to tourists in their casa particular. The number of registered self-employed increased from 157,371 in 2010 to 580,000 at the end of 2017.

T-shirts and tattoosIdania del Rio, who studied graphic design, was also enthusiastic when she heard about the newpossibilities. "My girlfriend and I did not know exactly what we wanted to do, but this was anopportunity. We chose T-shirts according to our own design that we were going to sell. "Onlysuch a case was not on Castro's list.

That problem also met Ailed Duarte (35) and her husband Leo Canosa (43). "He is a tattooartist and worked from home until he had the opportunity to work for a while in a tattoo shop inCanada. There he learned about operational management and hygiene guidelines. We wanted todo that, too, but with a Cuban touch. "

Ailed Duarte (right) and her colleague

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Despite the fact that a tattoo parlor was not an official 'profession', Duarte resigned from her jobas a communication expert with the government. Now she has been running La Marca,Havana's first tattoo parlor, together with Canosa for the last three years. "Under the heading'art gallery', because it is on the list. That is not an official license, so in fact we are illegal, butnot again. "

"Our entrepreneurial spirit and creativity were always there", explains Duarte, "We only neededtime to get through the loopholes." She mentions other companies that have emerged at thesame time: record labels (Guampara Music), online magazines about culture (Vistar Magazine),photo studios (Estudio 50) and the graphic design collective La Ubre. These initiatives do notfocus on basic necessities such as food, but on creativity.

Meshes of the lawThe road was not immediately free for Del Rio and she devised the same trick. "The taxicompanies and eateries shot up like mushrooms, while I was still negotiating a license", saysDel Rio, "They did not know what to do with the Ministry of Culture. A clothing brand? A T-shirt shop? I could not be placed. "So she convinced the government that she is an artgallery. "But let's be honest," she says, "My shirts are not art, and the government regularlychecks whether your license has been correctly issued."

As a pioneer you have to reinvent the wheel regularly. Del Rio had enough ideas for herclothing designs, but how do you make them without money, materials, machines andknowledge? "I grew up with my grandmother and my mother. I did not have a father with anetwork at the party. "She works a lot with typical Cuban materials and second-hand clothing,but she needed a Cuban investor for the import of new T-shirts and inks from abroad. "Withburlap rice or coffee bags and second-hand clothing, no bag or shirt is the same, that makes thedesign process challenging, but not easy. I also needed seamstresses. But which Cuban says his

Tattoosalon La Marca

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job to work for an experimental clothing brand? My grandmother, 84, then picked up herfriends. They worked all their lives in the state textile factory. "

In 2015 she opened her store in the old city center of Havana. "Things are going well and I alsoemploy staff: designers, social media experts and production people. We are also attractingyoung designers. "To meet the licensing 'art gallery', she has young artists exhibit in her storeand sells their work. With this she has created a breeding ground and meeting place for othercreative entrepreneurs.

Reach via the internet

Idania del Rio in the workshop of her clothing brand Clandestina

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A relatively new way for young creatives in Cuba to meet is internet. For a long time, theInternet in Cuba was reserved for members of the communist party, but since 2015 there aresquares and parks in the cities with Wi-Fi. Although the internet tickets of three dollars for anhour of internet are virtually unaffordable for most Cubans, certain websites are censored andnot all services are available, the Wi-Fi spots are crowded. Internet is also important to Duarte:"Not only can we show the rest of the world what we are doing here, we also announce theconcerts and exhibitions that we organize with La Marca."

Del Rio uses the internet to sell her shirts via Amazon, and she opened her webshop in theUnited States. She could open it thanks to measures by former President Obama, wherebyAmericans can pay for creative products from Cubans. Del Rio: "During a visit from Obama toCuba in 2015, I was allowed to ask him a question at a meeting with young entrepreneurs. Iasked him if the US would be there for Cuba and if we could also offer our products there. Hedid not have a clear answer, but he wanted to bring some T-shirts for his daughters. "

To be able to open a webshop in America, she also had to officially set up her clothing brandthere. The shirts in the webshop are still produced in the US, because the import and export ofproducts is still very complicated. Del Rio: "What in Havana is in the shop comes from my owncountry, which I do not sell through the webshop. But important is that I am now visible in anycase. No, I do not think President Trump will reverse this measure, he has other problems onhis mind. "

I asked Obama if we could also offer our products there

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