In Cuba: “You must be happy”, the graffiti that shakes the inhabitants

For more than a year, a simple and striking graffiti has appeared on the walls of Havana: “Necesitas ser feliz” (You must be happy). The message, seemingly innocent, opens a field of introspection for passers-by, and even of inspiration for other creators. The author, who adopted the nickname “Mr. Sad,” is a 27-year-old sociologist. He plays anonymously with the limits of rebellion, in a country where censorship has forced many street art enthusiasts to emigrate or abandon their art. For the graffiti artist, the phrase is an invitation to introspection.

“My intention is just to create a mirror so that people have the opportunity to take a moment to see what is inside themselves,” he explains to theAFP the young man, who says he is inspired by the tradition of visual propaganda that Cuba has cultivated since the beginnings of the Castro revolution of 1959. For him, the revolutionary slogans which have marked the public space of the island of 10 million for years The inhabitants, such as “Homeland or death, we will win”, have gradually lost their connection with the current identity of Cubans.

At the start of the revolution, in the 1960s, “Cuba became the standard of the counterculture,” he explains in front of one of his graffiti painted inside a ruined building, in the west of Havana, which was once an elegant apartment tower overlooking the sea.

“Society has evolved, it no longer identifies with what happens in the public space” of the city and young people have started to occupy it differently, he emphasizes. For him, the intention was clear from the start: to transform his message into an “imperative”, into “an order but a kind one” because, he thinks, Cubans are so used to orders “that only an order can attract attention”. On building walls, signage, disused shop windows, the phrase is painted with pen, spray, paint or stencil, and has been used on stickers and even t-shirts.

Graffiti in Cuba appeared in the early 2000s as a response to the needs of a changing society, explains the artist. However, some graffiti artists have faced hostility and surveillance from the authorities, because graffiti, Mr. Sad points out, is above all a form of rebellion. Among these artists, one of them, now in exile, signed “2+2=5”, in itself a mark of irreverence, while his works are characterized by masked figures who observe society from corners street. Another, Yulier P., is in Cuba, but no longer paints. Both were arrested and, according to their testimony, forced to cover some of their murals with white paint. Some, however, are still visible in the capital.

Despite this, Mr. Sad prefers to work during the day, choosing busy places like bus stations, with simple, almost academic calligraphy, which immediately appeals to those who read it. Mr. Sad’s statement resonated and inspired some people to make important decisions, such as fleeing domestic violence, addressing issues of gender identity or even forgoing suicide, says the graffiti artist, who says he has received numerous testimonials on his social networks. Lilian Moncada, 22, and Erika Santana, 23, are two independent filmmakers, authors of a short film aptly titled “Necesitas ser feliz”, recently presented during an exhibition at the Havana Biennale.

In the film, a woman, played by Erika, flees the pursuit of her darkest thoughts inside an old building in Havana which, for the authors, is nothing more than a brain. The protagonist, who spends her time “fighting against her own demons”, needed to “read and listen to ‘You must be happy’”, explains the actress, who had the phrase tattooed on her the forearm. For Lilian Moncada, “we have the right to be happy, to look inward and to move forward, despite the problems” which are shaking the island, which has been going through a deep economic crisis for four years.

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