CubaPLUS Magazine

A convergence of the most diverse cultural genres and generations, the Fábrica de Arte Cubano (FAC) has become one of the country’s most important projects in this arena, unique for its authentic and innovative spirit.

Music, film, dance, plastic arts, photography, fashion, architecture, design, performance, video art, theatre, literature, new technologies, academic exchanges and community projects all come together in this site, established in the old and well-known El Cocinero oil factory in the Havana neighborhood of Vedado, now &manufacturing" the best of Cuba’s contemporary art.

The creator of this original plaza, X Alfonso, has specified that the FAC shows &a risky, less touristy and commercial view of Cuban culture; a living place, a space of creative freedom and experimentation."

In conversation with CubaPLUS Magazine, the prominent musician recalled that the idea arose from the making of his documentary Sin título, about talents from different branches of art.

For its premiere (2009)," he tells, &I invited these artists to show their work in the lobby of the Mella Theater, in dance, Theater, visual arts, photography... and the union of all these genres, for three days, was a very beautiful experience.

In mid-2010, the project was located at the Pabexpo fairgrounds and in 2014 it arrived definitively at its current headquarters, with a welcoming, modern, functional internal design in each of the sections housing the different cultural strands, and that allows the visitor to move from one creative universe to another without leaving the FAC.

Its spaces also host a variety of events related to the national cultural scene, such as the Havana Biennial, the Festival of New Latin American Cinema, the Young Filmmakers Exhibition, Photographic November and the Havana Theater Festival.

The innovative proposal and the results of this project have earned international recognition.

Among other examples, in 2019 the US magazine Time included the FAC in its famous annual guide to the 100 best places in the world, chosen on the basis of factors including quality, originality, sustainability, innovation and influence.

The following year, it won one of the Travelers’ Choice Awards from the users of TripAdvisor, the world’s largest digital travel platform. And in 2022 - as this magazine goes to press - it is nominated, for the fifth time, at the 29th World Travel Awards, sponsored by the World Travel and Tourism Council and considered the Oscars of the international tourism segment, this time as one of the four leading entertainment sites in the Caribbean.

Multicultural, interactive, diverse, with a still short history, the FAC brings together artists and an interested public that can have fun, and grow, in an enriching experience.