The Cuban Cultural Center of New York announce its 18th annual conference will be dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the city of Havana

The Cuban Cultural Center of New York, a non-profit institution founded in 1997 to preserve and promote Cuban and Cuban-American culture, announce that its consecutive annual conference this year will be dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the city of Havana. The conference will be held on Sunday, November 17, 2019 at Barnard College from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and will include a song recital and an evening reception. Through illustrated formal presentations and archival films, the conference will not only highlight Havana's fundamental role in the cultural development of Cuba but will also explore the different outside influences that have shaped the city across the centuries since its emergence as a key port in international cross-Atlantic trade in the 16th century. Other topics will include: a journey to 19th century Havana, including its cartography, slave society, and mores; outstanding habaneras, defining the pioneering role played by the women of Havana since colonial times; Havana's historical link to New York City; an illustrated presentation on Havana's architecture since its founding, including its neoclassical period, the art deco trend in the early decades of the Republic, and the construction boom and expanding modernity in the '40s and '50s. Invited participants include Harvard academician Alejandro de la Fuente, literary critics Adriana Méndez Rodenas and Ana María Hernández, architects Raúl Rodríguez and Hermes Mallea, sociologist Lisandro Pérez, musician Paquito D'Rivera, gender scholar Raquel Vinat, filmmaker Fernando Pérez, historians José Moya and Rosa Leonor Whitmarsh, conservationist Gustavo Araoz, president of the International Council of Monuments and Sites, and other luminaries from the U.S., Cuba, and Europe. This event is co-sponsored by the Forum on Migration at Barnard College and the Institute for Latin American Studies at Columbia University.