Dave Matthews visited Cuba this week and feel in love.
The singer-songwriter was visiting as a part of the US President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. In several different video interviews, the artist expressed hope of improved relations through mutual understanding and artistic collaboration. In one interview Matthews said, “I think that there’s a lot that the world can get from this country.”
Matthews’ children joined him on the trip. He says he allowed them to roam Havana streets alone, “because the responsibility people have to each other here is very rare, and I love it.”
William Adams, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, said the trip had proved to him that “we have much to learn from the ways in which [Cuban] museum professionals approach the important work of collecting and preserving Cuban culture and history.” He said the NEH will fund a program to send conservators and students to visit Cuba “to enhance and broaden American conservation practices.”
For the first time, the US Government will support artistic cultural exchanges between U.S. and Cuban artists, thanks to a commitment by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) made while in Cuba this week. Following three days of artistic events and meetings in Havana, NEA Chairman Jane Chu announced two artist exchange opportunities totaling $100,000. These are among the first awards made by the U.S. government to support artistic and cultural activities with Cuba and Cuban artists and represent a milestone in the journey towards deeper cooperation between the two countries through the common bonds of arts and culture.
Smokey Robinson joined in the love fest during the trip by saying, “I hope this is the beginning of an entire love relationship.”
