By Francisco Vargas
Posted on Sunday, January 12th, 2025
Cuba. It’s sometimes called the Pearl of the Caribbean—though many Americans know it as the Forbidden Island. It’s the largest of the Caribbean islands, a country with a population over 11 million. The capital city of Havana is home to just over 2 million. Last year I was fortunate to visit this mysterious island and photograph the sign work there.
An artist friend of mine, Ernesto Palomino, a retired Fresno University art professor, had asked if I was interested in going to Cuba. At first I thought it was impossible, but he knew colleagues and students who had gone there. The trip is a long and interesting story, but we’ll stick to the sign work for now.
There are not nearly as many signs in Havana as in a large US city. In the larger hotels you see vinyl and digital-printed signs. As you get out of the tourist areas, there are more hand-painted signs. Most of them are older signs.
The Cuban economy is depressed. The average income is around $15 a month. It’s a whole different world. Most Cubanos are prohibited from having computers with Internet access. One of my goals was to meet a sign painter, and I did. He seemed reluctant to talk to me, which is not unusual there.
Taking photos seems to concern people— especially at night. I was lucky. I had only one incident at night while shooting photos of the huge metal and backlit neon of Che Guevara. I was threatened with being arrested because I was not “authorized” to do so. I tried to explain what I was doing but was ordered out of the area.
If the chance arose again, I would go back. I would know how to get around much better. Unfortunately, it now seems riskier to enter the country, especially if you want to take photos and talk to people.
The late Francisco Vargas had Studio Vargas, in Fresno, California.
This appeared in the September/October 2003 issue of SignCraft.
