Shine on... the neon lights of Havana are undergoing a dazzling renaissance
IMAGE: CLAIRE BOOBBYER
Havana once twinkled with technicolour neon when the city was at the vanguard of cinema and the cultured souls of the Cuban capital flocked to the silver screen. But after the 1959 Revolution, the ritzy entertainment venues frequented by Hollywood glitterati, gamblers and the mob shuttered. The illuminated lettering of the city began to vanish from its sparkling cinemas, theatres, bars and shops. Signs hung dangerously off hinges, fell down, or were removed.
But more than half a century later, a Cuban artist is restoring the city’s signs, recharging Havana with a beautiful nocturnal glow after decades in the dark. The newly lit signs are shining a spotlight, too, on the wealth of gorgeous art deco, baroque and colonial buildings found all over the Cuban capital.