| HIV/AIDS prevention behind the scenes |
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| Escrito por Dixie Edith | |||||||||
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After Boris Figini made his debut as a quick-change artist, he has paid great attention to details like costumes, makeup, and staging. He has just been given a prize at a Trans Art Festival that has been held every year since 2007, in the westernmost province of Pinar del Río. He started working as an artist over a year ago, at the initiative of Miguel A. Sarmiento (popularly known as Samandra). "Figini's image was great, but his acting was appalling," said Remberto Rico, the Festival artistic director and winner of the 2009 National Radio Award. "I had worked only as a radio producer for Rico's XY Show," Figini recalled. "I have played Samira for some time now, and I sang Don't cry for me Argentina at the event," he told SEMlac. This popular song is part of Evita, a musical that was created by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice in 1978. It has been sung by famous singers such as Madonna, Sarah Brightman, Olivia Newton-John, Donna Summer, Nacha Guevara, and Paloma San Basilio. "My Samira is very much influenced by Spain's San Basilio," he added. Art for life Local quick-change artists have been present in literary works, dance, television and even cinema. Carlos Díaz, director of El Público theater group, often uses men playing the parts of women and vice versa. Comedians like Ángel García, Osvaldo Doimeadiós and Nelson Gudín are extremely popular when they transvestite. Filmmaker Fernando Pérez' Suite Havana showed a young man of mixed race who becomes a glamorous diva at night, assisted by his own wife. The idea behind Trans Art is to promote HIV/AIDS prevention from a cultural perspective, especially, among Men having Sex with Men (MSM). The Festival has counted on the participation of noted local singers, and outstanding Cuban cultural personalities have been jury members. "Organized by the Provincial Prevention Center for STIs, HIV and AIDS, the event has managed to combine art and health, and promote peer education," stressed Nelson Simón, one of the greatest exponents of homo-erotic poetry in the island. The latest gala was held at the Milanés Theater, which was built in 1873 and is the most important facility of its kind in the province. "Trans Art has brought downtown something that had for years been relegated to the outskirts," Simón emphasized. "Hundreds of people attend its galas," he indicated. The idea to organize these festivals came up at the 1st Latin American and Caribbean Workshop on HIV/AIDS Prevention from a Cultural Perspective (SIDACULT), which was held in 2007 under the auspices of UNESCO. "Trans Art shows the very best in costumes, acting and staging," said Figini. "We are very thankful to the director of the local House of Culture for her support," he added. Over 20 local transvestites and quick-change artists have been trained as health promoters while attending hairdressing, modeling and other courses. All this is in tune with a comprehensive care strategy for transvestites, transsexuals and transgender that has been implemented by the National Sex Education Center (CENESEX) since 2005. Prevention work Figini (38) was originally trained as an intermediate-level technician in computer science. He later became a biostatistics professor at the Medical School in Pinar del Río, and worked at the Cuban Cynological Federation and as a socio-cultural promoter. "I started doing prevention work in early 2008 and joined the local MSM team some months later," he recalled. "Although the Cuban society is male-chauvinistic by nature, I have never hidden my homosexuality and have always respected other people so that they can respect me," he stressed. "There are people who make fun of or laugh at us, but they are just a minority today", he concluded.
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