Reconstructing Havana

A Journey Through Memory, Architecture, and the Paintings of Humberto Calzada

In 2009, I created a film about Cuban-American painter Humberto Calzada. What emerged was more than a biographical portrait—it became a meditation on exile, memory, and the quiet power of art to reclaim what was lost. The film is now available on Kanopy Streaming. See link below.

Agramonte St. and Gloria St, Havana, Cuba. Acrylic on canvas, 2022

Havana in Exile

Humberto Calzada was born in Havana in 1944. He left Cuba as a young man and became an artist in exile, drawing not from nostalgia, but from a fierce commitment to remembering Havana as it once was—before the Revolution interrupted its rhythm and architecture.

Calzada’s early years were shaped by an obsession with reflections: “I became very conscious of light and shadow,” he said in our conversation. “Maybe that’s the reason when I started painting.”

Calzada de Luyano and Calle Ensenada. Acrylic on canvas, 2022

Building Havana, Brick by Brush

His paintings recall stained glass, colonial porticoes, and the distinctive textures of old Havana homes—especially the one that belonged to his grandmother. He doesn’t simply illustrate buildings. He rebuilds them from memory, guided by color and intuition.

“I’m trying to keep the spirit of what I remember Havana was like,” he told me. That spirit lives in every oil wash, in every carefully traced cornice. His brush resists decay.

The Ruins and the Return

When Calzada returned to Havana after 48 years, he found the city in ruins. Rather than turn away, he began photographing the devastation. Those images became the basis of a new project: deconstructing photographs and reimagining them as the Havana of his memory.

Theatrical Premier

Critical Reference following the premiere

This work is deeply personal. “We’ll never be able to go back to that Cuba,” he said. “It will always exist in our minds, in our thoughts, in our heart—but it will never come back.”

Memory as Architecture

Calzada’s work lives in the space between grief and gratitude. His paintings are not about returning—they’re about carrying a place forward in time. His Havana may be imagined, but it is more vivid than the one tourists might see today.

As an artist and exile, he affirms a Cuban identity unshackled from political narrative. His work preserves cultural memory as if it were marble, or better—glass that catches the light.

Watch the Film

Calzada: Reconstructing Havana is available on Kanopy and other educational streaming platforms.