SOBREMESA

The hottest day of the year so far saw an invited selection of London’s art crowd getting some respite from the tropical conditions in the private dining room of the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge. The occasion was Havana Club’s first installment of a series of sobremesa dinners – in Cuba, the sobremesa is the name given to the informal period of conversation and discussion that begins as dinner finishes. Fellow guests including Fran Gavin (NTS Radio, AnOther, Dazed), Alex Rayner (The Guardian, Supplement) and Ekow Eshun (Calvert Journal) joined a discussion about Cuban art and design between host Paul Croughton and his special guest, Phaidon’s commissioning editor Michele Robecchi. And, just as in Cuba, the sobremesa was marked by a bottle of the finest rum being placed on the table for guests to savour during the conversation – in this case, a bottle of Havana Club’s Maximo from their Iconica range. Robecchi spoke at length about the healthy state of Cuba’s current art scene which he described as “emancipating” itself from outside critics’ stereotypical ideas of what Cuban art should be, and had particular praise for the Havana Biennale. “The risk with these events, of traveling all the way down there and seeing the same usual suspects you see in Venice or Berlin, is enormous,” he told the guests. “But when you get to Havana you really see the local art represented. And that’s ultimately what makes the biannual interesting – the fact it’s been running for over 30 years is a testament to it. And it’s location means that truly it functions as a bridge between northern and southern America. It’s such an interesting time for art and architecture there.”

Thanks to all at Havana Club for their hospitality. Check listings for details on forthcoming sobremesas with guests talking about Cuban literature, boxing, fashion and travel.

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