COLLECTION NAME:
Graduate Thesis Collection
Record
Title:
Casa Particular: Moving Toward a Hybrid Economy One House at a Time
Creator:
Griffiths, Megan S.
Subject:
Thesis (M.F.A.) -- Photography
Subject:
Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Photography
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Abstract:
The collapse of the communist bloc in 1989 and the subsequent evaporation of economic support from the Soviet Union forced Cubans to develop creative, alternative sources of income to support their families. Many citizens opened their homes to tourists to supplement state-regulated incomes thus giving birth to the casa particular, literally “private house.” This aspect of Cuba is underrepresented photographically and that lack creates unanswered challenges to preconceptions of a strictly communist economic model. This thesis explores the photographic series, Casa Particular through a framework of historical, economic and critical analysis of the images taken in a two month time period of a cross-section of private homes in the mid- to Western regions of Cuba that are open to foreigners seeking temporary lodging. The casas function as both private and public space, an arena where the owner plays perpetual host and objects are on constant display, however it creates an environment where authentic interaction can and does occur. Showing that objects serve as cultural and economic symbols of identity, status, and mobility, furthermore suggesting that these houses function as indicators that a gradual shift toward a more hybrid economy is taking place.
Publisher:
Savannah, Georgia : Savannah College of Art and Design
Date:
2012-05
Format:
PDF : 40 p. : ill ; JPG
