Wi-Fi: Another revolution in Cuba

Isn’t it a true fact that in the world’s largest cities most of the inhabitants are virtually connected 24/7? What changes can this excess in communication bring to our contemporary life? In trying to experience virtual silence, I turned my cell phone off and travelled to Havana where the access to the internet was not part of everyday life. However, in the midst of my trip, I experienced the surprising beginning of a non-silent revolution, which may be even more powerful than the end to the embargo policy or a change in the political regime. June 2015 can be a landmark in contemporary society, in a country where access to wi-fi internet was restricted to the elite, Cuban government started to implement free access points on the main squares of the island enabling Cubans to communicate with distant relatives, virtually travel afar, share culture, tell and listen to stories of other people. On a particular square, Parque Fe del valle, in the heart of central Havana, empty some weeks ago, there are now crowds doing, every day and night, the most common thing since the paintings on cave walls: communicating. For three weeks I had the opportunity to witness and document this historical moment. With a cell phone, I was able to mingle in that powerful communicative movement. Sometimes I showed the photos to those who were the authors of that story, or to close friends, confidents via that new wi-fi… This feedback on what was being witnessed and lived on that square was of extreme importance for the construction of my understanding through images, during my moments of silence. This essay is the shared result of this emotion, a reflection on what we are and the powerful wish to communicate.