“you must be happy”, the graffiti mantra in the streets of Havana

“ Necessities for felicity ”, or in French, “ you must be happy “, ” you need to be happy “. The message, painted on city walls in a childish style, is aimed at Cuban passers-by, and until recently it had only crossed borders through a few informal publications in Spanish on the Internet. People on the island are invited to post their photos on social networks when they see it. Artist Name: “Mr. Sad”.

The international visibility of this “Monsieur Triste” has just taken on another dimension, after Agence France-Presse met him in Havanawhere he has been laying down his creed for over a year. The person concerned presents himself as a 27-year-old sociologist. We won’t say more. His intention, he says, is to “ create a mirror so people have the opportunity to take a moment to see what’s inside themselves “. Had he measured its evocative potential in many other places on Earth deemed “happy”, including France?

His anonymity is relative, especially since he works during the day in busy places, such as bus stations. It is therefore not excluded that Mr. Sad, despite the benevolence and simplicity of his messages, will not be able to practice graffiti in Cuba forever. He is aware of it, it is above all a form of rebellion, which arrived in his country in the early 2000s, he recalls. During the lifetime of Fidel CastroSO. As a response to the needs of a changing society, specifies the artist in the columns of AFP.

Cuban street art enthusiasts have suffered hostility and surveillance from authorities in recent years. This is not limited to their discipline, as evidenced by RFI’s Major Report on the subject. AFP recalls that a graphist who signed “2+2=5” to accompany masked figures observing society from street corners, chose exile, and that another, “Yulier P.”, did not painted more. Both were arrested for a time and, according to their testimony, had to cover some of their works with white.

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“We have the right to be happy despite the problems”

Mr. Sad speaks freely. He explains that at the start of the revolution, which occurred in 1958, “ Cuba has become the standard of the counterculture “. But since then, society has evolved “, She ” no longer identifies with what happens in public space “. In his eyes, slogans such as “ Homeland or death, we will win » have gradually lost their meaning, from generation to generation. However, education requires, “ only an order can attract attention » from a Cuban. Hence this “ imperative “, ” an order but kind “.

He stops in front of one of his graffiti painted inside a ruined building in the west of the capital, once an elegant apartment tower overlooking the sea, describes the agency. Society no longer identifies with what happens in “ public space “, and young people therefore began to occupy it differently, he comments. He paints on walls, signage, disused shop windows, with pen, spray, paint, sometimes using a stencil. There are also stickers, t-shirts.

The young man finally says he has received, via social networks, numerous testimonies from people who have made decisions for their lives: fleeing domestic violence, addressing questions of identity, gender, renouncing suicide… His slogan has was even used as the title of a short film presented during an exhibition at the city’s Biennale, signed by two very young filmmakers, Lilian Moncada, 22 years old, and Erika Santana, 23 years old. Remember: even the president Diaz Canel was born in the revolution.

Through the film, a woman played by Erika tries to escape her darkest thoughts inside an old building in Havana, a sort of allegory of the brain, specify the two filmmakers. She spends her time fight against your own demons ”, and ends up reading and listening to these words: “ You must be happy “. The actress also had the phrase tattooed on her forearm. “ We have the right to be happy, look inward and move forward, despite problems » of the island, comments Lilian.

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The most difficult situation since the fall of the Soviet Union

Since the beginning of the 2020s, the island of Cuba has been shaken by a serious economic crisis. Political scientist Janette Habel, professor at the Institute of Advanced Latin American Studies in Paris III, even lacked words this week on RFI when discussing the deterioration observed in 2024, speaking of a “ state of disrepair “, of a ” catastrophic situation “, with a ” terrible picture “, ” worse than after the collapse of the USSR » in the 1990s, with “ a food situation made up of shortages “.

In December, Cuba experienced its third general power outage in less than two monthsafter a breakdown at the country’s main power plant. The previous time, in October, getting the network back up and running took days. The country is struggling to buy fuel to power its power stations, against the backdrop of the strengthening of the United States embargo and the reduction of oil imports from Venezuela. The government is having just as much difficulty obtaining parts for its infrastructure, which is all dilapidated.

Beyond the economic sanctions, which have failed to overthrow the regime in six decades, and which promise to be even harsher with the return of Donald Trump in power in Washington – especially since the latter chose Marco Rubio, son of a Cuban exile native of Miami, elected from Florida, for the post of head of American diplomacy – there is also the policy of the government, ” which has made tourism the priority, to the detriment of other sectors such as agriculture or health », comments Ms. Habel.

Last March, as in 2021, hundreds of people gathered in the cities to demand electricity and food. The government had just requested help from the World Food Program (WFP) to obtain powdered milk for children, a first outside of natural disasters, and to impose new austerity measures resulting in an explosion in the price of milk. Official gasoline and electricity. Miguel Diaz-Canel had acknowledged the discontent, while warning against “ the enemies of the revolution » exploiting the context, targeting of course, not the suffering youth of his country, but in his words, “ terrorists based in the United States “.