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Painter Zayda del Rio and crooner Omara Portuondo.
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Zoe Nocedo, director of the Habano Femme Friends Cultural Project.

A space designed to pay tribute to women for their role in the formation process and historic development of Cuba’s tobacco industry, as well as a platform to spread the culture of Habano as a symbol of national identity.

Zoe Nacedo, the director of both this project and the Tobacco Museum –attached to the Office of the Havana City Historian– says on this initiative: “we are women who keep track of the Habano through our own history in an effort to come closer to its many meanings and influences on the national life.” Its foundation –it happened within the framework of last year’s Habano Festival– was hailed as an excellent idea given the fact that women make up the largest chunk of the industry’s workforce, let alone their preponderance in the marketing field. “The traditional venue for the Habano Femme Friends’ meetings is the Be Live Panorama Hotel. We count on the support of the Office of the Havana City Historian, the Tobacco Museum, the Excelencias Group, TECNOAZUCAR, Habanos S.A., among many other institutions or companies, not to mention the fact that we’re so proud of having Alicia Alonso, director of Cuba’s National Ballet Company, a world-class artist who’s also a great promoter of our culture, as an Honorable Member. We also have the enthusiastic participation of renowned painter Zayda del Rio and Omara Portuondo, lead singer of Buena Vista Social Club,” Nocedo adds. The group’s powwows –in addition to the theoretical sessions– always include matching proposals with either domestic or international products from the gourmet world. “This is also a cultural source which is very useful for women sommeliers, that either in Cuba or overseas, are in charge of selling Habanos in restaurants, specialized stores or Casas del Habano (Habano Houses). So, we spend quite some time sharing views on product matching and delving into the rituals associated to the enjoyment of Habano. “We strongly feel that in the face of those fair antismoking campaigns, healthcare campaigns which are welcome news, it was necessary to preserve and defend those positive aspects linked to the tobacco phenomenon, its history, its ties with the national culture and many other topics that are part of the profound roots and basic facts that make up the Cuban identity. And that is this project’s main driving motivation,” Nocedo concludes.