“We arrived safely in Havana and are preparing for our concert with Ariel Díaz at the Centro Pablo at 2 pm this Friday 18 September 2026. Thankfully, our guitar and bass also arrived intact, holding up throughout the journey from Brisbane to Madrid via Shanghai, and then from Madrid to Cuba!” – Sue and Lach (Jumping Fences) with Ariel Diaz in Havana.
Not content with riding more than 3,000 kilometres as part of From Australia to Cuba with Love, Lachlan Hurse has taken his cycling skills to Havana after finishing in the top ten in the Tour of Samoa.
Together with his partner, Sue Monk, Lachlan is a key organiser of the Australia–Cuba Friendship Society’s annual From Australia to Cuba with Love campaign.
As a duo from the band Jumping Fences, Lachlan and Sue will perform in Havana to mark the 30th anniversary of the band’s performance in the Cuban capital in 1996.
Lachlan Hurse in Havana
Lachlan and Sue sent this update from Havana:
We arrived safely in Havana and are preparing for our concert with Ariel Díaz at the Centro Pablo at 2 pm this Friday. Thankfully, our guitar and bass also arrived intact, holding up throughout the journey from Brisbane to Madrid via Shanghai, and then from Madrid to Cuba!
After only one day in this amazing country, there are already stories to tell. We’re looking forward to catching up with our friends, hearing music and learning how the Cuban people are finding more and more innovative solutions to the blockade. Truly, it’s like no other place! It is so good to be back!
2 thoughts on “From Australia to Cuba 🇨🇺 with Love”
On September 18 (2026), the historic Pablo de la Torriente Brau Cultural Centre at Muralla #63 in Old Havana hosted a special double celebration: the 30th anniversary of the cultural centre and the beginning of celebrations marking 30 years of the artistic career of Cuban troubadour Ariel Díaz.
Born in Havana on February 15, 1974, Díaz is an important figure in the generation of Cuban singer-songwriters known as the Cantores de la Rosa y la Espina — the Singers of the Rose and the Thorn — which emerged in the mid-1990s.
A self-taught musician, Díaz has shared stages with major figures of the Cuban nueva trova tradition, including Silvio Rodríguez, Noel Nicola and Vicente Feliú. His music has also taken him abroad, with tours in more than fourteen countries.
Díaz’s relationship with the Pablo de la Torriente Brau Centre goes back many years. He was a central participant in its A guitarra limpia project and published La primera piedra (The First Stone), a book in which he reflected on contemporary Cuban trova.
As Díaz himself has put it: “From the moment I set foot in the courtyard at Muralla #63, all I did was grow.”
Thirty years ago, Jumping Fences performed with Ariel Díaz in the Manuel Galich Hall at Casa de las Américas. Their reunion in Havana provided a remarkable musical bridge between Cuba and Australia, bringing together musicians and friends whose connection had endured across three decades.
Speaking with Radio Cadena Habana ahead of the event, Díaz described the significance of the gathering and his excitement at meeting once again with the audience, friends and the living history of Cuban trova.
The event was held free of charge at the Pablo de la Torriente Brau Cultural Centre, in the heart of Old Havana, beside Plaza Vieja. [NB:This is a translation from the Spanish of the blurb that went with the radio program, Editor WBT]
Beautifully written account of what happens when the US blockade meets art in Cuba. Ian Curr, Editor, WBT.
” You’re putting together a special concert. You rehearse with close friends; others get involved and do their part. There’s no money involved, nor any interest other than beauty. Everything is ready. Then, just minutes before it’s set to begin… “the SEN goes down,” with that bitter aftertaste that phrase already leaves in every Cuban’s mouth. The audience is taken aback, murmurs among themselves, the heat grows more intense—but the concert goes on, defying all logic and reason. We step down from the stage, move closer to the crowd, get everything sorted out in a matter of seconds, wipe away our sweat in vain—and everyone falls silent, listens, applauds, gets emotional, and laughs. That’s what happens when Art cannot be disconnected.
Thanks to Sue Monk and Lachlan Hurse for their support, to Jaime Canfux for his work that wasn’t in vain, to the Pablo Center, Irai Urquhart Rodríguez, Victor Casaus, and Laura Martin Neto, my other half. To everyone who came out amid the chaos to listen to songs that unite continents.
We keep making music because… dreaming costs nothing.
(We’ll have the concert videos soon.) Thank you so much. They won’t stop us… ” Ariel Trovador Diaz, 20 September 2026
Un relato magníficamente escrito sobre lo que sucede cuando el bloqueo de EE. UU. se encuentra con el arte en Cuba. Ian Curr, editor de WBT.
“Preparas un concierto especial. Ensayas con amigos entrañables, se involucran otros, hacen su trabajo. No hay dinero de por medio, ni otro interés que la belleza. Está todo listo. Entonces, a sólo minutos de empezar…se “cae el SEN”, con ese sabor amargo que deja ya esa frase en cada cubano. El público se desconcierta, comenta, el calor se hace más intenso, pero hay concierto, por encima de toda lógica y sentido. Bajamos de la tarima, nos acercamos más, acomodamos en pocos segundos todo, secamos sin éxito el sudor, todos hacen silencio, escuchan, aplauden, se emocionan y ríen. Es lo que pasa cuando el Arte no puede ser desconectado.
Gracias a Sue Monk y Lachlan Hurse por la complicidad, a Jaime Canfux por su trabajo que no fue en vano, al Centro Pablo, Irai Urquhart Rodríguez, Victor Casaus y a Laura Martin Neto, mi otro hemisferio. A todas y todos los que asistieron en medio del caos para escuchar canciones que unen continentes.
Seguimos haciendo música porque…sonar no cuesta nada.”
(Pronto tendremos los vídeos del concierto) Gracias miles. No lo van a impedir… Ariel Trovador Diaz, 20 Septiembre 2026
On September 18 (2026), the historic Pablo de la Torriente Brau Cultural Centre at Muralla #63 in Old Havana hosted a special double celebration: the 30th anniversary of the cultural centre and the beginning of celebrations marking 30 years of the artistic career of Cuban troubadour Ariel Díaz.
Born in Havana on February 15, 1974, Díaz is an important figure in the generation of Cuban singer-songwriters known as the Cantores de la Rosa y la Espina — the Singers of the Rose and the Thorn — which emerged in the mid-1990s.
A self-taught musician, Díaz has shared stages with major figures of the Cuban nueva trova tradition, including Silvio Rodríguez, Noel Nicola and Vicente Feliú. His music has also taken him abroad, with tours in more than fourteen countries.
Díaz’s relationship with the Pablo de la Torriente Brau Centre goes back many years. He was a central participant in its A guitarra limpia project and published La primera piedra (The First Stone), a book in which he reflected on contemporary Cuban trova.
As Díaz himself has put it: “From the moment I set foot in the courtyard at Muralla #63, all I did was grow.”
Thirty years ago, Jumping Fences performed with Ariel Díaz in the Manuel Galich Hall at Casa de las Américas. Their reunion in Havana provided a remarkable musical bridge between Cuba and Australia, bringing together musicians and friends whose connection had endured across three decades.
Speaking with Radio Cadena Habana ahead of the event, Díaz described the significance of the gathering and his excitement at meeting once again with the audience, friends and the living history of Cuban trova.
The event was held free of charge at the Pablo de la Torriente Brau Cultural Centre, in the heart of Old Havana, beside Plaza Vieja. [NB:This is a translation from the Spanish of the blurb that went with the radio program, Editor WBT]
Beautifully written account of what happens when the US blockade meets art in Cuba. Ian Curr, Editor, WBT.
” You’re putting together a special concert. You rehearse with close friends; others get involved and do their part. There’s no money involved, nor any interest other than beauty. Everything is ready. Then, just minutes before it’s set to begin… “the SEN goes down,” with that bitter aftertaste that phrase already leaves in every Cuban’s mouth. The audience is taken aback, murmurs among themselves, the heat grows more intense—but the concert goes on, defying all logic and reason. We step down from the stage, move closer to the crowd, get everything sorted out in a matter of seconds, wipe away our sweat in vain—and everyone falls silent, listens, applauds, gets emotional, and laughs. That’s what happens when Art cannot be disconnected.
Thanks to Sue Monk and Lachlan Hurse for their support, to Jaime Canfux for his work that wasn’t in vain, to the Pablo Center, Irai Urquhart Rodríguez, Victor Casaus, and Laura Martin Neto, my other half. To everyone who came out amid the chaos to listen to songs that unite continents.
We keep making music because… dreaming costs nothing.
(We’ll have the concert videos soon.) Thank you so much. They won’t stop us… ”
Ariel Trovador Diaz, 20 September 2026
Un relato magníficamente escrito sobre lo que sucede cuando el bloqueo de EE. UU. se encuentra con el arte en Cuba. Ian Curr, editor de WBT.
“Preparas un concierto especial. Ensayas con amigos entrañables, se involucran otros, hacen su trabajo. No hay dinero de por medio, ni otro interés que la belleza. Está todo listo. Entonces, a sólo minutos de empezar…se “cae el SEN”, con ese sabor amargo que deja ya esa frase en cada cubano. El público se desconcierta, comenta, el calor se hace más intenso, pero hay concierto, por encima de toda lógica y sentido. Bajamos de la tarima, nos acercamos más, acomodamos en pocos segundos todo, secamos sin éxito el sudor, todos hacen silencio, escuchan, aplauden, se emocionan y ríen. Es lo que pasa cuando el Arte no puede ser desconectado.
Gracias a Sue Monk y Lachlan Hurse por la complicidad, a Jaime Canfux por su trabajo que no fue en vano, al Centro Pablo, Irai Urquhart Rodríguez, Victor Casaus y a Laura Martin Neto, mi otro hemisferio. A todas y todos los que asistieron en medio del caos para escuchar canciones que unen continentes.
Seguimos haciendo música porque…sonar no cuesta nada.”
(Pronto tendremos los vídeos del concierto) Gracias miles. No lo van a impedir…
Ariel Trovador Diaz, 20 Septiembre 2026