Havana triggers a wealth of images and projections in our mind's eye. Beyond the cliches, the phot ographer Eva - Maria Fahrner - Tutsek focuses her gaze on everyday life in Havana. Her photographs show life in the streets and the mood of the people. As we look and read, the light and dark sides of the capital of Cuba are gradually revealed. The most recent economic recession has brought the changes which had just begun in Cuba to a standstill. The associated privations are reflected in the behaviour and the faces of the people living in Havana. Fahrner - Tutsek's photographs show the inhabitants of the city a s they go about their business (which is often non - existent), sit on the street, perhaps play or simply wait. In a poetic approach the Cuban writer Leonardo Padura describes life in present - day Havana. The volume is enhanced by an insightful essay by the n oted photographer and photographic theorist Michael Freeman.

The German-Swedish artist Ann Wolff (born in 1937) is one of the most significant and exciting proponents of the European studio glass movement. She has an expert understanding of the characteristics of glass and how to show off the complete spectrum of its diverse possibilities of expression. The publication offers an extensive overview of the period of work over the last ten, prolific years. With most of her large-format sculptures, the medium of glass plays a central role, but Ann Wolff is not restricted to it alone; she also uses other materials, such as bronze, concrete or aluminium. The catalogue is boosted by additional selected drawings and pastels. Common to these is the eponymous motif of 'persona', the character mask, which expresses the artist's continuous debate with philosophical and existential issues. In doubling and mirror imaging, in veiling and exposing, she revolves around fundamental questions of the Self and the Other and her bilateral perception. Ann Wolff holds an accolade from the Glass Art Awards of the Glass Art Society, Seattle, and of the European Culture Prize Pro Europe. She is represented in numerous prestigious museums and collections in Europe, the United States and Japan, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Nationalmuseum, Stockholm; Designmuseum Danmark, Copenhagen; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo; Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg; Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris; and Musee de design et d'arts appliques contemporains, Lausanne. Text in English and German."