Cuba's ambassador to Spain, Gustavo Machín, recently visited the city of Salamanca with the intention of visiting the DA2's Caribbean art exhibition, A Trip There and Back, which will soon begin a tour of Spanish museums, taking the Salamanca brand to the rest of the country.
The Mayor of Salamanca, Carlos García Carbayo, has hosted the Cuban diplomat and, after receiving him in the reception hall of the city council, has accompanied him to the DA2 contemporary art centre, where this exhibition, considered the most relevant of Caribbean art currently on display in Europe, can be visited free of charge until March 2020, with several revisions.
A total of ten Spanish museums have expressed their interest in hosting this exhibition, whose itinerancy is currently being prepared, so that it can become a reality in the coming months and the name of Salamanca and the DA2 itself can travel around the country.
Since its opening to the public in October, A Trip There and Back has been visited by more than 5,000 people, who have come to see this exhibition, owned by Luciano Méndez, who has deposited a total of 216 works in the DA2 of the more than 600 that make up his private collection, which will be in the Salamanca museum for four years, under an agreement signed with the city council.
During the visit to the museum, the councillor from Salamanca has transferred to Machín the commitment of Salamanca to art and has put the accent on the ties that unite Spain and Cuba, which precisely last November has celebrated the 500 years of the foundation of Havana, considered "the key to the new world".
In addition, García Carbayo referred to the recent visit of the King and Queen of Spain to Cuba, in which Gustavo Machín participated, and during which these links between the two countries through art were also evident, since their Majesties travelled to the Island carrying a self-portrait of the painter Francisco de Goya, which can be seen in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana for a month.
The exhibition
A Trip There and Back can be seen in rooms 2, 3 and 4 of the DA2, from Tuesday to Friday, from 12.00 to 14.00 and from 17.00 to 20.00, as well as on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 12.00 to 15.00 and from 17.00 to 21.00.
The exhibition is structured in three main conceptual and visual areas. In the first one, the components that support the identity of the Cuban nation are exposed, while the second one is an intermediate area dedicated to the artists Roberto Fabelo, Manuel Mendive and Alfredo Sosabravo, and the last one is a scenario of coexistence and dialogue.
Among the artists on the exhibition's roster, there is a significant number of creators who hold the National Plastic Arts Prize, awarded each year by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cuba.
Among other names, in addition to those mentioned above, there are artists such as Pedro Pablo Oliva (Pinar del Río, 1949), Nelson Domínguez (Santiago de Cuba, 1947), René Francisco (Holguín, 1960) and Eduardo Roca Salazar (Choco) (Santiago de Cuba, 1949).
With information from Salamanca Al Día. Es