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Camagueyan Marta Jimenez gives sculpture of large format to the Cuban capital

Loaded with symbols and allegories, an iron sculpture of almost eight meters high can be seen in Havana, gigantic tricycle of the artist Martha Jimenez, from Camaguey, who pays homage to this city for the 500th anniversary of its foundation.

Belonging to the series “With the house on her back”, the piece entitled “Against wind and tide” is installed at the entrance of the old warehouses of wood and tobacco, on Avenida del Puerto, and is included among the collateral exhibitions of the XIII Biennial of Havana.

In his words of praise, the historian of the city, Eusebio Leal Spengler, pointed out the challenge posed to the creative of that finished and dreamed work, "a philosophical and artistic reflection that leaves us as a legacy," he said.

Martha allows us, like her, to go through time; go in this immense cycle carrying our own house, which is to carry our faith, our aspirations, fighting against the difficulties imposed by walking, going forward which is, in definitive, the greatest challenge: to always go forward, expressed Leal Spengler.

Excited, the artist said that it is not a feminist work, but to highlight the action of women, their burden of love and everything that comes with it in its advance, breaking taboos and overcoming obstacles.

I've always liked to make the impossible possible, that's why I worked iron on that scale. It was Leal who pushed me to do this work; he challenged me and I accepted the challenge because it was in Havana where I trained, where I did my first studies, she said.

Painter, ceramist and sculptress born in Holguin, Martha Jimenez settled from a young age in the city of Camaguey, in the center-east of the Island.

There she has developed her prolific career and installed numerous pieces, including the popular sculptural set of the Plaza del Carmen, in the historic center of the city, declared Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

This work "is a gift from all Camagueyans, for Cuba and for the capital of all Cubans," said the creative.

Congratulated with the UNESCO Prize in 1997, her works are exhibited to the public in Germany, France, the Dominican Republic, Canada, the Czech Republic, China, the United Kingdom, the United States and Turkey, in the latter country with four monumental sculptures in the city of Eskisehir.

“Against wind and tide”, her largest sculpture made so far, will be exposed permanently in the historic center of Havana, to the delight of foreign passers-by and locals.


Source: Prensa Latina