The Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez presented this Saturday at the “Hay Festival” in Cartagena de Indias the book Silvio Rodríguez, diary of a troubadoura work that brings together unpublished texts from his personal diary accompanied by 143 photographs by the Argentine Daniel Mordzinski, the result of more than two decades of travel and creative collaboration.
Rodríguez explained that the editorial project was born organically, from repeated meetings in different Latin American countries, which over time consolidated a personal and artistic relationship.
“That grew from meetings that Daniel and I had. We met, if I remember correctly, in the Dominican Republic, and then we began to coincide on tours in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and other countries,” said the troubadour during a videoconference talk moderated by the Cuban actor and director. Jorge Perugorría.
According to what he said, the accumulation of images gave shape to the idea of the book. “One day Daniel told me: ‘Hey, I want you to make a book.’ And since he sent me the photos, many of them were very funny… also, having a photographer like Daniel make a photography book for you, the truth is that you have to be little to say no,” he commented.
For his part, Mordzinski pointed out that his approach to Rodríguez was marked from the beginning by admiration and a narrative intention. “I was young listening to Silvio. I always say that his songbooks are collections of poems, because each of his songs is poetry,” he stated.
The photographer explained that, by accompanying him on tours, in his family life and in meetings with other creators, he understood that each image was part of a larger story. “Every photograph contains a story, but I am interested in that moment of invisibility that exists before and after the click,” he said.
Mordzinski also placed the book’s symbolic starting point on a trip to Havana, where trust was sealed between both creators.
During the conversation, Rodríguez recalled his relationship with the Colombian Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez and recalled an anecdote that occurred on a flight to Mexico in the midst of strong turbulence.
“He talked to me about very brief ideas and told me: ‘They are not novels or stories, for me they are songs,’” the musician recalled, highlighting the writer’s influence on his work. “I have always said that without Gabo’s anecdote it would not have been possible.”
The Cuban troubadour also paid tribute to his friend Luis Eduardo Aute, whom he defined as “an artist of the Renaissance,” and to the Argentine writer Ernesto Sábato, whom he described as “a wonderful, unforgettable man, a scientist writing about human life.”
EFE/OnCuba
