MIAMI, United States. – A sculpture inspired by the emblematic musical theme “Patria y Vida”, made by Cuban-American artists Antonia Wright and Rubén Millares, will be presented at Miami Art Week, which begins at the end of this month.
The sculpture is made up of LED lights and 25 metal fences used to prevent the passage or contain a demonstration, which alludes to the repression against the massive protests that shook Cuba on July 11, 2021 and whose anthem was precisely “Patria y Vida”.
In accordance with Wright’s statements to the EFE news agency“Patria y Vida” (the sculpture) is a work “in solidarity with all the people who protest in the world, not only in Cuba” and is inspired by an image that she and Millares saw during the protests in defense of democracy in Hongkong.
“As Cuban-American artists, we grew up attending protests with our parents in Miami, and we believe that public demonstrations are one of the most effective means of civic engagement,” Wright and Millares said at the presentation of their work.
According to EFE, the sculpture will be located until December 4 in a space at the Faena hotel in Miami Beach, which is part of the “No Vacancy” cultural project.
With their work, Wright and Millares want to pay tribute to the Cubans who took to the streets on July 11 of last year to protest against the Government and to the song that was their anthem, released in February 2021 by Yotuel Romero, Descemer Bueno, the duo Gente de Zona and the rappers El Funky and Maykel Osorbo.
They also dedicate it to “the perseverance of those who continue to protest worldwide.”
According to various media outlets, “Patria y Vida” is part of a series of works in which the Wright-Millares duo explore the sculptural and symbolic potential of standard steel barricades.
“In recent years, authorities around the world, from Hong Kong to Cuba to the United States, during the Black Lives Matter movement, have deployed (metal fences) extensively to contain and control protesters,” lamented the artists. .
“We believe these metal barriers directly evoke anxiety, used as architecture to separate and control bodies in public spaces and limit what should be a global human and civil right to protest,” they also stated.
The work was commissioned by the Miami Beach Mayor’s Office in collaboration with the body that is in charge of fairs and tourism in that city.
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