«El Fortín» on Calle del Medio Hosts Children’s Workshop
The organization of workshops in various disciplines is one of the most promising initiatives for this summer in the city of Matanzas, with the addition of the El Fortín publishing house, located on Calle del Medio.
This cultural activity, convened by the Cuban Association of Artists and Artisans of the province, provides a space for children to learn from an early age about the endless tools that art offers.
María del Rosario García, a member of that institution and also belonging to the Territory’s Cultural Goods Fund, participated in this proposal as one of the invited teachers to give courses, in her particular case teaching creation based on natural fibers.
During her instructive intervention, she mentioned materials such as jata palm, yagua, malagueta, and guano, which she frequently uses to make handbags and decorative items.
«I ventured into fiber and stand out in its use because I was always interested in it; this comes from a family tradition,» explained the Matanzas artisan.
The artist, originally from the town of San Miguel de los Baños, delved into the steps for the drying process of the banana plant stem, as well as the making of braids and looms from it.
Regarding the children who attended the workshop, she expressed admiration for their charismatic spirit and eagerness to learn. Accompanied by their parents, they followed every instruction from the experts to the letter.
Like her colleague, Denis Reyes, also belonging to the involved organizations, committed to sharing his knowledge on this day, this time with brushstrokes of working with clay.
The young ceramist pointed out that from such material different types of pieces can emerge, especially for domestic use due to the nobility of its origin.
Precisely related to the properties of clay, he commented that it is a type of earth found in specific places such as rivers and other special deposits.
Among the main modeling techniques to obtain better results with this material are slab construction, pinching, and coiling.
Throughout his class, he designed from more complex animal structures such as elephants to simpler ones such as turtles.
The registration of enthusiasts, with a planned capacity of ten spots, exceeded the initial capacity due to the curiosity of other children from the neighborhood who visited the venue.
Depending on the reception of this first free workshop, there are possibilities for future creative learning sessions with other specialties and new instructors.
