Riding with Fidel: Memory, Culture, and Heritage at the Matanzas Historical Archive

The Matanzas Historical Archive paid tribute to Fidel Castro in the context of the activities for the centenary of his birth, with the transitory exhibition «Riding with Fidel,» a proposal that brought together the staff of the institution and the Castillo de San Severino.

As part of the exhibition, the Castillo de San Severino provided pieces of African origin that were given as gifts to Fidel during his lifetime. The objects allow for an approach to the presence of African cultures in Cuba and the permanence of their traditions, customs, and identity in Cuban society.

The day also featured the participation of Afro-Cuba, an emblematic group of Matanzas culture, whose trajectory was consolidated during the revolutionary process. The collective has taken Cuban music and folkloric expressions to national and international stages, with performances in Angola and the United States, among other spaces.

One of the exhibition’s standout elements was a photograph of Fidel recently restored by specialists from the Historical Archive. The image arrived at the institution in an advanced state of deterioration, as part of a donation from the University of Matanzas, and underwent a conservation process that allowed its quality to be recovered and the document to be preserved.

The restoration was carried out by professionals trained in conservation and restoration, who developed work that allowed the recovery of the photograph’s visual values. The result constitutes a concrete example of the work carried out by the Archive to protect documents linked to the history of Matanzas and Cuba.

The activity also brought together representatives of cultural, heritage, and press institutions, including the Castillo de San Severino, the Provincial Heritage Center, radio, the Center for Sociocultural Research, and other entities.