Third National Artisan Artist Festival concluded in Matanzas (+photos).

After three days of exhibitions, a fair with the participation of the Cuban Fund for Cultural Goods, live works and a lecture on knowledge, the National Artisan-Artist Festival, which has been held for three years in Matanzas to celebrate the Day of the Artisan, came to an end this Tuesday, March 19th.

Exhibition Un Poco de Amor, by Zenén Calero at the ACAA.

After three days of exhibitions, a fair with the participation of the Cuban Fund for Cultural Goods, live works and knowledge talks, this Tuesday, March 19, culminated the National Artisan Artist Festival that has been held for three years in Matanzas to celebrate the Day of the Artisan.

Some thirty creators from Matanzas, Havana and Canada shared their experiences and knowledge at different moments of the event. The 2024 celebration was dedicated to crafts in the theater and the 30th anniversary of Teatro de Las Estaciones.

The Festival began with the exhibition Un poco de amor, by Zenén Calero Medina, winner of the National Theater Award, which includes puppets and recycled, reused and discarded objects, but creatively revived in the workshop of the Pelusín del Monte Cultural Center to integrate the scenery of the show Todo está cantando en la vida, a recital of affection for Teresita Fernández.

Zenén Calero’s Un Poco de Amor Exhibition at the ACAA

In this context, the Manos Honorary Award was added to the many recognitions that endorse the work of Calero Medina. The opening day also featured performances by the children’s socio-cultural projects Maravillas de la Infancia, Corcel de Esperanza and Alma Flamenca, and an exchange between the participating artists and members of the Canadian project Con el Corazón en la mano, with the aim of sharing experiences and ways of working in the world of crafts and the arts in general.

The program, during the last three days, also included work in the ceramics workshop, exhibitions of pieces by creators of different manifestations with textile, handicraft and footwear products, a fashion show by designer Mariela Alemán Orozco and the inauguration of the exhibition Con el corazón en la mano by students of the School of Art and Canadian artisans.

Pierre Hivón, president of the international collaboration project Quebec-Cuba Mano a mano: Artesanos sin fronteras, recognized the event as a space for cultural exchange between nations, while praising the quality of craftsmanship that are made in the country.

This project has donated to Cuba, during nearly 10 years of linkage, various materials such as glass, ceramics and other resources for the development of the workshops of artisans in Matanzas, resulting in a way of mutual learning.

Moments of transcendence also within the proposals of the Festival were the conference offered by playwright, researcher and art critic Ulises Rodriguez Febles about theatrical craftsmanship, at the headquarters of the ACAA in Matanzas, as well as the meeting with creators in Cardenas.

The National Festival El Artesano Artista, since its first edition in 2022, reaffirms itself as an opportunity for dialogue between different generations of Cuban and foreign artisans.

Photos: Félix González

Written by Jessica Mesa.