Imprints over Havana

«In this kind of fortune announced by the Office of the Historian of the City, came the curious intellectual invited to dinner with the cobblestones, the doors, the half points, museums, squares, and fell in love with such force that it can only be compared with the incest of history about the history of art and architecture of yesteryear ». This is what the artist of the plastic and poet Ileana Mulet tells us, who is the coordinator of the exhibition Huellas sobre la ciudad, inaugurated on the gates of the Castle of the Royal Force in homage to the 500th anniversary of San Cristóbal de La Habana and organized by the Directorate of Cultural Management of the Office of the Historian of the City, the magazine Opus Habana and the International Cooperation Directorate of the OHCH.

The exhibition is made up of reproductions on banners of works by more than fifty artists who have been invited to illustrate the cover of Opus Habana magazine and others that have accompanied the restoration project of the Office of the Historian since the beginning. The project will travel through the Network of Heritage Cities "as a kind of visual memory of our Havana and the artists who have left their mark on it."

In addition to some of the artists who cooperated in the project and representatives of the accredited diplomatic corps in our country, the singer-songwriter Gerardo Alfonso was present, who interpreted two iconic numbers of his artistic career: Sábanas blancas  - dedicated to the Cuban capital and that accompanied, for many years, each broadcast of the television program Andar La Habana, conducted by Eusebio Leal Spengler - and Son los sueños todavía, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the fall of Ernesto Che Guevara in Bolivia.

The artists involved in Imprints over the city are the following: Agustín Bejarano, Águedo Alonso, Nelson Domínguez, Zaida del Río, Li Domínguez, Luis Enrique Camejo, Ania Toledo, Lester Campa, Eduardo Abela, Alfredo Sosabravo, Alicia Leal, Adigio Benítez, Manuel Mendive, Cosme Proenza, Ernesto García Peña, Ángel Ramírez, Carlos Guzmán, Ever Fonseca and Flora Fong.

Also included are Manuel López Oliva, Sinecio Cuétara, Aimée García, Alicia de la Campa, Cirenaica Moreira, Lidzie Alvisa, Arturo Montoto, Ricardo Chacón, Juan Carlos Pérez Botello, Rigoberto Mena, Tomás Sánchez, Ernesto Estévez, Moisés Finalé, José Luis Fariñas , Isavel Gimeno, Aniceto Mario, Juan Moreira, Julia Valdés, José Salas and Mario García Portela.

The list is completed by Maykel Herrera, Pedro Pablo Oliva, Sandra Ramos, Diana Balboa, Leslie Sardiñas, Ernesto Rancaño, Mabel Poblet, Liang Domínguez Fong, Eduardo Roca Choco, Roberto Fabelo, José Carlos Pepe Rafart, José Duverger, Vicente Rodríguez Bonachea, Rubén Alpízar, Yaro López, Vicente Hernández, Yudith Vidal and Agustín Calviño Insua (Golgotha).

Oscar León González, president of the Cuban Commission of Unesco, in his presentation, said: «The 500th anniversary of the foundation of Havana is a celebration to which Unesco is associated by unanimous decision of its member states. The decision of the international institution has contributed to the notoriety of the celebrations for the foundation of our city and made possible the materialization of initiatives such as this project. What better tribute of the artists in this exhibition, just a few days after the declaration of Havana and Trinidad as Creative Cities of Unesco in the categories of Crafts, Music and Popular Arts, another recognition of the United Nations system for our beloved city ​​and an additional prize for those who love it and work permanently for its sake».