CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Guayasamin Art Opens Fidel Homage

CUBA, November 29, 2006.- The tribute to President Fidel Castro on the celebration of his 80th birthday opened in Cuba Tuesday with the exhibit of 60 works by Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamin in the presence of dozens of friends of the dignitary.

Guayasamin House in Havana, chosen by the late artist in 1993 to be restored and hold evidence of his works, has welcomed personages from all over the world, witnesses to the donation of 60 of his best graphic works.

Former Ecuadorian President Rodrigo Borja, intellectuals Thiago de Mello (Brazil) and Volodia Teintelboim (Chile), Uruguayan singer Daniel Viglietti and Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo president, Hebe de Bonafini, attended the ceremony.

The opening of the tribute to the revolutionary leader was chaired by Cuban Minister of Culture Abel Prieto and Havana historian Eusebio Leal, among other officials.

The close friendship between the artist and the Cuban head of State, now recovering from surgery, was highlighted by Saskia Guayasamin, daughter of the artist and member of the Foundation named for him, in the presence of her brother Pablo.

She referred to the restoration of the house in Old Havana, mirror of the painter s career and of a friendship without time limits.

The Ecuadorian institution donated a group of works signed by the artist and expected to enrich the permanent exhibit of Guayasamin s art in the World Cultural Heritage section of the Cuban capital.

The act was attended by Italian Gino Done, the only living foreign participant in the 1956 Granma yacht expedition commanded by Fidel Castro, remembered as the event that restarted the struggle for Cuba s definitive emancipation.

Eusebio Leal, wished a prompt and good recovery to the president, recalled Guayasamin’ s noble gesture and described the birthday party as a Cuban, Latin American and world celebration. (Cubaminrex-PL)

<< Back