Crafts as an art object once again occupy spaces in the Cuban capital, after two years of inactivity: the International Fair of this modality (FIART) opened its doors the day before at the Pabexpo exhibition center.
Almost a dozen countries including Mexico, Colombia, Spain, India, Peru, Italy and Russia, among others, come with innovative and utilitarian proposals, to also dignify recycling in the difficult times that the world is experiencing.
José Manuel Díaz Herrera, known as Noly among the creators, prefers to give permanent value back to objects that have lost it and offers a life when he turns them into sculptures, which capture the attention right at the entrance to the venue.
In exclusive statements to the Cuban News Agency, he expressed that arriving at the event is a reward, after so much time of isolation due to the global pandemic, he remembers his teacher Agustín Drake, an outstanding artist who died recently, who considered that any object could become a work of art.
Thus, bicycle chains, padlocks, keys, car valves, horseshoes or nuts as a whole are transformed into a star or a horse, this last piece that took eight months to make and dedicated to Fidel Castro, historical leader of the Revolution.
On this occasion FIART, unlike other years, exhibits in its spaces high prices of products in demand such as footwear, handbags and textiles, which will surely not leave visitors very satisfied, although there is still the possibility of exchange between supply and demand.
During the inauguration of this XXIV edition of FIART, which also has a sub-headquarters in the capital’s Estación Cultural de Línea and 18, the organizing committee recognized several creators for their tireless work in the defense and promotion of crafts, in an act that included with the presence of Alpidio Alonso and Fernando León Jacomino, minister and vice minister of culture, respectively, among other artists and directors of the Cuban Fund for Cultural Assets.
