Havana will have a new female face

The monumental work is a gift to the former San Cristobal de La Habana village, on the verge of arriving to its 500 years of being founded. The sculpture will be erected at a small park located on the corner of Malecón and Galiano Streets, opposite to Hotel Deauville.

Habana Radio moved to one of the ancient piers of Havana roadstead, where the piece is being done, to talk with its author: “the work is a tribute to the Cuban woman, and a gift to the city, about to turn to its 500th anniversary. It represents a woman’s face with part of her torso and her hair full of butterflies, which is our national flower. It will measure seven and a half meters high, with a three meters sixty centimeters width, and one meter and a half depth”.

When questioning about the material used, he explained “the piece is made of recycled steel, steel strips thrown away, and now forged and welded, providing these curves and silhouettes of the face and torso which make up the sculpture. It truly has been a big challenge”.

For Rafael San Juan to finish this sculpture is a great challenge: “I have made it in a very short time; we have been working very hard for three months, and we are talking about a piece which takes six months”.

This work is part of a group of sculptures devoted to the woman, found today at the Central Park of Guadalajara, Mexico, where this artist have worked in the last years.

 Translation: Roxana Marquez Herrera (Cubarte)