Exhibitions pay tribute to Fidel on his 95th birthday anniversary
Havana, August 17 (RHC)-- Activities these days to celebrate the 95th birthday anniversary of Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro included the inauguration of two collective exhibitions at the José Martí Memorial at Havana’s Revolution Square.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel attended the inauguration of both exhibitions, entitled “Fidel en Revolución” (Fidel in Revolution) and “Mi foto con Fidel” (My photo with Fidel).
‘Fidel en Revolución’ (Fidel in Revolution), includes 31 images of the revolutionary leader in different transcendental moments in the early years of the Revolution, taken by Russian journalist and photographer Nicolai Chiguir, the first designated correspondent of the Russian agency TASS in Cuba in 1959.
The 31 photos are part of a larger exhibition comprising 73 images by Chiguir and exhibited at the Great War Museum in Moscow in 2009, on occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution to highlight the friendship ties between the two governments and peoples.
After its exhibition in Moscow between January and May, 2009, the exhibition was donated to Cuba by the Russian artist himself in 2010.
Exhibition features photos of Fidel with renowned musicians
Regarding the second exhibition, entitled ‘Mi foto con Fidel’ (My photo with Fidel), it is a compilation of photos of Fidel with several renowned Cuban and foreign musicians, taken at different moments. It includes photos of the Cuban leader with such iconic artists as poet Nicolás Guillén, intellectuals Abel Prieto, singer Omara Portuondo, trova musicians Liuba María Hevia and Francsico Repilado –better known as Compay Segundo--, Digna Guerra, director of the Cuban National Choir, singer-songwriters Amaury Pérez, Silvio Rodríguez and Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández –better known as Bola de Nieve-- among many others.
Compiled by Jesús Gómez Cairo, director of the Cuban Museum of Music, the images serve also to commemorate the 60th anniversary this year of Fidel’s iconic speech to Cuban artists and intellectuals, known as ‘Palabras a los intelectuales’ (Words to Intellectuals).
Addressing those present at the inauguration, Gómez Cairo said the 22 photos that make up the exhibition are the ones treasured in the archives of the Museum of Music and invited Cuban musicians to send copies of their photos with the Cuban leader to prepare a larger travelling exhibition that will tour other cities across the country, as soon as the epidemiological situation allows for it.
