Dreaming on wheels at 12th Havana Biennial

Por: Adalys Pérez Suárez

For three years, Javier has been pedaling by the streets of Old Havana, carrying tourists or another Cuban who can afford the trip on a rickshaw—a rough vehicle created in the 1990s in Cuba during the Special Period—instead of walking a long road under the sun.

But now, it will be different. Besides, the economic benefits of the bicycle, he is proud of seeing the device as one of the pieces of the 12th Havana Biennial, after the changes made to it by the Afghan artist  Jeanno Gaussim, one of the guests to the cultural event.

Jeanno is the author of the itinerant project La Habana. Sueños sobre  ruedas (Dreams on Wheels Havana), with which she gives continuity to the interest in vehicles of popular use, already seen at her hometown, Kabul, through the decorations she made to worldwide famous skateboards.

Cubarte newspaper found her as a child with a new toy, photographing from all the angles the bicitaxi (a rickshaw), now baptized as El sueño de Javier (Javier’s dream), since we may see paintings illustrating some of the driver’s wishes at the cover and rear of the vehicle: visiting Paris, resting in a house near the sea, dining out at a prestigious restaurant…

The piece also includes elements alluding to everyday Havana and combinations of colors representing some orishas of the Afro-Cuban religion.

As commented by the artist, the project was preceded by a research of our capital made in the distance, which revealed to her very particular elements, later surpassed by the experience lived each day in an  environment that attracts her and she considers unique.

While carrying out her work, she was aided by art instructors Roberto Bess and Aramís Villama wom she got in touch through Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center, main organizer of the event that Jeanno Gaussim considered interesting for her development as an artist.

ForJavier López Urrutia it will be a memorable event which involved his community and to him, in particular, allowed to express his dreams and make them come true through the narrow streets of Old Havana.

Source: Cubarte