Habanos Gallery Showcases Tobacco Art

There’s a lot in common between habanos and the arts. None of them were a reality without that miraculous alchemy of skills, dedication, inspiration and creativity so indispensable when trying to come up with a work of art, either a painting, a photograph or a magnificent cigar.

That’s why the 16th Habano Festival has put on its bib and tucker for the grand opening of the Habanos Gallery, featuring artworks from ten award-winning fine artists who have managed to merge these two great passions.

A bow to the tobacco leaves is the proposal of Flora Fong, famous for her paintings, drawings, ceramics, tinted glasses, fabrics and other expressions, such as kites, boasting the best of the oriental arts.

Another sensorial experience is what fine arts Professor Mario Garcia Portela has come up with, this one featuring exquisite landscapes from the Pinar del Rio province.

Words of praise go out to a piece by Alicia Leal Veloz that pays tribute to the souls that come into being in the tobacco plantations, and to Juan Moreira Bencomo with a couple of suggesting titles: “Adam’s Leaf” and “Eve’s Leaf”.

And what can we say about Zaida del Rio, one of the boldface names of the Cuban arts, who turned to the art of tobacco smoke and aroma; or photographer Roberto Salas Merino, who saw in the shapes of leaves a chance to portray surreal human figures.

The ability to blend colors is the name of the game for Carlos Manuel Guzman, who has come to the Habano Gallery with a piece entitled “You Are an Illusion”, while the renowned Nelson Dominguez is the author of “Women of Smoke” and a couple of chairs designed for smokers.

Just another highlight is Eduardo Roca Salazar (Choco) with one of his signature paintings, this time around inspired in tobacco leaves. And last but not least, ceramist Ever Fonseca is exposing a work entitled “From the Plantation to the Crown”.

A multitude of suggestions and forms of expression single out the Habano Gallery, open through Friday Feb. 28 on the premises of the International Conference Center in Havana.