IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 3 ENGLISH | Page 35

time. Hence the connection with one of the plots
created by José Lezama Lima in his poetic system, which in addition constituted an appropriation to its socio-cultural context and its politicoeconomic circumstances.
Artists already had a suggestive visual identity.
The show actually managed to dialog obliquely
with the Havana Biennial’s discursive monumentality. Such was the case with Belkis Ayón with
an engraving, with Carlos Estévez’s installations,
and the paintings of Douglas Pérez and Armando
Mariño, to cite only a few, outstanding examples.
The point of departure of Belkis Ayón’s plastic

Belkis Ayón.
Vamos, [Let’s go], 1993.
Colography. 92 x 68 cm.

her search to penetrate these myths as material for
reflection; she manages to offer new exploratory
and speculative angles, especially because her
rhetoric is deeply marked by a sexual conscience
that is practically contestational.
The Abakuá myth explains the alliance between
two African tribes, the actual origin of the secret
society, which is an all male group. La Sikán or
Sikaneka, a central mythological character, is a
woman who revealed the secret of the Tanze, a
fish that embodied the spirit of the old chief Ekoi.
This is tied to a kind of matrilineal, totemic adoration.

Carlos Estévez.
Nadie puede ver por mis ojos.
[Nobody can see through my eyes],
1994. Carving. Wood, dirt and vegetable fiber. 300 x 100 cm.

investigation is the Abakúa secret society—or the
ñáñigos, as the religion is also called—and the
body of myths that made possible the survival of
the behavioral models it establishes.
Together with Santería and Regla Conga, this society is one of the principal religious groups originated in Cuba during the colonial period. As a
result of a process of transculturation, it conserves
predominantly African roots.
These are mutual aid societies in which religion
functions as an element of ideological cohesion.
They are sometimes compared to the masons,
given they share some common traits.
Ayón’s work goes beyond representations that are
over used in exhibits; she has many precedents in

Douglas Pérez.
Nacimiento en falso soporte
de la República,
[Falsely Supported Birth of
the Republic], 1993
(Diptich) oil-canvas. 60 x 50
cm each.
Fishing was the most productive and important
activity of the Calabar zone at that time; it was
representative of female hegemony.
The Sikán myth definitively justifies the imposition of a new social order controlled by leopardmen, the invasive “penetration” of the male totem
in the female one, and patriarchy taking the place
of matriarchy.
Belkis tries to unravel truths hidden by mythical
arguments and offers her own version of the
events and facts.
Her work creates a confluence of the extraordinary, magical, shocking, incredible, and divine.
Her efficient use of signifying gestures is noteworthy; her use of absent signs, significant.

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