This work emerges from an intuitive moment of discovery in the early career of Cuban artist Kcho. Created when the artist was only twenty-one years old, the piece reflects the conceptual foundations that would later define much of his practice: insularity, the symbolic geography of Cuba, and the poetic transformation of humble materials.
Constructed from woven garabato —a rustic agricultural tool traditionally used in the Cuban countryside— the sculpture evokes the silhouette of the island itself. Suspended in space, the object oscillates between artifact and map, between everyday material culture and a metaphor for territory, belonging, and identity.
The work originated from a spontaneous realization. As the artist recalls:
“I made that piece when I was twenty-one… I was sitting in my room. I’m a fan of libraries… I was reading… and suddenly I had a garabato in my hand. I was in the middle of this exploration about insularity, and suddenly I looked at the garabato and it was identical to the island. I started laughing — such a pleasant smile!” — Kcho
What began as a simple visual coincidence became a powerful conceptual gesture. The garabato—an object rooted in rural Cuban life— transforms here into a cartographic symbol of the island itself, suggesting how identity and territory can emerge from the most ordinary materials.
Through this poetic association, the work anticipates one of Kcho’s enduring concerns: the relationship between Cuba’s physical condition as an island and the emotional, cultural, and historical experience of insularity.
Salón Municipal de Artes Plásticas, Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba, 1990.
Pasaje Cubano, Artist of the Month Space, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Cuba, Havana, Cuba, 1991.
La ronda cubana, Van Reekum Museum, Apeldoorn, Netherlands, 1992.
En ningún lugar como en casa (retrospective), Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Cuba, Havana, Cuba, 2020–2021.
