Art pieces belonging to the collection of the Museo Orgánico de Romerillo, a community project led by Cuban artist Alexis Leiva Machado “Kcho”, are on display these days in family homes of the Romerillo neighborhood in the Havana municipality of Playa. The exhibit was opened on occasion of International Museum Day.
For some years now, Kcho has had a permanent space to exhibit his works at the Los marinos grocery store in Romerillo. About it, the artist told Cuban press that the pieces on display vary constantly, as he never stops creating new pieces.
Works included in this community project include not only Kcho’s, but those by other Cuban and foreign artists as well, among them Servando Cabrera, Raúl Martínez, Wifredo Lam, Andy Warhol, Arman, Antonia Eiriz and Amelia Peláez.
‘Museums are for everyone. Art should be available to all, whether you can pay or not,’ said the Cuban artist, who stressed that museums in particular playa n important cultural, social and historical role in today’s societies.
Kcho stressed that he is working on his next exhibit entitled “En ningún lugar como en casa” (or in English No place like home), a retrospective of three decades of artistic work. It was to be inaugurated this past April at Havana’s Fine Arts Museum, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic it has been postponed.
Kcho commented that he was in Barcelona at the time Spain declared the national alarm over the pandemic. He returned to Cuba, where he began a self-imposed quarantine in his studio, which he has used to continue working, creating new pieces that will be included as well as in his upcoming exhibit.
Considered one of the most important artist of his generation, Kcho’s works include drawings, engravings, sculptures and installations. His work can be found in prestigious museums and institutions around the world, among them MOMA, in New York, the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, in Madrid, Spain, Museo Van Reekum, Apendoorn, in the Netherlands and the Walker Art Center, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the United States.
