The Dioscuri (which in Greek means “sons of Zeus”) are perhaps the most famous twins in the history of humankind, even though they were not real persons but mythological heroes of Ancient Greece, sons of Leda (Zeus’ mistress) and siblings of Clytemnestra (that same character who, together with Aegisthus, murdered king Agamemnon after his return from Troy).
According to the story, Castor and Pollux (name received by the Dioscuri were considered together), seized Leucippus’ daughters to marry them, and when the nephews of the latter (rivals in conquering the girls) killed Castor, their brother, who had received the gift of immortality, he begged his father to allow him to remain next to the fallen one. From that moment on, both spent half of their time in the underworld and the other half next to the gods in Mount Olympus. Always inseparable.
Thirty centuries later and thousands of kilometers away, two Cuban twins, Orlando and Eduardo García García, were attracted by the theme, verified that it had not been sufficiently handled by the Island’s photographers and “since we feel closely related to it because of our being twins, we were motivated to develop a photographic series to show the daily life of different twins in the context in which they develop”.
That was the origin of Similares Diferentes (Similar Different), the exhibition of the Siamese Project (made up by Orlando and Eduardo), exhibited in Fototeca de Cuba (307 Mercaderes St. between Teniente Rey and Muralla streets, Habana Vieja, from September 28 through October 28, 2012.
“After two years dedicated to this project –its protagonists write in the catalog to the exhibition” – “we discover that despite the fact that each brother seeks his own identity and that they are different individuals, in some cases they even share professions, which answers and satisfies our raison d’être as artists, and more than anything the condition of being foster brothers unites us. We will continue enriching this work until the end of our days”.
But what is Similares Diferentes about? Are we in the presence of a series of portraits in which the extraordinary physical resemblance of twins and the evident parallel in their forms of communicating and expressing emotions are presented? The truth is that it is indeed so, although there is more. Similares Diferentes does not pretend to remain in presenting portraits just for the sake of it (to describe the phenomenon somehow) but moves in the field of what is called environmental portrait: the individuals in the environment to which they belongs, in their natural or urban landscape, where they acquires their purest meaning and reveal their true essence.
There are abundant eloquent examples in Similares Diferentes. Two primary school children in the middle of a game at the school entrance; two uniformed agents inside a vehicle (probably military); two old ladies whose resemblance is remarkable, embellished in similar form and both exhibiting the same hairdo; the Chirino brothers at the Industriales dugout, wearing the traditional blue of the capital’s uniform; two ladies walking across Central Park at the precise instant when two other twin couples (in their baby carriages) pass each other… In the words of the photographers themselves: “Twins have not remained unnoticed throughout history”. The photos of Similares Diferentes are a good evidence of it.
After the exhibition is closed on October 28, the Fototeca will not remain idle. Like every year, the celebration of Noviembre Fotográfico has already been informed, opening at 6 p.m. on October 1, at its venue facing the Plaza Vieja. Exhibitions, lectures, round tables, presentation of projects, review of portfolios and guided tours will take place along thirty days. Highly interesting will be, among the numerous activities, the Colloquium on Photography to be held between October 19 and 23, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. An indeclinable invitation for those lovers of photographic art and to those who, seduced by the handling of lights and shadows, are giving their first steps in the surprising universe of images.
