According to José Lezama Lima, José Martí (1853-1895) is a mystery that accompanies us. More than a century after the death of the poet, in a war that he organized to give Cuba its complete independence and humanity “world equilibrium” and “man’s greatest good,” the presence of Martí—or better said, the certainty of his accompaniment—seems to be growing.
For Cubans, Martí is a cultural reference in any circumstance. However, it may be that simply appealing to his image and his words is no longer enough for recurring to the essence of his ideas in facing everyday realities. That seems to be the suggestion of a young artist whose photos remind us of Martí’s Versos Sencillos (Simple Verses, 1891): I come from all places, / and to all places I go: / I am art among the arts, / and mountain among mountains.
Sarabia became a participating observer, from one end of Cuba to the other, alert to the object of his series, and he goes farther by achieving refined moments of intentionality. He highlights how each person possesses or makes his or her own Martí. He has no reservations about providing moments of poetry. These are the ones that most intensely mark the universality of José Martí’s ideas and everything that cannot fit into a bust. The images that Sarabia captures aim both at the accompaniment and the mystery, and seem to add that Martí is the memory of hope.
By: Rolando Gonzalez Patricio
Photos: Alfredo Sarabia (Essay on the parable of the sower, 2010)
