Unveil wax statue of Carilda Oliver Labra

July 28, 2019

A life-size sculpture of the renowned poet from Matanzas Carilda Oliver Labra (1922-2018) was unveiled last Friday at the Wax Museum of Bayamo.

The work was made entirely of polychrome wax and will be part of the collection of this museum where figures from sports, culture, and politics in Cuba are represented such as Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Benny Moré, Teófilo Stevenson and Luis Carbonell.

The monument was made with pigments among other materials, and had the approval of Raidel Hernández Fernández, Carilda's widower, according to what the museum's directors had announced as they celebrate 15 years since its founding.

"We intend for the opportunity to appreciate another human image at life-size and that evokes Carilda to generate greater appeal for the public in the summer season, a period in which we receive large numbers of people," said Ysmary López Comas, director of the facility, to the press.

The sculpture was created by Rafael Barrios Madrigal and his sons Leander and Rafael, residents of the mountainous municipality of Guisa, in the province of Granma.

This family has made the rest of the statues exhibited in the Granma museum.

Carilda Olivera Labra, National Prize for Literature 1997, is considered one of the most notable poets in the Spanish-speaking world. Among her works are poems such as "Me desordeno, amor, me desordeno," "Anoche" and "Amor, ¿cómo es que vienes?" and the books Al sur de mi garganta, Las sílabas y el tiempo, Calzada de Tirry 81 and Los huesos alumbrados.

Her literary work has been reflected in various anthologies and translated into numerous languages.

One of the last statues unveiled at the Wax Museum was that of Sara González, which sparked complaints and criticism for the design of a highly distorted image of the songwriter.

So much so that the Museum's directors were forced to remove the controversial monument of the singer-songwriter who died in 2012.