Images from the Matres Havana Festival 

The experience of the Matres Havana Festival, which brought a large international representation of APS Pandora women ceramic artists to Cuba, along with an equally large representation of the Korean Korea Women Ceramic Association KWCA, from April 20-30, 2023, has recently concluded. Hailing from places thousands of miles apart, the women artists were warmly welcomed by Cuban ceramicists and the Director of the National Museum of Contemporary Cuban Ceramics in Havana, Surisday Reyes Martinez. A group exhibition (Symbola) brought together under one symbol the many ceramic cores Who found themselves in Cuba. A meeting of such different cultures and realities, a comparison of personalities, habits, techniques, materials. Ten days of meetings, workshops, guided tours, history, conventions, conviviality and ... fun! All this helped to strengthen the already well-established bond between women artists from all over the world, which will result in new fruitful collaborations. The symbol that can best testify to the encounter that took place between the various cultures is the large necklace, a choral work, "a true moment of expressive sharing and shared creation of the women artists." The work consists of a large necklace of which each artist created a sphere and which was mounted and displayed at the Museum on the occasion of the Exhibition. "History teaches us that wearing jewelry was always a sign of a particular message or social status. The necklace in particular was a symbol of belonging; it defined ties, ideologies and status. The name itself necklace comes from the anatomical part for which it is intended: the neck is that part of the body that evokes the sensitivity, delicacy and sensuality of the body. According to ancient peoples, it was the part where the soul and the body joined, heart and brain found a meeting point, and as such it should be adorned. The exhibition Symbola - Signs of identity in women's ceramics, set up inside the Museum, takes expressive and communicative strength precisely from the collaborative work born from the inter-relational work of the group of participating women ceramic artists. Over time, the many collaborative works created have become the distinctive symbol of Pandora, intrinsic value that lies in the shared process that generated them" (1). In short, a symbol of unity in diversity, the expression of each individuality that united with the other can generate harmony and beauty.

Participants in the collaborative work included: Amalia Ferrigno, Anna Maria Baratto, Aurora Rodriguez Couret, Beatriz Irene Scotti, Celia M Garcìa, Choongmi Jung, Darlyn Delgado Gorgoy, Dorna Abyak, Elisabetta Brunetti Buraggi, Emilia Balestrieri, Fulvia Barbuto, Giulia Alba Chiara Bono, Grettel Arrate, Gumsun Kim, Hossein Kahfi, Ibtisam Naji, Isavel Gimeno, Lee Okhwan, Ljubica Lovrencic, Loredana Avagliano, Lucia Vecchiarelli, Maite Blanco, Marina Rodriguez, Martina Buzio, Maria Valerio, Miriam Gipponi, Moon Gisook, Paola Ramondini, Sabrina Fanego, Sandra Ban, Shoreh Haghighi, Song Youngja, Surisday Reyes Martìnez, Teresa Sànchez, Xiomara Gutièrrez, Yoonmi Eo.

1. Anna Rita Fasano, President of APS Pandora Artiste Ceramists - Surisday Reyes Martìnez, Director of the National Museum of Contemporary Cuban Ceramics - Symbola Exhibition Catalog.