Granmporra (2025)
Mini pieces of PVC mirror mosaic on a wooden police baton as a newspaper holder, and mini pieces of PVC mirror mosaic on the official Cuban newspaper Granma, previously fretworked. Includes a mirror ball motor
Edition 1/10
39 x 120 x 53 cm 

In this work, the artist transforms a police baton – a symbol of control and violence – into a brilliant ‘newspaper holder’ by covering it with mirror mosaics. Inside, cut-outs from the official Cuban newspaper Granma highlight the interplay between violence and the instrumentalisation of the media. The work challenges viewers to recognise themselves in the construction of power and propaganda, reminding us that violence and control are not distant and unchanging realities, but processes that involve all who witness them. At the same time, it sparks a deeper inquiry: how might these dynamics be rewritten if we choose active, critical engagement over passive conformity?

Granmporra directly alludes to the repressive policies of the Castro regime, in particular the government’s harsh response to the simultaneous peaceful protests in July 2021 across the country. The work also reflects on how power and its methods of violence are masked in popular culture through the mass media.

Integrated into an ephemeral installation, Granmporra forms a triptych with the canvas Represión (2022) and the silkscreen re-edition of the newspaper Previsión on canvas, all suspended on fine metal chains and wires, highlighting the tension and fragility inherent in narratives of power.