Chocolate for Britons, Granma, 10/5/07

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Eduardo Roca Salazar (Choco)

One of the foremost AfroCuban artists, Choco graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Arte in 1970 and studied at the University of Habana Art School.

BY ESTRELLA DIAZ — Special for Granma International

IT’S not that the British have stopped drinking tea. No. It’s that during this October, at the Chambers Gallery in London, they can admire the one-man show of Chocolate, alias Eduardo Roca Salazar, one of the most outstanding and significant figures in Cuban contemporary visual arts.

This exhibition by Choco —his first one-man show in that country— is something of a “preview,” because in September 2008, a series of Cuban cultural events will take place in this capital, including music, film, ballet and visual arts exhibitions.

Michael Chambers, owner of the above-mentioned gallery, recently traveled to Havana and visited the Taller del Sol workshop, named after the street where it is located, and where Choco currently works. There, acting as curator, he chose about 50 works of art, most of which are larger than four square meters, and which are oil on cloth, colagraphy and mixed media. 

According to the artist, he is satisfied with his selection and believes that it is a “very interesting exhibition for British eyes.” All of the pieces were made during the last three years, after his one-man show in the National Museum of Fine Arts (2004), titled Abanico de posibilidades (Range of Possibilities), an important moment in his creative activities, a profound look back, given the degree of maturity and the solidness of his creations.

From then to date, Choco’s body of work has expanded and experienced growth; that is perhaps due to the fact that his workshop – thanks to efforts by the City Historian’s Office – has increased not just physically, but also “in themes.”

“I believe that I am at an excellent moment to continue creating the work that my people and my country deserve,” Choco commented. He added, “I don’t know if in the immediate future I will experience a change of theme: those are things that one never knows; they are aspects that you cannot predict, but the result comes out of a profound analysis of who we are and how far we have come as a people, as a nation.”

Throughout this year, Choco, a tireless worker and a laboriously systematic artist, has participated in several collective exhibitions, and one of them, because of its humane significance, holds special importance: “The one dedicated to the Cuban five, who are unjustly imprisoned in the United States.”

He has also illustrated several books and a collection of African short stories.

“That work expands your thinking and enriches your work,” he affirmed, noting that before the year is over, he plans to travel to his native province of Santiago de Cuba in the east to participate in an exhibition of religious-themed work.

“I think the mystical subject is important, because it nourishes us as human beings and makes us better,” he concluded.

www.granma.cu/ingles/2007/octubre/vier5/40choco-i.html