Cuban visual artist Alfredo Chong, a 73-year-old Chinese descendant who admires China’s traditional cultural values and national identity, is celebrating the Year of the Tiger with new paintings and artworks.
He has recently finished a 1.80-meter-high Terracotta Warrior sculpture, which is being exhibited at Havana’s Confucius Institute as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations in the Caribbean nation.
Under the title Cuban Terracotta Warrior, the paper mache sculpture pays homage to the bravery and strength of the Chinese people throughout the history.
Chong spends three or four hours a day at home, in the Havana district of Arroyo Naranjo, depicting the huge diversity of Chinese culture through calligraphy and Chinese paintings.
“Animals have a huge symbolism for Chinese zodiac and culture. I have portrayed rats, snakes, tigers and goats in my artworks,” he said.
Over the past few years, Chong’s sculptures have been installed in public places across the city, including cultural centers, stores and the House of Chinese Arts and Traditions.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he can only display his artworks at his home, where there are big terraces surrounded by orchids, ornamental plants, and fruit trees.
Chong, who has never visited China before, told the Xinhua News Agency that his new sculpture could encourage future generations of Cubans to learn more about China’s history.
“This Terracotta Warrior will continue defending the principles and values of Chinese culture and people. In my heart, I have traveled to China several times,” he added.
Photo taken on Dec. 5, 2019 shows a terracotta warrior displayed at Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)
