The National Aquarium of Cuba inaugurated a giant mural by US plastic artist Robert Wayland who, through art and the sea, has created ties of friendship between Cuba and the United States.

As part of a project among several young people, led by Wayland, the mural, painted on one of the walls of the National Aquarium, shows marine diversity in all its splendor, the wealth beneath the oceans and life in each of those ecosystems.

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The painting also pays tribute to US writer Ernest Hemingway for what he symbolizes for universal literature and for Cuba as the author of a vast novel production, including “The Old Man and the Sea,” whose main scenes were captured in the mural.

A group of artists from the National Council of Plastic Arts (CNAP) participated in this creative process as a key piece to reach the final product.

The protagonists under Wayland’s inspiring gaze were Daniel Quirós, Yanet Frómeta and Luis Alberto Saldaña, who joined the initiative that gives way to new relations of unity between brother peoples, according to CNAP Acting President Daneisy García.

The National Aquarium of Cuba was chosen precisely because it is emblematic and guiding in the care of the habitat of marine species, García pointed out.

Three great US muralists collaborated with Wayland and signed the mural at the request of its main creator.

Wayland stated that his mural number 104 has no political motivation.

I have Cuban friends from there and here, this is the country where I want to make my mural and I wanted to bring something good to the world with it, he pointed out.

The whole world must come together to have a clean ocean, and art is the first step, it is the way we can communicate better, through music, history and through time, he noted.

“I have been an artist since I was four years old and was inspired by one of the great marine biologists and scientists, Jacques Cousteau, who instilled in me the love to bring this message of conservation to everyone,” he confessed.

A photographer, sculptor, muralist, painter and, above all, a faithful lover of the oceans, Wayland feels proud to share his hopes and dreams with fellow Cubans, virtuosos who, like him, spread love for life.