The Havana Biennial has reopened a Matanzas chapter in this 14^th edition. Within the great umbrella that has been Ríos Intermitentes, the project "En el camino" is inserted, a bet against geographic fatalism, which will turn to Matanzas as a destination and not simply a transit city between the country's capital and one of its most popular resorts: Varadero.

Curator and art critic Helga Montalbán, who is part of the initiative with the gardens "Suelo Estrellado": "a personal project on which I have worked for two years. It is the imaginary construction of another star system projected on the ground with plants," as explained by the creator herself.

How and why El Camino was inserted in Ríos Intermitentes, in the Yumurí’s chapter of the Biennal?

"Responding to the call of Dr. María Magdalena Campos, we try to bring art to the street, based on the idea that Matanzas is a destination, not a passage point. El Camino arises from the idea that there is an important production of sculptures in Matanzas, which are not going to be destined for the city, but can be enjoyed here. They are works by Osmany Betancourt (el Lolo), Osmany Betancourt Caballero, Alberto Domínguez, Amanda Rodríguez Leyva and Yunior Gutiérrez Salomón."

In addition, works by Yoel Peláez, an artist from Matanzas who died in the prime of his creative career, were included in the collection and a work by Alberto Rivero was postponed until future months.

El camino runs from the University to the entrance to Matanzas through Vía Blanca and Paseo Martí. It has a station in the Albaoa del Valle del Yumurí estate where young creator Dariel Lozano also has a project that appropriates the natural elements of the place to build sculptures.

Turning the city into an urban gallery was the goal and it shows already a tangible result that creates the perfect space for dialogue with an audience not regular on art circuits.

"The concept of the project is to use the core streets and turn them into an artistic space as the road, geographical situation of Matanzas is not beneficial for artists. That traffic that borders the city prevents people from entering. We wanted to skip that geographical fatalism by taking advantage of roadways. Remove that gap, those limits," said the specialist.

On the creative potential of Matanzas, Helga stated: “We are strong in plastic art, which is being visualized thanks to Rios Intermitentes, but it has always been there.”