The documentary, on show at the Convento de San Francisco de Asis in the historic centre of Havana, is part of the efforts led by the Office of the Historian of Havana, the Bronx Museum and the Ford Foundation for the move to Cuba of a replica of the statue of Marti which stands in Central Park in New York.
The film is viewable by the public on the digital platform Google Arts & Culture, and includes artworks by important figures in Visual arts on the island such as Wifredo Lam, Rene Portocarrero and Tomas Sanchez.
On giving thanks for the efforts resulting in the project, the historian of the city of Havana, Eusebio Leal, expressed that with the support of Google, a window to the world was opened through which our imagination can travel and that of other countries. This collaboration established a bridge which nobody can take away and a bridge that nobody can close.
For his part the director of Operations in Cuba for Google, Brett Perlmutter, said to be proud of this, the first event that the company realised in the Caribbean territory since the signing of agreements last month with the Office of the Historian.
He announced that the film narrated by Leal will be screened in New York on 28 January to coincide with the 164th anniversary of the birth of Marti.
The US artist Ann Hyatt Huntingdon is the author of the statue of Jose Marti on his horse, situated in Central Park New York and it represents the moment of the fall in battle of the Cuban hero in the place known as Dos Rios, in the east of the island.
The name of the technology used in the film is Google Cardboard, a virtual reality platform developed by Google based on the cardboard which functions when connected to a smartphone with Android or IoS. With just a cardboard box and two lenses, it is possible to show the smartphone and experience the Android Virtual Reality (VR) applications to watch impressive videos.
In the case of Nuestro Marti, via virtual reality, viewers can move through places in Havana, Tampa and New York visited by Marti, while listening to the voice of Eusebio Leal who narrates the life of the Cuban hero.
Link to original report in Spanish
Translation by Cuba50
The film and other pictures about Jose Marti can be viewed on Google Arts & Culture here
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