#13 A RIOT OF MOSAICS

Fusterlandia:  A Riot of Mosaics

WHERE I WENT AND WHY
Fusterlandia was an addition to our Arts and Architecture tour in Cuba.  I had read about it and was going to ask our guide, Elvis,  how David and I might go there in our free time when he announced we were going there!  I told him he had read my mind!

WHAT TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO
Fusterlandia is in the suburb of Jaimanitas about 30 minutes outside of Havana.  I read that you can take a bus or a $20 taxi, or it can be a requested extension of the hop on hop off bus (not every one of them goes there so check).  The house is open from Wednesday through Sunday from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm.  My guide book said, "It is beyond description, JUST GO!"  

WHAT I SAW

View from the 3rd floor deck

Thirty years ago Jose Fuster bought a modest wooden home in Jaimanitas, a poor suburb of Havana.  He began covering his home with mosaics and soon he was building sculptures, a swimming pool, and adding on ad infinitum!  He has also decorated parts of the homes of over 80 of his neighbors and has added murals, decorated the bus stops and all parts of the neighborhood.  The way his work has effected the entire neighborhood reminds me a little of Pearl Fryar's topiaries in South Carolina. His enthusiasm for Picasso, Gaudi, cubism and riots of color, has transformed the neighborhood.  It is now a beacon for artists and a tourist stop.  He sells tiles and original art in two galleries on the property and his neighbors have set up gift shops in their driveways near his home. 

Even the bottom of the swimming pool reflects cubism!

The tile shop on the second level

David inspects a taxi on the streets of Fusterlandia

    
IF MON$Y WERE NO OBJECT...
Absolutely, I would love to have any of the sculptures, murals, or tiles.  In one of the earlier blogposts I conjectured about putting a fresco on the parge wall along 10th St.  Fuster's mosaics would be even better!  They have the color and whimsy I adore.  In fact I bought 3 tiles and a concept drawing!