Weighing history: material rhetoric and commemoration in Cuba

The ubiquitous presence of José Martí in Cuban public spaces has prompted questions about his glorification, or at least the medium of this veneration. Ernesto Sánchez Valdés’s documentary Héroe de culto (2015) critically reflects on the repetitive tributes to the ‘Apostle’ of Independence by focusing on the serialized production of plastic busts. Delving deeper into this critique of the heritage industry, artist Reynier Leyva Novo presents a disfigured polyfoam bust that engages with the mythologizing process, the historiographical debate and the distortion of Martí’s legacy. By examining the material rhetoric of such monuments in public spaces, as well as in sculptural and conceptual art, this article explores the implications of commemoration strategies and the role of plastic in desacralizing them, ultimately inspiring contestation.