Baracoa, Cuba
Hatuey is one of the most important people in Cuban history, originally from Hispaniola, he fled with many other natives to warn the people of Caobana of the treachery of the oncoming onslaught of the Spanish. Sadly the Caobanans did not believe him and few joined him in his fight against the Spanish. He was captured in February of 1512 and burned alive at the stake.
The story that every Cuban child learns is that before Hatuey was burned, a priest asked him if he would accept Jesus and go to heaven. Spanish historian Bartolomé Las Casas wrote of the reaction of the chief:
(Hatuey), thinking a little, asked the religious man if Spaniards went to heaven. The religious man answered yes… The chief then said without further thought that he did not want to go there but to hell so as not to be where they were and where he would not see such cruel people.
This 1953 sculpture is by Havana born Rita Longa (Aróstegui) (1912-2000). Longa is one of Cuba’s most important sculptors, with over 400 sculptures to her name, her work can be found throughout Cuba.
Hatuey is one of her most iconic sculptures and was used as the image for Hatuey Beer.
Among her many awards, was a Gold Medal at the Exhibition of the Architectural League of New York (1951).
Rita Longa is the creator of pieces that have become symbols of the environment to which they belong, such as the deer of the Grupo Familiar (Family Group, 1947), located at the entrance to the Parque Zoológico de La Habana (Havana Zoo); the image of the so-called Virgen del Camino (Virgin of the Road, 1948), which is today the symbol of the Havana municipality of San Miguel del Padrón; the Ballerina (1950), which was placed at the entrance of Cabaret Tropicana; the work Forma, Espacio y Luz (Form, Space and Light) which since 1953 presides over the main facade of the Cuban Art Building of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, or the Aldea Taína (Taíno Village) of Guamá (1964), located in Ciénaga de Zapata in the south of Matanzas province.