RETABLO. THE MAN

El Hombre. Year: 1987. Dimensions: Open: 59 x 84 x 11 cm / Closed: 59 x 41 x 11 cm. Edilberto Jiménez made this retablo inspired by the huayno "El Hombre" by Ayacucho composer Ranulfo Fuentes. The piece describes the desires of a man to free himself from / overcome the oppression that surrounds him. Within a circle in the center of the retablo, the man is suspended in the air. He is shown simultaneously experiencing the transition between two moments: the oppression that has — as the huayno says — left his knees raw with wounds, and, on the other hand, his gradual liberation or hope of being freed. He has two heads, one resting on his shoulder, defeated, and another that looks forward with an energetic expression. His feet are chained to Peruvian/Latin American lands, but his wrists bear chains he has managed to break. This image reproduces the energy of the huayno which, through its lyrics, also evokes this image. This circle is the center of a larger one divided into five compartments, in which various passages of oppression of the Andean population throughout Peruvian history are sculpted — for example, scenes relating to the oppression by landowners, the spread of disease with the arrival of the Spanish, abuse by miners, ruthless killings during the years of violence, etc. The doors are accompanied by various types of flowers.