A River in the Ocean

2015, 12th Havana Biennial, Cuba

Plaster, pigments, cloth, wire and medicinal plants

Marte Johnslien was invited to work site-specifically in collaboration with a farming group for the 12th Havana Biennial. The work A River in the Ocean was executed on-site in the area of Casa Blanca, Havana. It took as its leitmotif the notion of circulation and the Gulf Stream. The work was both informed by and produced in close collaboration with the local environmental group Finca Agroecologica Rincon del Christo. Two of the sculptures were made to host medicinal plants from the forest. The plants are known in Cuba to have positive impact on the various circulation systems of the body, and were chosen for the sculptures by the local plant doctor.