The Mora Brothers, papier-mache artists from Cuba

Filiberto and Yanoski Mora

Filiberto at his stall Filiberto and Yanoski Mora are artists who paint and also create special objects in papier-maché.
They do projects together as well as their own individual pieces.
Anyone interested in their work can contact them at morabrothers@hotmail.com or regla55@yahoo.es

The Mora Brothers - Filiberto and Yanoski - both trained as artists. At the end of the 1980s when economic hard times hit Cuba they had to think of new ways of earning a living. They started to make idiosyncratic models of old American cars used as taxis - Buick, Chevrolet, Dodge - as seen on Havana streets, and sell them first at a street stall then when it began as the Artisans Market by the Cathedral. In 1998 with other artists they participated in the exhibition 'Jao Moch' (a pun on 'How Much?' the most common tourist phrase) which won the 1998 Cuban Contemporary Art Prize of the Curaduría II Salon.

The Papier Maché Process

The papier-mache sculptures have a lengthy process (i) basic shapes based on drawings are cut out of large polystyrene pieces and then carved and sanded (ii) once the desired shape is reached, a first two layers of papier-maché is applied (using newspaper) (iii) for figures, arms, facial features and other details are added using small amounts of sculpted clay (iv) further layers of papier-maché are applied finishing with a final white layer (v) pieces are painted and given their idiosyncratic identities

MEDIA COVERAGE

Filiberto Mora has had articles written about his work in The List, Edinburgh ‘ Sculpture’ 1-15 Nov 2001; ‘Glasgow Awaits the Coming of Cuban All Saints’ The Sunday Herald 4 November 2001; ‘Art of Music’ Songlines World Music magazine (October 2003)

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