Havana is the pearl of Caribbean sea. The beautiful city with the large number of ancient walls, refined facades, nice balconies, sculptures and ceramic tiles has may places of interest to admire. The Colonial epoch has left the most part of Havana cultural heritage.
There was a plain wall in Mercaderes street in the center of Havana. It was situated in front of the splendid house owned by marquise de Arcos. In 1844 his house was the center of art and culture. The wall remained plain for a long time until the modern artist Andres Carrillo decided to decorate it. Andres Carrillo wanted not only to decorate it but also to turn it into a mirror of Havana history. He was searching for any information about the people who attended the art salon of marquise de Arcos for a long time. For several months Andres Carrillo looked for their photos, studied the clothes of that epoch looking through the press issues published between 1844 and 1845. In other words he fulfilled the great work. The “Mirror” created by Carrillo has the square of 300 meters and repeats the silhouette of the opposite building. The wall painting depicts 67 human figures belonging to various epochs. During his work Andres Carrillo tried using unusual techniques and mixing the materials getting new colors and textures. The basic material for the artwork was the stone powder mixed with acrylic resin. Using ceramics wold be too expensive and traditional painting would look dull and ordinary.
Andreas Carrillo also used sand of four shades: beige, black, pink and sienna. As a result he manage to get more than 30 shades. All the figures were created in the appropriate size and covered with thin layers of sand.
The wall in Mercaderes street is famous worldwide. Many tourists admire it and come to Havana to take pictures of this art object.
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