Endumba

The Palo Monte or Palo Mayombe is a religious cult of Bantu origin introduced in Cuba by African slaves brought by the Spanish to work in sugar plantations and other crops. Padre Nganga means man and Madre Nganga or Yaya means woman who know the rules and oral traditions and officiate as priests in charge of a house also known as Munanso.

From the sixteenth to the seventeenth century thousands of slaves worked and settled in the central region of the island, mostly in the area of Matanzas. There in 1765 the town of Cimarrones was founded, and became famous for its population of black slaves who practiced miracle cures and all sorts of witch craft. Ña Filomena and Ña Secundina were brought from their native Congo to work as slaves at the Santa Amalia Mill, of Cimarrones, in 1853. They were two most famous Madres Ngangas.

Ndumba (Endumba) means all or a multitude in kimbundo, language of the kingdom of Benguela and Angola as spoken by the slaves of those places. It also means women in Cuban Santeria. It is estimated that there still exist in the region many followers and practitioners of Palo Monte.

The artist's paintings relates these roots and Afro-Cuban traditions to the landscape and nature of the island through the primary colors that express the strength and power of magic, bringing to canvas ceremonial objects and fragmented views through windows leading us to a world of cosmology and symbols.