The Influence of the Kabbalah in the Works of Juana García Abás and José Luis Fariñas of Cuba

Abstract

This study treats the work of Juana García Abás y José Luis Fariñas, two contemporary Cuban-Jew and how in their art is imbued with the Kabbalah. García Abás’ poetry, discussed here, is very complex, but it follows a Kabbalistic logic in its exploration to how the universe functions. Like the Kabbalistic texts, this poetry is not linear; it is a fusion of symbols and little-known references relate to each other in unexpected ways. Fariñas, a drawer, watercolorist and also a poet, possesses a very personal understanding of the Kabbalah. He presents it’s concepts in idiosyncratic ways, that at first sight, often seem strange. His figures demand the interpretation of the viewer in a way that that mimics the reader of obscure medieval texts.