Sharing Dreams/Compartiendo Sueños 2008:
Design in Music/Diseño en la Música

Anne Ghory-Goodman

Folk music is music of the people. It can express their love, longing, fear, and hope. A single voice can speak for those with no voice and call for the voices of others to join it. Guantanamera is a Cuban folk song whose lyrics are based on the poems in "Versos Sencillos" (Simple Verses) by Cuban poet José Martí whose writing was a voice for freedom.

The American folk singer Pete Seeger brought the lilting melody of Guantanamera to the English-speaking world. In performances Seeger asked audiences to “sing along” with him. He wanted their voices to join his and fill the hall with one voice and one message.

There are over 150 recordings of Guantanamera, by artists from Joan Baez and Arlo Guthrie to Jackson Browne and Wyclef Jean. Their song tells a story that, like all good stories, has layered and nuanced meanings.

Design and Music / Diseño en Música. Sometimes Seeger played a banjo engraved with the words, “This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.” In my poster, the words of Guantanamera are inscribed on the guitar. They cannot be separated from the music.

Some say that Guantanamera refers to a woman. Her form is an outline that encases and echoes the guitar. At its center, a white rose from Martí’s poem represents her pure and untouched state. This rose is the essence of our hope for Sharing Dreams / Compartiendo Sueños of voices joined in song.

My son is a musician and I brought him a Cuban poster I love, “Cancion Protesta.” It has a rose and a thorn with a drop of blood. As I began the research for this project its image was in my mind. Learning that there was a connection between the writing of Martí and the music of Seeger through a verse that references a rose, was the beginning of the vision for this design.