Santo Domingo Metro station transforms itself, to the rhythm of Caribbean merengue
Metro de Madrid continues with the redecoration of the Santo Domingo Metro station, on line 2, adding two new murals that convey the diversity and iconography of the Caribbean in the Dominican Republic. The CEO of Metro de Madrid, Silvia Roldán, and the ambassador of the Dominican Republic in Spain, Juan Bolívar Díaz, together with the mural artists, attended the presentation of the station's new image. The design of these works, full of colour and movement, revolves around merengue, music, dance, the sea and the crops of the Dominican Republic.
The first of the murals, entitled "Acordes de historia, República Dominicana” (Chords of History, Dominican Republic), and created by Gerson Rodríguez and Taína Mariel Almodóvar, focuses on the history of the musical genre of merengue. The mural's technique integrates pictorial and graphic elements, using primary and secondary colours to highlight the different planes of the mural. The work features human figures representing music, as well as phrases and geometric figures. With this work the artists have tried to capture the essence of "merengue”, a symbol of the Dominican Republic's national identity and one of the most popular and well-known elements of the country's folklore. This musical genre, designated as a national dance and cultural heritage, originated in the mid-19th century, and has transcended borders internationally, representing the roots, culture and identity of the country.
The second of the murals, entitled "Sea of life, of smiles, of hope and happy waves", by Jeannette Alfau and Luis Alejandro Núñez, represents the passion and joy of the Caribbean land, using a palette of bright and cheerful colours such as red, orange and intense green. Using the fresco technique with acrylic paint, the work conveys some of the essence of the Dominican Republic, as well as the diversity of its industry, its landscape and its people. In addition to showing the importance of fish, rice, coconut and cocoa in their economy, the mural includes the image of a Guaraguao, a protected bird ever-present in the stories and proverbs of the ancestral customs of Dominican families.
The initiative, carried out within the framework of a collaborative agreement between Metro and the Embassy of the Dominican Republic, is a continuation of the mural painted last year in another part of Santo Domingo station, within the framework of FITUR 2022, when the Dominican Republic was a partner country of the tourism fair. That time the artist Wanda Cortorreal painted a mural recreating the island's music, beaches and wildlife.
The theming of stations has become a vehicle for transporting and disseminating numerous elements of cultural interest among Metro passengers. An example of this is that the Canal station invites users to immerse themselves in the performing arts, as a prelude to the Canal Theatres. Other stations reproduce great works of Spanish literature, such as the Plaza de España station, whose walls reproduce Don Quixote de la Mancha in its entirety; or Ríos Rosas, which transcribes the work Fortunata y Jacinta. Metro de Madrid's cultural guide, available on the official website and App, allows the people of Madrid to discover many of these elements and creations that can be found in the different stations.
