Ecos del abismo

Artist — Rachid Reyes Gutiérrez

I was born in Cuba and grew up on an island where the sea was always a familiar presence, a kind of refuge filled with beauty, identity, and stories. Now, I live and work in Maputo, Mozambique, where my practice as a visual artist focuses increasingly on the environment – flora and fauna – and on how public art can help communities reimagine the spaces they inhabit.

In my mural for The Outlaw Ocean Mural Project, I decided to move deeper into the world of the ocean and marine life, a subject I had only lightly explored before. The uncontrolled fishing described in The Outlaw Ocean was what hit me hardest. I have a strong sensitivity toward animals, and watching images of affected species, devastated ecosystems, and a silent violence unfolding underwater changed my relationship with the sea. That is why I chose the humpback whale as the central figure in the mural: for me, it embodies not only a majestic creature but also all the marine life at risk from what happens offshore.

Formally, I placed the whale at the center of the composition, surrounded by expanding white circles that represent how every human action—no matter how small—sends ripples across the entire ecosystem. The silhouettes in the background point to the same idea: many of the species suggested there are directly connected to the destructive fishing practices exposed in the reporting and suffer their consequences. I see murals as a universal language; a whale does not need translation and can be understood emotionally in any culture.

When two people stop in front of a mural and begin to talk, the painting has already created a meeting point and opened a dialogue without anyone needing to read a single word. Public art belongs to everyone, and its greatest strength lies in the conversations it sparks—about what we see, what unsettles us, and what we are willing to change. In that sense, this collaboration between journalism and muralism turns complex information into something tangible and intimate, providing visual stimulation and emotion to stories that might otherwise remain distant or invisible.

This mural was painted in Chamanculo C, a neighborhood in Maputo, in collaboration with Buarte, a local artist with whom I have been working on a project called “Muraleando Maputo” for a year. Being part of The Outlaw Ocean Mural Project allows me to extend a community-based approach to the oceans, using the wall as a bridge between Maputo and the vast, often unseen realities at sea.