The story
A journey that starts in a Caribbean harbour and never really ends.
Antilla, the starting point
Antilla is a small town overlooking Nipe Bay in eastern Cuba. It has a harbour, a pier, and once had trains that ran right to the water’s edge loaded with sugar. Ramón Fores Pons was born there, and part of Ramón stayed behind when it was time to leave.
The traveller
Life led far away: first to one shore, then another. Emigrating means learning to live with a half-packed suitcase and a heart in pieces. Ramón’s ended up split between Spain and Argentina, two countries that opened their doors and now feel like home too.
The train
That’s why our labels show a train crossing the water, with Antilla’s harbour and palm trees behind it. One locomotive painted in Argentina’s colours, the other in Spain’s. The same engine, the same journey, changing colour with the land it crosses.
Two questions
“Qué hago contigo” (what do I do with you) and “Qué hago conmigo” (what do I do with myself) are the questions anyone who has left behind a home ends up asking. Antillano doesn’t try to answer them: it would rather pour them into a glass and share them.
“A tribute to my hometown and to the countries that welcomed me.”
Draft — final details pending