Cuba Material collection · Colección Cuba Material
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Hand-made ID card holder (sleeve) made from X-ray film and tape
Object/Artifact
A hand-made flat sleeve or pocket for holding an identity card, rectangular in form, constructed from repurposed radiographic (X-ray) film bound with adhesive tape — closely comparable to the preceding holder in the collection. The film forms the translucent, milky blue-white body, its cloudy and faintly mottled surface characteristic of processed and cleared X-ray sheet film. Yellow adhesive tape binds the two vertical side edges and the bottom edge, joining two layers of film into a pocket that is open along the top to receive a card. A short recessed slot is visible toward the lower center, with fine diagonal score or fold lines running down to the lower corners, and the taped lower edge shows a slight central dip. The tape is discolored, soiled, and degrading with age, with staining along the seams. The holder is empty (no card present).
2025.1.106
The Cabrera Arús family collection
2025.1
Materials Repurposed radiographic (X-ray) film — polyester or cellulose-acetate film base bearing a processed (cleared) emulsion; yellow adhesive tape forming the bound seams. Technique Hand fabrication: two pieces of X-ray film cut to size and joined along the sides and bottom with tape to form a top-opening pocket. An example of improvised manufacture from salvaged materials.
Fair
Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez
owner
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
use
A hand-made identity-card holder of repurposed X-ray film and tape, evidently made by the same hand or in the same manner as the preceding holder in the collection, differing chiefly in the tape used (yellow here, blue on the companion) and in being taped on three edges rather than two. Like its companion, it exemplifies the collection's themes of ingenuity, reuse, and resolver — improvising durable, useful objects from salvaged materials under conditions of scarcity in Cuba. Spent X-ray film was a recognized free, durable, flexible "found" material reused for many everyday purposes. The pair suggests a household or individual who made more than one such holder, which is itself worth noting as evidence of a personal practice rather than a one-off. The specific document held — likely a Cuban carné de identidad — is not confirmed.