Luis Manuel
Otero Alcántara

Awardee

Country

Cuba

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara fights for people's rights in Cuba through his artistic practice.

Themes
Reexamining history
Disciplines
Artistic Research
Performance
Visual Art
Awards
IMPACT Award 2022

Profile

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is a Cuban artist and human rights defender whose performances are critical of the conditions many Cubans face. Alcántara leads the San Isidro Collective - an artists’ collective that promotes freedom of expression and cultural rights. He is a co-founder of The Museum of Dissidence, a website and public art project reclaiming and celebrating dissent.Alcántara has been using art and cultural expression to contest the ongoing violations of freedom of expression by the Cuban government. In his early work, he created sculptures of human forms, animals, and characters from comic books using salvaged materials. He has had his work confiscated and has been forcibly detained multiple times. His ongoing detention has drawn protests and statements of solidarity from international artists who support his unwavering fight for the freedom of cultural expression in Cuba.