SLP, Mexico.- The Cuban visual artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara opens his prison cell in Guanajay, Artemisa, so that those attending the Havana Biennial can observe the work that he has done from his political prison.
The founder of the San Isidro Movement (MSI) invited This Monday, the participants of the Biennial will be part of the performance “Faith of Life”, in which “artists, curators, theorists, collectors and art lovers in general” will be able to be part of their work and participate in it.
In a phone call shared with the independent media Cuban Diarythe artist and political prisoner specified that those interested, after the pertinent procedures, will be able to visit him, see his works and have “one or two hours of dialogue about art and so on” with him.
CALL: MEETING WITH A PRISONER ARTIST
Luis Manuel Otero invites you to participate in a performance within the framework of the 15th Havana Biennial.
Luisma proposes opening her cell to the participants of the biennial so that they can learn about the work she has carried out in the prison…
1/3 pic.twitter.com/2N8XLDLL94— Luis M. Alcantara (@LMOAlcantara) November 4, 2024
“The Biennial was born as an opportunity for the periphery and the displaced, and since it is not possible for me to attend the event, why not bring a fragment of the Biennial to the artist?” he told that medium.
To participate in the meeting, they must coordinate with the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT) through telephone numbers provided by Otero Alcántara himself.
Within the framework of the Havana Biennial, an event marked by the censorship of protesting artists, and organized by the Ministry of Culture, Luis Manuel Otero’s proposal represents an unusual event that challenges the ostracism to which Cuban artists have been relegated. opponents and opens a possibility to get closer to the work of the political prisoner, when the regime has prevented him from removing his drawings from prison.
About the Biennial, which will be held between November 15, 2024 and February 28, 2025, Cuban artists and curators they pointed out that it is a “simulation of creative autonomy”, when on the Island the ruling party has imposed repression of many creators.
In June, authorities at the Guanajay maximum security prison prohibited Luis Manuel Otero from taking his drawings out of the penitentiary, a decision that came after a sample of the young man’s artistic work was exhibited in Miami.
“He is painting but they don’t let him draw the drawings. We gave them all the materials, but those drawings don’t let them leave the prison. “This happened after the last exhibition we did,” he told Martí News the history of art Claudia Genlui.
The political prisoner faces extreme conditions of imprisonment and has gone on five hunger strikes, which have seriously deteriorated his health.
With hypertension, eye problems and dermatitis, ailments exacerbated by the inhumane conditions of the prison, Luis Manuel continues to create from his space of confinement.
