The Prince Claus Fund not too long ago featured work by Cuban artist Manuel Otero Alcántara, a recipient of the inaugural 2022 Prince Claus Impression Awards. The opposite 5 recipients have been Ailton Krenak, María Medrano, Might al-Ibrashy, Hassan Darsi, and Alain Gomis. See beneath for extra on Otero Alcántara’s work.
The Prince Claus Fund helps socially engaged artists and cultural practitioners at completely different levels of their careers by way of three awards. The Seed, Mentorship and Impression Awards provide recognition, peer connection, mentorship and monetary assist for uplifting practitioners at each stage. Every of the awards goals to make a contribution to a world by which the transformative energy of tradition can result in optimistic change. The work of all of our award recipients displays and shapes the societies they stay in. By means of their engagement with tradition, these people are remodeling the best way by which we see the world round us, whereas on the identical time shining a light-weight on the important points they and their societies face. [. . .]
The inaugural 2022 Prince Claus Impression Awards have been awarded to Ailton Krenak, María Medrano, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Might al-Ibrashy, Hassan Darsi and Alain Gomis. [. . .]
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is a Cuban artist and human rights defender whose performances are crucial of the situations many Cubans face. Alcántara leads the San Isidro Collective – an artists’ collective that promotes freedom of expression and cultural rights. He’s a co-founder of The Museum of Dissidence, a web site and public artwork challenge reclaiming and celebrating dissent.
Alcántara has been utilizing artwork and cultural expression to contest the continued violations of freedom of expression by the Cuban authorities. In his early work, he created sculptures of human kinds, animals, and characters from comedian books utilizing salvaged supplies. He used sculpture to create a “practical copy of actuality”. Nevertheless, within the improvement of his follow Alcántara wished to have a extra tangible impression along with his artwork and to “seek for work that contributed to the truth by which [he] lived”. This want led him to efficiency artwork and a person inventive expression that communicates complicated and ironic social and political criticism.
Alcántara has confronted ongoing persecution for his performances. He has had his work confiscated and has been forcibly detained a number of occasions. His ongoing detention has drawn protests and statements of solidarity from worldwide artists who assist his unwavering combat for the liberty of cultural expression in Cuba.
See Otero Alcántara’s WEBSITE.
For extra info, see https://princeclausfund.org/storage/paperwork/Prince-Claus-Fund-Annual-Report-2022.pdf and https://princeclausfund.org/awardees/luis-manuel-otero-alcantara
[Photo above by María Matienzo Puerto.]