Works by Otero Alcántara, from prison in Cuba to a gallery in Maryland

A sample of drawings of the Cuban artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara has been presented since February 6, and until March 8, at the Washington College, a private university of liberal arts located in Maryland, United States.

“In the case of Luis Manuel there are works that he has done in prison, the few we have been able to get. Remember that, although it draws in prison and has several notebooks, you are not allowed to get these works, ”the art curator, Yanelis Nuñez, close friend of the artist, told Martí News.

«At first we were able to have the series of clown drawings that have been promoted in other collective and personal exhibitions because although he cannot get these drawings if he has kept working with projects that we coordinate friends and curators interested in continuing to support his work» .

The exhibition, in which the artists Camila Lobón and Raychel Carrión participate, investigates the use of drawing as an instrument to channel critical ideas and promote political narrative within the Cuban cultural landscape.

The academic María de Lourdes Mariño, curator of the exhibition at the Kohl gallery of the Washington College, told our writing that “the idea was to present three artists of this recent generation that have been linked to activism, inside and outside Cuba. It was important to show that the community that manifests itself regarding the Cuban internal political conflict is a community that is within Cuba and that, in addition, is part of the diaspora ”.

The curatorship stressed that Otero Alcántara is a central figure of the cultural change that characterizes contemporary Cuban art and a pillar in the unwavering struggle for cultural freedom in Cuba.

The artivist, whose performances criticize the conditions facing a large part of the population, celebrates five years of deprivation of liberty for trying to join the demonstrations of July 11, 2021.

Another of those chosen by the curator was Camila Lobón «an important artist within Cuban activism, the same to urge (Hannah Arendt Institute of Arrivism that the artist runs) Tania Bruguera, who also in 27 N,» Mariño said.

Lobón has made visible through his work what is happening on the island and, at the same time, makes «reflect on national symbols, slogans, the history of education,» he said.

The third exponent of the exhibition is Raychel Carrión, considered by critics as one of the most virtuous and deep artists of the current Cuban artistic scene.

«He is a very involved and present artist within activism in recent years in Cuba,» said the academic.

«He makes a tour of national symbols and narratives in relation to the nation discourse in Cuba from the government’s discourse, but facing him in a quite critical way,» he added.

«It also touches issues about education in Cuba, which is like a taboo theme that these artists have visible very well,» said Mariño.