Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara receives the Rafto prize – news Vestland

Art activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is awarded the Rafto prize for 2024. The international prize is awarded annually to individuals or organizations that fight for human rights and democracy. Four previous winners of the Nobel Peace Prize have later won the Nobel Peace Prize: Aung San Suu Kyi, José Ramos-Horta, Kim Dae Jung and Shirin Ebadi. The self-taught Afro-Cuban art activist receives the award for his work in using art to show resistance to authoritarian regimes. – His art is uncompromisingly critical of limitations in freedom of expression, says the foundation from the Raftostiftelsen, which awards the prize. Alcántara is Cuba’s most famous political prisoner, according to El Pais. Poor conditions for freedom of expression Furthermore, the Raftostiftelsen grounds the award selection with the fact that they want to shine a spotlight on the importance of Alcántara and other artists’ work in challenging power structures and defending democracy and human rights, both in Cuba and elsewhere in the world. Cuba has long been one of the countries in the world where freedom of expression has the worst conditions. Otero Alcántara has been arrested several times because of his art. Otero Alcántara is awarded the Rafto Prize for 2024 for his work in using art to show resistance to authoritarian regimes. Photo: Raftostiftelsen He is currently serving a five-year sentence in a high-security prison. He is serving time, among other things, because of a performance piece to raise people’s awareness of Cuba’s suppression of independent artists and activists. In addition, he was arrested after posting a video online that he planned to participate in protests. He was convicted of “contempt, public disorder and insults to national symbols”, and is serving time under very poor conditions. Making sculptures from old materials Otero Alcántara is the coordinator of the San Isidro movement, which is a constellation of artists, musicians, journalists and academics who work to promote freedom of expression. The Cuban makes his sculptures from material from collapsed buildings and rubbish containers. Art by Otero Alcántara. They depict human-like figures, animals and cartoon characters, and the art is an ironic form of social and political criticism. He has also expressed social criticism through music. The prize itself will be awarded on Sunday 10 November 2024 at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen. Published 19.09.2024, at 10.00 Updated 19.09.2024, at 10.20



ttn-69