Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara (b. 1987, Havana, Cuba) is a visual and performance artist and human rights activist whose practice explores the intersections of art, politics, freedom of expression, and everyday life. A self-taught artist, he works across performance, drawing, painting, sculpture, and public intervention, often using his own body, found materials, and national symbols to examine structures of power and the social and political realities of contemporary Cuba.
Otero Alcántara is co-founder of the Museum of Dissidence in Cuba, one of the driving forces behind Havana’s independent #00 Biennial, and coordinator of the San Isidro Movement. His work and activism have received significant international recognition, including the Prince Claus Award, the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent, and the Rafto Prize. In 2021, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
He was arrested on July 11, 2021, while attempting to join nationwide protests in Cuba and was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison. Throughout his incarceration, he continued to make work under highly restricted conditions and with limited materials. After serving his full sentence, he was released in July 2026 and was forced into exile, arriving in Miami on July 18, 2026.
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