# Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara

**Date of birth:** December 2, 1987

**Categories:** Arts

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is a self-taught Cuban visual and performance artist known for work centered on everyday life and public space in Cuba. Born in Havana's El Cerro neighborhood, he built his career in Havana, becoming one of the best-known figures in Cuba's independent art scene over the past two decades.


He co-founded the San Isidro Movement, a collective of artists, writers and musicians based in Havana's San Isidro neighborhood that organized around demands for greater artistic freedom of expression on the island. His work and activism led to his detention on several occasions since 2017 in connection with various performance pieces and public protests.


In 2022 he was sentenced to five years in prison on charges that Cuban authorities described as insulting national symbols, contempt and public disorder, following his arrest in July 2021. Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience. He received the Prince Claus Impact Award in 2022 and Norway's Rafto Human Rights Prize in 2024, and Time magazine included him on its list of the 100 most influential people in 2021.


He was released on July 18, 2026, and arrived in Miami after receiving a U.S. visa, where he continues his artistic work.