Cuban artivist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is awarded the Rafto Prize 2024 for his fight for freedom of expression through art.36-year-old Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is a Afro-Cuban self-taught artist. He comes from a poor and marginalized neighborhood in Havana and uses sculptural and performance art to protest violations against freedom of expression. He has been arrested multiple times for his art and activism and is currently in prison.High personal costs Cuba has long been one of the countries with least freedom of expression in the world. In an already limited political and civic space, the large protests of 2021 in Havana were met with an iron fist by the Cuban government. Hundreds of activists were arrested, including Otero Alcántara. Torture and ill treatment of prisoners have been documented by Human Rights Watch.Otero Alcántara is the general coordinator of the San Isidro Movement – a constellation of artists, journalists and academics promoting freedom of expression. It was established in 2018 as a reaction to Decree 349. The decree requires artists to obtain advance permission for public and private exhibitions and performances. Decree 349 is one of the legal instruments used to silence artists, musicians and performers who are critical to the Cuban government.Otero Alcántara’s artivism has come at a high personal cost. Since 2016 he has been the subject of interrogations, political persecution and arrests, and his art has been confiscated and destroyed by state security officers.