Cuban National Museum of Contemporary Ceramics paid tribute to Alfredo Sosabravo with “Sosabravo, Space of Color”

The National Museum of Contemporary Ceramics of Cuba inaugurated the exhibition “Sosabravo, Space of Color” on October 24, 2025, at the Centro Hispanoamericano de Cultura in Havana, coinciding with the 95th birthday of master artist Alfredo Sosabravo, one of the most prominent figures in Cuban visual arts.

The exhibition aimed to showcase the freshness and vitality of Sosabravo’s work during the first decades of the 21st century. It featured eight watercolors from the “Suite Habana” series, six glazed lava stone discs, and around twenty ceramic plates, all created between 2000 and 2019.

According to Surisday Reyes, director of the museum and curator of the exhibition, the selected works reflected “the artist’s constant need to explore new formats and mediums.” The Centro Hispanoamericano de Cultura sought to connect Sosabravo’s ceramic work with other artistic supports, resulting in a cohesive visual display.

The opening ceremony was attended by Sosabravo himself, his representative René Palenzuela, National Visual Arts Prize winner Zaida del Río, Lis Cuesta, director of events at the Ministry of Culture, and Magda Resik and Yuris Nórido, vice presidents of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), among other guests. The exhibition remained on view for one month at the center’s headquarters on Malecón No. 17, between Prado and Capdevila, in Old Havana.

Two decades earlier, the same venue hosted “Sosabravo, Master of Space”, marking the artist’s 75th birthday, a precedent that lent special meaning to this year’s exhibition.

A parallel exhibition in Santa Clara

Earlier that month, on October 11, the exhibition “Sosabravo. Selection of Graphic Works” opened at the UNEAC headquarters in Santa Clara, as part of the tribute for the artist’s 95th anniversary.
Organized by the Provincial Council of Visual Arts, the National Council of Visual Arts (CNAP), and the Experimental Graphic Workshop of Havana, the exhibition included 30 woodcuts and lithographs from La Estampa Cabinet, under the Itinerancias Program, which promotes cultural exchange across Cuban provinces.

According to art critic and researcher Madonna González Yera, the exhibition demonstrated Sosabravo’s stylistic coherence and his ability to “merge tradition and modernity through a distinctive visual language.” The pieces reflected the Cuban popular imagination and a reinterpretation of pop art rooted in national identity and symbolism.

A lifetime dedicated to creation

Born in Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara, in 1930, Alfredo Sosabravo has been recognized as one of Cuba’s most influential visual artists and designers. A painter, printmaker, draftsman, and ceramist, he received the 1997 National Visual Arts Award, the Félix Varela Order, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Arts (ISA).

Internationally, he was awarded the Gold Medal at the 34th International Competition of Contemporary Ceramic Art in Faenza (1976) and the Italian Order of Merit (2007) for his work in Murano. His pieces Prostituta peinándose, Cosmonauta atascado, and Personaje frente al sol (all from 1967) are part of the National Museum of Fine Arts of Cuba’s permanent collection.

The exhibitions “Sosabravo, Space of Color” and “Sosabravo. Selection of Graphic Works” formed part of the celebrations for Sosabravo’s 95th anniversary, reaffirming his creative vitality and enduring contribution to Cuban contemporary art.

On the cover: Alfredo Sosabravo/ Photo: PL