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One of Cuba’s most revered living artists, 74-year-old Manuel Mendive is perhaps the most important Afro-Cuban artist to ever emerge from Cuba. Mendive works across media—including paint, wood, and organic matter—to create art that is strongly influenced by the Santería religion, expressing ways in which African heritage has shaped his country’s national identity and culture. Fragmento de Paisaje is a series of dreamscapes where people, animals, plants, and clouds morph into one another, reflecting his vision of the universe as one. Commissioned for the festival, "La Naturaleza, El Espíritu, y El Hombre" (Nature, Spirit, and Man) represents a new artistic direction for Mendive, who has crafted three-dimensional sculptures that may be experienced from both the interior and exterior.

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