MANUEL ALMENARES
LA HABANA, CUBA 1992
Photojournalist for Opus Habana magazine, 2016–2019. Among the recognitions he has received are the Grand Prize of the Fototeca de Cuba and the Alfredo Sarabia Creation Grant for his essay La enfermedad sobre la enfermedad (The Illness Upon Illness). His project Vida interior (Inner Life) received an Honorable Mention in the Raúl Corrales Photographic Creation Grant, 2018, awarded by the Fototeca de Cuba. In 2025, he received the award and the Michael Horbach Stiftung Grant in Cologne, Germany.
Laureate of the Bernard Grau Foundation Grant at the Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France, 2026. He has held several solo exhibitions: Verbo de perro (Dog's Verb) at the 17th Young Show of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry; El Monte de Manuel Almenares at the Fototeca de Cuba, 2023. As part of this exhibition, he published his first photo book, titled Sin pies ni cabeza (Neither Head nor Tail). In 2026, he published his second book, El Monte de Manuel Almenares • 10 años de fotografía (El Monte de Manuel Almenares • 10 Years of Photography) with the Danish publisher Snap Collective — a visual journey of ten years in Havana's neighborhoods. His photos have been exhibited in galleries in the USA, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Cuba. Likewise, they are held in private collections in Cuba and abroad, notably including that of the Michael Horbach Foundation in Cologne, Germany.
EXHIBITIONS
Solo Exhibitions:
2023.
· August 25, 2023. "El Monte de Manuel Almenares," María E. Haya Gallery (Marucha), Fototeca de Cuba. Commissioned by:
Claudia Arcos
2021.
· January 15, 2021. Miami, Florida, United States. The South Florida Latin American Photography Forum (SoFLaFoto), a platform dedicated to author-created photography. Online solo exhibition of the essay: "La enfermedad sobre la enfermedad" (The Illness Upon the Illness). Commissioned by: Yenny Hernández Valdez and William Riera.
2019.
· October 3, 2019. Havana, Cuba. Fábrica de Arte Cubano, Pared Negra (Invited Artist Wall). Series: "Érase una vez en el oeste..." (Once Upon a Time in the West...). Commissioned by: Adelina H. Fonteboa and Irolán Maroselli.
2018.
· April 3, 2018. Havana, Cuba. 17th ICAIC Young Exhibit, Charles Chaplin Gallery, and public intervention at Variedades 23 y 10 (Ten Cents). Exhibition: "Verbo de perro" (Dog's Verb). Commissioned by: Haydée Oliva, Manuel Hernández.
Collective:
2026.
· May 7 / May 10, 2026. The island Menorca Raw Photo Fest. Island Menorca, Spain. Curated by: Jorge Delgado-Urena, Christelle Enquist.
2025.
· June 13, 2025. "Lagrimas Negras", Fctoria Diseño Gallery. Old Havana, Cuba. Curated by: Concha Fontenla.
2024.
· July 11 / July 28, 2024. 7th Annual Latin American Foto Festival, Bronx Documentary Center, New York, USA.
· March 21, 2024. "The New Generation of Cuban Photographers", Willy Brandt Haus Museum. Berlin, Germany.
· March 8, 2024, "The Fury of the Wind," María E. Haya (Marucha) Gallery, Fototeca de Cuba. Curated by: Luis Duno-Gottberg, Claudia Arcos.
2023.
· October 22, 2023. Exhibition "The New Generation of Cuban Photographers," at the Michael Horbach Foundation Gallery. Cologne, Germany.
· September 7–17, 2023. 6th International Photography Festival. Verona, Italy.
· January 27, 2023. Exhibition "Martí: The Golden Age." Collage Habana Gallery.
2022.
· May 21, 2022. Walker Evans & Cuban Photographers. Cuba before, during, and after the revolution. Espai Passatemps & Michael Horbach Foundation. Center of Culture of Mallorca, Spain.
· March 26, 2022. Exhibition "DIE BOX," Gallery CUBA Now, Zurich, Switzerland.
2021.
· October 16, 2021. Exhibition-Competition "Post-it 8," Galiano Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
· September 4, 2021. International Contemporary Art Exhibition "entreSilos," Silo Museum of Villacañas, Toledo, Spain. Curated by: Ricardo Días. Retrieved
2020.
· September 2020. Lviv region (Ukraine). "City Vs Quarantine."
· September 8, 2020. Casa América, Madrid, Spain, collective exhibition "Contemporary Stories." Curated by: José María Díaz Maroto.
2019.
· April 15, 2019, Casa 8. Collaterals of the 13th Havana Biennial, collective exhibition ".0." Curated by: Yeni Osuna Morales.
2018.
· November 16, 2018. Casa 8, collective exhibition "Kleptomania" partial exhibition of the works "distributor of happy days" from the series: "the ones above." Curated by: Yeni Osuna Morales.
2017.
· September 13, 2017. Photo-Museum Cuatro Caminos of Mexico City, in the collective exhibition "Double Play" partial exhibition of the series: "Once upon a time in the west…" Curated by: Juan Antonio Molina.
· July 1, 2017. University of Washington Tower Seattle, Washington, USA, Exhibition of Cuban photography "Cuba through our eyes."
· February 28, 2017. Rubén Martínez Villena Hall-Gallery, exhibition of the Creative Workshop of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Curated by: Alberto (el chino) Arcos Gómez.
2016.
· November 8, 2016. Ludwig Foundation of Cuba Gallery, exhibition of the photographic project of the University of the Arts (ISA) "Light to your own Chemistry."
AWARDS
· Havana, 2026. Awarded the Photograhy Residency by the Bernard Grau Foundation and Académie des Beaux-Arts. Paris, France.
· Havana, 2025. Michael Horbach Stiftung Scholarship Award, Cologne, Germany.
· October 23, 2020. Grand Prize of the Fototeca de Cuba and Alfredo Sarabia Creation Grant for the essay "The Illness Upon the Illness" (2020) at the 9th Alfredo Sarabia in Memoriam Photography Biennial.
· January, 2019. Honorable Mention in the Fototeca de Cuba "Raúl Corrales" 2018 Creation Grant for the project "Inner Life."
· July 7, 2017. Honorable Mention in the 3rd "Artistic Lens" Photography Competition of the Provincial Center for Cultural Heritage of Havana and the Office of Monuments and Historic Sites.
· November 12, 2016. Award from the Provincial Center for Visual Arts and Design of Havana and Honorable Mention from the Salon at the 2nd Body Photography Salon of the Mariano Rodríguez Gallery.