The World Food Programme (WFP) in Cuba awarded winners of its “Miradas que alimentan: Arte para la conciencia” fine arts contest on August 8, 2026, at the Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales (CDAV) in Havana, according to reports from Prensa Latina and the Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN). The initiative brings together visual arts and food security awareness, utilizing creative expression to highlight nutrition, tradition, and community challenges.
Contest Winners and Award-Winning Works
This year’s competition centered on the theme “Saberes que alimentan: Nutrición, tradition y comunidad” (Knowledge that nourishes: Nutrition, tradition, and community), drawing 35 entries across various mediums from 27 participating artists, according to CDAV curator Marilyn Sampera as reported by Prensa Latina and ACN. Out of these submissions, 13 creators advanced as finalists.
According to ACN, the top prizes went to:
- First Prize: Yonlay Cabrera Quindemill for “Rice and Beans patrones de distribución” (Rice and Beans distribution patterns).
- Second Prize (shared): Reinaldo Cid for “Ábaco” (Abacus) and Yeinier Núñez López (known as Wajiro) for “Homenaje a la calabaza” (Tribute to the pumpkin).
Speaking to the Agencia Cubana de Noticias, Yonlay Cabrera explained that his winning piece incorporates a serigraphic print alongside real elements like rice and beans. The contrasting colors aim to establish order within chaos, offering a symbolic play between absence and presence to reflect food dynamics in the country.
The Role of Art in Food Security
Etienne Labande, the WFP representative in Cuba, emphasized the importance of the arts during challenging times. According to statements published by Prensa Latina and ACN, Labande noted that art serves as a unique vehicle to communicate messages and provide a respite, even when addressing difficult subjects related to global and local food security challenges.
CDAV curator Marilyn Sampera added that the participating artists successfully translated breath, scarcity, and hope into pure art, demonstrating through visual reflections that nutrition represents a fundamental human right rather than mere survival, as reported by Prensa Latina.
Exhibition and Institutional Collaboration
The collective exhibition featuring all 27 participating artists opened during the award ceremony and will remain on display at the CDAV facilities in Havana for one month, according to Prensa Latina. The works span painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and installation.
The evaluation jury comprised CDAV subdirector Danilo Veiga, CDAV specialists Yadira Góngora and Aylin Audevert, 2025 First Prize winner Liesther González, and a unified WFP panel, as documented by Prensa Latina. The event received backing from multiple Cuban cultural and educational institutions, including the Academia de Bellas Artes San Alejandro, the Consejo Nacional de Artes Plásticas, the Universidad de las Artes, and the CDAV, according to ACN.
The initiative aligns with the WFP’s broader strategic plan in Cuba, which dates its local public awareness traditions back to 1998 and aims to support national food security efforts, emergency response preparedness, and social protection systems for vulnerable populations.
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