November Photographic Month Begins with Message of Solidarity for Those Affected by Hurricane Melissa

With a call for sensitivity and solidarity, the 19th edition of November Photographic Month was inaugurated in Havana. This year, the event opened with a message of support for those affected by Hurricane Melissa in eastern Cuba.

“We want this event to also become a platform to encourage timely support and assistance for all Cubans who are now suffering the consequences of this meteorological phenomenon,” said artist Lissette Solórzano, director of the Fototeca de Cuba, during her opening remarks.

Solórzano also announced that once the event in the capital concludes, and as recovery efforts advance in the eastern region, itinerant exhibitions will be held there in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture. “Because art is also a way to heal the spirit and revitalize spaces,” she emphasized.

The opening ceremony was attended by Alpidio Alonso Grau and Lizette Martínez Luzardo, Minister and Deputy Minister of Culture, respectively; Lázaro Castilla Pérez, Vice President of the Fernando Ortiz Foundation; and curators Concha Fontenla and Alex Baradel.

Ambassadors from Brazil, France, and Mexico were also present, along with other members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Cuba and representatives of the United Nations system, which celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2025.

Under the motto “Keep searching in places where there is nothing,” the inaugural event featured an exhibition by Pierre Fatumbi Verger (Paris, 1902 – Salvador de Bahía, 1996), the French-Brazilian photographer and ethnologist. His works are being displayed for the first time in Cuba, together with pieces belonging to the Fernando Ortiz Foundation’s collection.

The exhibition will remain open throughout November at Factoría Habana, the venue of the Office of the Historian of the City, located at O’Reilly No. 308, Old Havana.