Tonight, at this hour, the Image Factory is opening a new art exhibition by Cuban artist Carlos Rafael. 

Rafael’s show in Belize is part of the Image Factory’s ongoing efforts to strengthen ties of friendship and solidarity with Cuba.This morning we were invited to a viewing of the exhibition and got to speak to the artist about his eclectic inspirations and how he came to exhibit in Belize.

Carlo Rafael  - Artist
"This exhibition that I’ve brought now in August 2019 is an exhibition that is made up of  more than fifty paintings, I’ve brought landscapes, I’ve  brought  some portraits, and I’ve also brought some fans, I bring things from Cuba, Belizean things, and Caribbean things. The theme is diverse. I am a painter who does not always like to work serially. I like to change, so as not to get bored. My work gives me this possibility that today I can make a landscape, tomorrow I can make a face, I can make an abstract, anyway. I am an artist although I am 45 years old I think I am a young person and I am trying to do my best as a painter so that people who come to the gallery or who just like art can somehow come and take a little piece of Belize and Cuba tonight at seven. I think it's an opportunity for the Belizean public to come tonight and the rest of the days that this exhibition is going to be here to enjoy contemporary Cuban art and somehow have an exchange, the public with me and I with the public. I will also be creating live art inside the show that will be put on by the trio of Perrorte. The trio, whose from here from Belize, that will accompany me in the exhibition."

Carlos Rafael along with other artists and professionals from Panama, Belize, and Mexico are among this year’s carnival judges.