Belkis Ayon

Belkis Ayón Manso (January 23, 1967 – September 11, 1999) was a Cuban artist, graphics designer and lithographer. Her work was based on Afro-Cuban religion, combining the myth of Sikan and the traditions of the Abakuá, a men's secret society, though her work was often thought to reflect her personal issues as well. Her work began exhibition in 1988, and exhibitions continued until at least 2006. Belkis Ayon graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, where she studied engraving and later became a professor of graphics. Her prints-typically made using a collage-like printing technique known as collography-is consistently bound up with an investigation of the Abukuá Secret Society, an all-male organization of Afrocuban origin, founded in Cuba in the 1830s.