Biography

Enrique Rottenberg (August 12, 1948) is an artist currently working with photography and installations. His artistic career is as plural as his national identity. Born in Argentina in 1948, to Jewish parents of Polish descent, he emigrated alone to Israel at the age of 13. After serving in the Israeli army, he developed a successful real estate business, while at the same time, beginning in 1980, he started producing films and studied at the Camera Obscura School in Tel Aviv. Among his best known films are: Nagua, Bar 51, Himo the King of Jerusalem (by filmmaker Amos Gutman) and the film The Elected (with Daniel Waksman). He was the director and screenwriter of the film Revenge of Itzik Finkelstein, which won seven awards from the Israeli Film Academy (including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay) and represented Israel in 1994 at the Oscars.

In 1993, he arrived in Cuba where he currently lives. In Cuba, he built the Miramar Trade Center, a major business complex in the city of Havana, which he still runs to this day. In this center, he has also created a significant Cuban art collection for the country.

He wrote the novel Cejalinda, published under the title: La mujer de su vida, Quarto, Spain, in 2006.

In Cuba, he began his photographic work. In 2010, his first series Sleeping with... (Dormir con) was exhibited at the Cuban Photo Library (National Photography Museum), which is now part of the collection of this institution and of numerous private and institutional collections, along with other works of his. Sleeping with... was selected by Discoveries of PhotoEspaña 2011. Today, his work has wide recognition amongst both the public and critics. He took part in the 2012 Havana Biennial with two of his series, The Family and Self-portraits.

Among the most important series are: Self-portraits (2011–2014), The Family (2011–2013), Forgotten (2013), Cuts (2013–2014) as well as large format works such as The Line (2014), Centipede (2014) and photo installations: 19 women and one bed (2012) and The dance (2014).

He collaborates with the new cultural project “Cuban Art Factory” (Fábrica de Arte Cubano), promoting the development of contemporary photography and visual arts in Cuba.