Island, 2026

Niche Ramirez  

Niche Ramírez

March 11, 1994 – Cuban multidisciplinary artist based in Málaga, Spain

Graduated as a professional dancer and teacher from the National Art School of Cuba (ENA), Niche has built a distinguished artistic career spanning contemporary dance, performance art, painting, and photography, consistently grounded in a profound conceptual and visual rigor. He has worked with prominent Cuban dance companies including the Compañía Nacional de Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, Los Hijos del Director, Revolution, Otro Lado, and Proyecto Marte, among others.

He currently resides in Málaga, Spain, where he has showcased his work in prestigious venues and cultural events such as the Autóctonxs Festival at Antonio Banderas' Teatro del Soho CaixaBank (Málaga), the International Ibero-American Festival at Teatro Cervantes (Málaga), the Centre Pompidou Málaga, the Carmen Thyssen Museum Málaga, the Genalguacil Museum of Contemporary Art, the La Térmica Cultural Centre — in partnership with Rara Residencia Art Residency, where he has also completed several visual artist residencies — and the Mercè Festival in Barcelona.

Internationally, he has participated in renowned festivals such as the Granada International Tango Festival, the Mercè Festival (Barcelona), and El Sol International Advertising Festival (Málaga), among others. His visual art has also been featured in international contemporary art fairs including JUSTMAD (Madrid) and SALÓN ACME (Mexico), and presented on major international stages such as the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, prominent theatres across the United States, and on international tours throughout Europe and Latin America.

Throughout his career, he has held more than seven solo exhibitions alongside numerous group shows. These exhibitions have been met with broad acclaim, with works acquired by collectors and contemporary art enthusiasts across Europe.

His achievements have been recognized with prestigious awards, including First Prize at the 36th Madrid Choreographic Competition Paso a 2 and First Prize at the IODC International Online Dance Competition in Canada. Currently, Niche directs his artistic practice toward a deeply performative and conceptual axis, interrogating the intricate relationship between body, space, and image, while experimenting with vibrant chromatic contrast and raw visual energy designed to evoke a visceral and lasting impact on the viewer.

Artist Statement

My work stems from the body and lived experience, conceiving art as an ongoing space of inquiry where each idea seeks its own language. Some works find their form in painting; others require movement, performative action, photographic imagery, video, or installation to fully manifest. My training as a dancer and choreographer permeates my entire body of work. I perceive the body as an archive of memory, identity, and transformation, and through it, I construct imagery, actions, and spaces. I am drawn to working through intuition and letting the creative process surprise me, allowing new forms, symbols, and connections to emerge naturally through artistic creation.

A significant part of my work carries a political and social dimension. As a Black person, migrant, and Cuban-born artist, my practice engages in dialogue with contemporary reality and the tensions running through my lived experience. I assert the presence of the Black community as a collective force and an arena of resistance, addressing themes of equality, belonging, memory, and Cuba's political landscape. Art thus becomes a space to interrogate the present and raise pertinent questions rather than offer closed answers.

Color, the vitality of Caribbean imagery, and the interdisciplinary crossover form an ever-evolving visual and scenic universe. Rather than defining a fixed aesthetic, I embrace an open investigation in which each project dictates its own vocabulary and means of expression. My artistic practice is a living, continuous process of exploration.