Hugo Canuto: Visual Artist and Award-Winning Comic Book Author

Hugo Canuto is a Brazilian visual artist, architect, and renowned comic book author born in Salvador, Bahia, in 1986. His creative practice is deeply rooted in the exploration of the complex relationships between art, culture, and the diverse mythologies of Brazil, Africa, and Latin America. Hugo Canuto gained significant international acclaim for his graphic novel Contos dos Orixás (Tales of the Orishas), which masterfully adapts African-derived myths and legends into the medium of comics. This work was published in the United States by Abrams Books and has received prestigious accolades, including the 2024 Glyph Comic Awards for Best Writer and Best Artist, the Angelo Agostini Trophy, and was a finalist for the Jabuti Prize, the Ignatz Awards, and the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity. Expanding his narrative universe, Hugo Canuto authored O Rei do Fogo, which explores the creation of the world and the kingdom of Oyo through the perspective of Prince Shango. Another major project, A Canção de Mayrube, presents an epic fantasy saga inspired by the ancestral civilizations of the Americas. Hugo Canuto’s work has been exhibited at esteemed institutions such as the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC, and the Museu de Arte do Rio. As a graduate of the School of Architecture at the Federal University of Bahia and the University of the Basque Country, he integrates spatial thinking and cultural research into his visual storytelling. Through his independent publications and global lectures, Hugo Canuto continues to be a pivotal figure in contemporary Afro-Brazilian art and literature, bridging historical research with modern graphic narrative.