The Fototeca de Cuba (Photolibrary of Cuba) that occupies the Casa de Juan Rico de Mata, is one of the institutions that make up the Consejo Nacional de las Artes Plásticas (CNAP; National Council of Plastic Arts). The Fototeca de Cuba has the mission to promote, exhibit and develop the art of photography, preserving the heritage in accordance with the development in the island. Since its foundation in 1986, the Fototeca de Cuba fulfills its functions as an archive, museum and gallery in the same building.

The creation of the photographic archive of Havana was initiated by the city historian Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring in 1937. The archive enlarged year after year by the addition of the works of great artistic and historical value. Currently, the Fototeca de Cuba conserves more than 14.000 photographs related to the cultural, political, social and economic life of the city that have also served as a source of essential visual documentation for the restoration of Old Havana. One of the most impressive collections of the Fototeca de Cuba, which no visitor should miss, is the photo archive of Old Havana in the early 1900s. The archive of the Fototeca de Cuba is holding not only the nation’s largest, most valuable collection of photographs, but it preserves also a considerable number of documents related to the history of photography. The archive is digitalized and catalogued in order to preserve the historical memory, contained in it, and to facilitate the public access.

The modest building has two temporary exhibition rooms: The María Eugenia Haya gallery is on the top floor and it is used mainly for the works of the most prestigious creators, mainly from Cuba. The Joaquín Blez gallery, located on the ground floor, is mostly devoted to works of young neophyte photographers

The institution organizes conferences, round-tables, panels, workshops, competitions etc. to promote the national photographic production by encouraging the young generation. This effort makes a peak in every November in which the photography becomes the protagonist among the visual arts in Havana in coordination with other cultural institutions and galleries (Noviembre Fotográfico). It offers also the Creativity Award and the Research Award. Since 2005 the institution has been publishing an annual magazine called Revista de Fotografía Cubana.