Havana, August 13 (Xinhua-RHC) -- Celebrations are taking place in Havana and across the island to mark the birthday of Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro, who turns 88 on Wednesday.

The commemorations, which include two days of cultural, athletic and civic events, began at 6 p.m. local time last night, with the opening of an audiovisual exhibit of photographs of the leader who led the 1959 Cuban Revolution.

The exhibit, titled "Fidel is Fidel," features documentary photographs taken by renowned photographer Roberto Chile, who has served as the Cuban leader's personal photographer for 25 years.

Taken between 2005 and 2012, the images depicting the "tireless " leader will be on show until September 13th, along with a bronze sculpture of Fidel inspired by one of his most emblematic photographic portraits.

On Wednesday, Cuba's Bayamo Wax Museum will unveil a wax figure of Colombian-born writer and 1982 Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who was a close friend of Fidel's.

Fidel Castro was born on August 13, 1926 in Biran, in what is now known as Holguin province, to the family of Spanish immigrant Angel Castro and Cuban farmer Lina Ruz.