THE HOME I NEVER KNEW: NI DE AQUÍ, NI DE ALLÁ
June 7 - November 1, 2024
Greenville Museum of Art | West Wing & Commons Galleries
Florencio Lennox Campello
"I have often told my children repeatedly that the serial immigrations of the Campello family ends here! This is our home forever."
Cuban by ancestry, but American by the Grace of God
2016
charcoal, conte, video player
ARTIST STATEMENT
I was born in Santiago de Cuba, and raised in nearby Guantanamo, in the eastern part of the island once described by Columbus as “the most beautiful land that human eyes had ever seen.” We left it all behind when my parents and I were exiled to the United States in the mid-1960s. We settled in Brooklyn in a neighborhood of mostly Italian immigrants and we all began to become Americans. I was the grandson of four immigrants to Cuba: they came from Galicia in northern Spain, from Sicily, and from the Canary Islands. Like all exiles, a bit of us always remained in our birthplace and this work showcases that. In the foreground the American me holds a frame which loops a video of my life starting with the train ride from Guantanamo to Varadero Beach, which is where millions of Cubans departed their country for good. In the background, the childhood version of me runs shirtless while playing in the streets of Guantanamo. The cracked, crumbling background represents both the state of my birth nation, while encrypted in Ogham via the cracks, I’ve encoded a message to my family, both here and there.
DECLARACIÓN DEL ARTISTA
Nací en Santiago de Cuba y crecí en Guantánamo, en la provincia de Orien de la isla que Colón una vez describió como “la tierra más hermosa que ojos humanos hayan visto”. Dejamos todo atrás cuando mis padres y yo fuimos exiliados a los Estados Unidos a mediados de los años 60. Nos establecimos en Brooklyn en un vecindario principalmente de inmigrantes italianos y todos empezamos a volvernos estadounidenses. Fui el nieto de cuatro inmigrantes que llegaron a Cuba: vinieron de Galicia en el norte de España, de Sicilia y de las Islas Canarias. Como todos los exiliados, algo de nosotros se quedó en nuestro lugar de nacimiento y eso es lo que muestra este trabajo. En primer plano, mi “yo” estadounidense sostiene un marco que repite un video de mi vida empezando con el viaje en tren de Guantánamo a Varadero, que era el lugar desde donde millones de cubanos salieron para dejar su país para siempre. En el fondo, la versión de mi “yo” de la infancia corre sin camisa mientras juega en las calles de Guantánamo. El fondo resquebrajado y derruido representa el estado de mi nación de nacimiento, mientras que encriptado en el alfabeto ogámico en las grietas, codifiqué un mensaje para mi familia de aquí y de allá.
INTERVIEW WITH THE ARTIST | ENTREVISTA CON LA ARTISTA
Why did you choose to embed electronics into your piece? Because it's there to extend the narrative.
How does it feel to be called an “exile”? Proud! My mother used to say that she was not an immigrant, but she was an exile! Cuban history if full of cycles where Cubans were exiled, such as Jose Marti, the hero of the Cuban struggle against Spain and even the murdering tyrant Fidel Castro was once exiled to Mexico. An exile gets kicked out of their own birth land because their rulers do not want them.
How do you think that has affected their perspective of being Cuban-American? It has injected a history of two consecutive generations of immigrants into their DNA: my grandparents immigrating to Cuba and my parents immigrating (or being exiled) to the United States. It has also made them sensitive to what it means to leave your home and your family...
What is the importance of the Ogham script? My paternal grandparents were Gallegos from Galicia in the mountains of northern Iberia - the Ogham script was widely used by the Gaels and Celts. In Spanish, Galicia means the "Land of the Gaelic People" - Ogham may have been a written language that one of my ancestors could "read." It is an homage to that long line of Celtic folk who migrated all over Europe and settled in the mountains of northern Iberia and set up a kingdom there.
How have you incorporated Cuban culture into your children’s lives? We do small but important things like celebrate Nochebuena plus my son and I have set up a "Cuba" table at his school during their "International Day" celebrations. He has also owned guayaberas since he was little - we also visit our extended family in Miami several times a year and all my children are well-versed in the family history. I have also recorded hours and hours of videos of my parents and I relating stories and memories of our birthland so that they can have a record of what once was there and then lost... Or taken away.
What does the background behind you mean to you? The background spells out a message for generations to come - it marries my ancestry with my life experiences as a US Navy cryptologic officer - an encrypted message to the future. Have fun trying to break it.
What one message do you want to convey with this piece? It breaks my heart to know that my parents were forced out of the homeland that they both loved so much by a dictatorship bent on ruling people with an iron fist; I share and feel their pain - but at the same time, I am so grateful for their sacrifice, as it has allowed me and my descendants to grow in freedom and prosperity. I've often told my children repeatedly that the serial immigrations of the Campello family ends here! This is our home forever.