Payge Rumler interviews Nicolás

Payge Rumler: Based on first impressions, what about Albion caught your interest enough for you to live here, even temporarily?

Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo:  Thank you, Payge, for suggesting this interview and for blessing my work here. You are the first person I have interviewed with as part of Caminata.

I must admit that prior to moving to Albion I knew very little about this place because I had purposely refrained from doing any preliminary research regarding the town. The idea was to arrive here with the least amount of preconceptions. Through the years, I have realized how much happier I could be if I did less judging and comparing, and instead embraced life with an open spirit/mind/body. We are at a time in our country where room for conversation has become so narrow, as a result of all of the misinformation that we are been constantly fed about one another–by the news and politicians–as well as by the misperceptions of others that many of us tend to form.

PR: When you go to create a project such as Caminata, how developed is the project before traveling to your residency? Can you briefly explain your process once you begin a residency/project? 

NDERE:  This will be my second decade in the arts since I received my MFA. That said, I have accumulated skills and experience that can be translated into different contexts, sort of! I work within life and life can give us plenty of surprises with each step we take. Let me explain myself more. My understanding of art has been evolving and at this stage I see art as being part of life, because what we call life encompasses all we do and experience. Some of my colleagues will argue that art is not life. While I respect their opinion, I see what we call art as a creative stream within life that we can tap into or connect to. Art is always there. It is like an electric current, or a water vein that we can unearth. So, I am doing less and less planning before I undertake an endeavor like Caminata. In other words, I work with what unfolds minute by minute, and with what presents itself along my path as I walk. Of course I write proposals encapsulating some of the key points of what I will do, and present these points to the organizations or communities I will engage with. However, I try to be as open as possible.

There are some precursors on which I built when conceiving Caminata: Take Out, produced for a residency at the Artists Alliance Inc. in Manhattan, NY, and for which I worked with neighbors from the Lower East Side creating a compilation of dishes having to do with home; Help Offered, presented as part of Jamaica Flux, in Queens, NY and with CAFKA in Kitchener, Canada, for which I approached different businesses with the intention of working with them for free for one day; and Pleased to Meet You, produced with IDENSITAT in Catalonia, and later on as part of the MacDowell’s Centennial Celebration. In Pleased to Meet You, I sought to meet the inhabitants of Calaf, a small town near Barcelona, Spain; and the inhabitants of Peterborough, New Hampshire.

PR: Where did the idea for a pilgrimage come from?

NDERE:  Many before me have undertaken pilgrimages. There is Linda Mary Montano, for example, my mentor, friend and art mother. Similarly, Catholicism has been the closest to organized religion I grew up with, and in the Catholic Church, journeying by foot to the sacred is part of the history of this institution. Starting in 2004 and through 2007, I developed For Art’s Sake, a series of pilgrimages to seven museums in the New York metropolitan area. With these journeys I sought to reverse the traditional relationship between art and religion and put religion at the service of art. Personally, I have done pilgrimages to the Black Virgin of Monserrat, in Catalonia; Lourdes, in France; Guadalupe, in Mexico; Medjugorje, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia, Spain. In the case of Caminata, this is a secular/cultural pilgrimage, a walk through the city of Albion with the intention of connecting with people and being in community.

PR: Was Albion more appropriate for a pilgrimage project than another city? Why or why not?

NDERE:  The size of Albion makes it ideal for walking and meeting people. Also, the journey in Albion is of a symbolic nature, Yes, I walk almost everywhere I go in this place, but I do have a home I go to for breaks and at the end of the day to sleep for the night. If anything, the kindness of the people in Albion has made this a remarkable experience at a personal level. There is a great deal of love and caring in this place.

PR: How has your perspective of Albion developed as you talked with its citizens?

NDERE:  I have learned that there are so many good people out there, in Albion and beyond. I have also learned not to make assumptions about peoples and communities before listening to them. Albion might not be perfect, because there are no perfect places, but residents here show up for things, and that in itself speaks volumes about the town. I heard from Wes Dick how, after the 60 plus first African Americans arrived from the South to work in Albion, the place would never be the same, because of the richness that their presence represented. I will not be the same after leaving Albion, because the town has certainly changed me a great deal.

PR: How much do your personal experiences influence the work you create

NDERE:  All of my work is personal and at the same time, I think, it speaks a common language that others can relate to. Aside from the particularities that inform our life stories, we all have something to say about migrating, relocating, searching for community, seeking to belong, and finding out what our calling is. Then, there are the more basic threads we all share: wanting to be happy, finding fulfillment in what we do, and being seen and appreciated. The work I do deals with all of that, it so just happens that we sculpt our biographies based on what we believe makes us different from others, but when we strip all of the externals, our essence is a common one.

PR: Is traveling an essential part of your work?

NDERE:  I was born a traveler. Part of my family is Lebanese and part is Dominican. Lebanese have the pilgrim in us, and we have moved to the most distant parts of the planet, from Venezuela to Haiti and to France. It is very sad how many of us had to pack and leave our country because of wars and financial constraints caused by these. My great aunt, two great uncles and my grandfather left Lebanon when they were young and some never returned to see their parents. Bu we were extremely brave and did our best to be in communities so distant from our social location, and in places where we had to speak a different language and even change our names. Dominicans are travelers too. Many of us leave the island we share with Haiti because of economic inequality. Others leave because of intellectual, political and gender related reasons. Dominicans are curious about the world. I am both Lebanese and Dominican, so that explains my passion for traveling and my courage to relocate in the unknown.

PR: In your opinion, what is the role of performance art in the contemporary art world?

NDERE: I will quote Linda Mary Montano. She talks about performance art as “giving us permission to…” Performance art has given me and many of my friends and colleagues permission to do things we would have never imagined. For example, in 2007 I surrendered my personality as Nicolás with the intention of embodying the Holy Infant of Prague in the Czech Republic. It is a long and complex story. Linda also talks about not harming ourselves or others when performing.

PR: Do you have any future plans set for after your residency at Albion?

NDERE:  Being in the South Bronx. Travel to the Caribbean. These are two key point of reference for me. Then I will work with Casita Maria in the South Bronx, organizing another chapter of Performing the Bronx, an undertaking that I initiated in 2015, and for which I co-perform with iconic Bronxites. In the past I have co-performed with Arthur Avilés, Wanda Salamán, Danilo Lachapele, Mili Bonilla, Caridad de la Luz 'La Bruja', Bill Aguado, and Dr. Drum. The 2020 summer gathering at Casita Maria will focus on Benny Bonilla, a renowned percussionist. In 2021, I will be mostly engaged in curatorial projects with the Leslie Lohman Museum in New York City, and The Margaret Lawrence Gallery in Melbourne, Australia (this exhibition was canceled as result of the pandemic).

PR: Do you have any hobbies outside of artmaking?

NDERE:  Caring for my rescued four-legged creatures and adopted plants, reading non-stop, learning from fields and occupations other than art making.

PR: What is some advice you would offer any undergraduate student pursuing a career in the arts?

NDERE:  Love what you do. Listen to your calling. Do not make the art others tell you to do unless your only goal is to be “famous” or have a commercial gallery. Seek mentors along the way no matter how many years you have been making art. Study outside your field and learn new skills, from embroidery to making pies and to sign language. Learn to listen. Do not harm animals, peoples or plants to make artwork. Think about the Earth when choosing materials for your work. Remember that art does not belong to anyone but to all and that you are just a facilitator for a creative force that already exists. Collaborate instead of competing. Care for your body/mind/spirit. Be kind. Have fun and do not take things too seriously.

All images courtesy of Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful / None of these images can be used without previous consent from Nicolás

Paige Rumler’’s links: Albion College

This interview was first published in 2020 as part of Albion College’s art journal.