An avid birdwatcher since 2011, Fernando do Campo has long investigated the relationship between birds (and other non-human companions) and people within his artworks - especially that relationship's connection to colonialism.
It might sound a tenuous link at first, but the Argentinian-Australian artist explains how the fascination came about, after he decided to use his 2014 John Monash Foundation scholarship to study at Parsons School of Design in New York.
"I was thinking about the way that birds migrate up and down continents," he says. "Latin American birds turn up in Northern America. And so I went to New York with this thought that I would see my childhood birds from Argentina, through 'flyways', they call them. What happened was quite the opposite.
"The thing that made me feel at home in New York was the presence of colonially introduced species."
I've been obsessed with this idea since 2014... through my work I can make people question embedded histories
In his first three months in NYC, do Campo noticed that he was recording sparrows, rock doves, and European starlings in his birdwatching diary.
"I became aware that these birds were making me feel at home in this new place, and that that relationship was quite complicated," he says. "It wasn't because they were from there, or from where I was from. It's because we both carried colonial history. And I've been obsessed with this idea since 2014 and particularly interested in the way that through my work I can make people question embedded histories in the species around us, and to think on the formation of colonialism or nationalism."
Consider this excerpt from an 1867 edition of The Ararat Advertiser: "On Tuesday morning last a cage of English sparrows arrived in Ararat by coach… The local community of Ararat rejoiced their release … For hours afterwards, wherever one or two could be seen, knots of persons gathered to watch their movements…"
Do Campo created works around this theme in 2017, which were installed in the Ararat Library. They have now been re-staged as part of the artist's current TAMA exhibition, Siblings.
"I used a 14-colour rule to signify the 14 sparrows that were released, and then I kind of released these colours into Ararat, into four public spaces: the Orchid Conservatory at the gardens, the Langi Morgala Museum, the Ararat Library and [the site of the original sparrows' release]," do Campo explains of the original exhibition.
In Siblings, this re-working of do Campo's 14-colour rule is partnered with new and "very recent" works: a series of large textile objects. Do Campo introduced textiles into his practice in 2017, at the same time the original exhibition was displayed in Ararat.
"There's six large… well, they're called 'escarapelas' in Argentina," he says. "It's a kind of emblem, or object that you pin to your chest for a national day. Many different Latin American countries have them - I mean, people use them on the Fourth of July too."
You might know an escarapela as a 'rosette' or 'cockade' - and you may have seen one pinned to a prize cow, if you're into your agrarian shows and history, says do Campo.
"I made one for each member of my family in collaboration with my family members," he continues. "Again, I made a colour rule. I made a series of eight-colour paintings, and then I chopped up those paintings to turn into these objects. Each object is made in discussion with a family member who gifted me… a variety of [fabrics] that they have kept - their high school uniform, or a life saving uniform."
We were just a loud Spanglish family that was dealing with all these new things in regional Queensland
"The work is about migrant memory and placemaking, and it's connected very much to questions of the sparrow and connection to place - how we form a relationship to place on colonial land."
These are questions do Campo holds close to his heart, as do his siblings. "We were just a loud Spanglish family that was dealing with all these new things in regional Queensland," he laughs. "It's funny what people do keep. We didn't have trinkets and family things, so we probably kept more items than other [families]... But everything becomes significant."
Siblings by Fernando do Campo is showing at Ararat Gallery TAMA now, until 22 June 2025. Entry is free, and the gallery is open daily from 10am - 4pm.
