15th Annual CubaCaribe Festival- Kick-Off Event Artist Talk

Join CubaCaribe and Museum of African Diaspora for the kick-off special event of the 15th Annual CubaCaribe Festival which will include reception with live music and artist talk with Pablo Soto Campoamor

‍Pablo Soto Campoamor, the son of Cuban immigrants, is the first of his family to be born in the US. He was born and raised in Miami, lived early on in New York City, and regularly visited family in Cuba throughout his childhood, and adult life. Growing up at the dawn of Hip Hop, and straddling two worlds, his life has been defined by negotiating competing cultural, and social identities.

Spending long periods of time with family in Cuba had a profound effect on Pablo’s cultural, and creative identity.  Art has always been a central part of his life. Hailing from an artistic family, spirituality, storytelling, food, ritual, and music were woven through the fabric of his life.

Soto Campoamor’s first formal teacher was his stepmother, Maria Lino. At eight he had his first job as her apprentice, painting life-size replicas of iconic western artwork for houses on the real estate market.  For ten years he painted graffiti on public and private walls as a founding member of DAM727 crew (the second oldest graffiti crew in Miami).  

Later, Pablo shifted from the spray-can to the pencil and brush. Life in the Bay Area has also influenced his artwork, and presently informs the style of evolving expression. African, African-Diasporic, Latin and Native American motifs emerge throughout his body of works, the foundations, as well as the juxtaposition of ancient symbols, with modern codes, and cyphers.

He’s lived and worked in Oakland for 27 years. Pablo spends most days painting, drinking coffee, playing, and teaching Afro-Cuban music, cooking, cultivating friendships, and raising his family in Oakland, Ca.

‍More about the 15th Annual CubaCaribe Festival here