Presented in Lancetti Station in Milan, Italy, Migrant Belonging(s) stems from the artist interviewing first- and second-generation immigrants in Milan from which she cast replicas of the things they and their families had brought to Milan.

Materials: Acrylic and dry pigment on cast paper clay, bamboo, and vinyl text

Dimensions: 3.5 ft x 9 ft x 5 ft

Date: 2023

Exhibited in: spazioSERRA

“A passport, a rosary, a miniature lucky cat, an umbrella, a point-and-shoot camera, cans of food, leather wallets, purses, and bags all heaped onto a bamboo raft. For her exhibition Migrant Belonging(s), multimedia artist Nicolei Buendia Gupit presents a collection of cast objects that represent the travels of people from across the world who have uprooted and relocated their lives to Italy. Collecting stories of interview subjects from Albania, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Lebanon, the Philippines, the United States, and Vietnam, many left situations of political and economic instability with the hope of seeking jobs and better educations so that they could reinvent themselves and aid the families they left behind. In coming to Italy, Gupit notes, their motivations resemble those of the generations who have migrated to the US, as Gupit’s own family did, in pursuit of the American Dream—a subject that has formed a core theme of her artistic practice.” — Lily Woodruff

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