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Daniel Orlando Bustamante Diaz (born 1958) is a Chilean born artist who fled the country and settled with other Chilean refugees in Sheffield, UK. In 1987 (with his brother, Sergio) he completed a mural depicting the struggle for survival of common people everywhere. This work is now on permanent loan to Sheffield’s Millennium Gallery[1]. He uses many other media to explore the same theme.

Artistic career

All of Bustamante’s work expresses outrage at the hardship suffered by many in capitalist society. He strenuously avoids party or national partisanship and celebrates ongoing resistance to injustice.

River art

Dubbed the ‘Man in the River’ by the local media, Bustamante’s sculptures made from industrial revolution waste thrown into the River Don over two centuries brought him to local attention. These may be seen downstream from Blonk Street Bridge, Sheffield.

As he explained to nearby not-for-profit, the Art House, he began the work after being very upset by a TV documentary on Syrian refugees. “I decided to go down and put my feet in the water. I sat there and saw these stones so close to me that I decided to put one stone up onto another. And then I noticed that they had a special effect, it was like they were floating. Then I saw that it looked like a figure or a totem, something meaningful so I made another one.”[1] The irregular flow of the river requires frequent maintenance, or rebuilding, of these constructions. As he sees it, the ephemeral nature of both technology and art is driven by the vagaries of nature as well as human society.

Murals and banners

The mural, With Burning Patience (5m by 1.5m, acrylic and emulsion on board, 1987) was loaned to the Sheffield Millennium Gallery in June 2019. Its title is taken from the 1985 novel and film, Ardiente Paciencia ("Burning Patience") by Chilean born, Antonio Skármeta. This work was also the inspiration behind the much acclaimed 1994 film, Il Postino (“The Postman”) which featured the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda. Bustamante also makes highly innovative banners and placards for public demonstrations.

Gargoyles

Bustamante uses the term, ‘gargoyles’ for these six grotesques (average 60cm-high, fired clay, 2017-2019). They bristle with angry references to oppression in its many manifestations. He has been assisted and encouraged in his work by the Art House, Sheffield (founded 2015) which “supports and promotes recovery, social inclusion the development of local artists from marginalised groups.” [1]

Poetry

Some of Bustamante’s commentary on his river art is displayed alongside the River Don in Sheffield City centre. Much of this takes the form of poetry. Another example:

People say that rocks don`t float

But Earth is not hanging from a string.

Yes, Earth is not just a rock

And rocks are more than what we find

In the shallow interpretations

Of our rhetoric.

Similarly and against myopic

Misunderstanding

Humans are not born bad

And life is no war.

(Unpublished, 4 August 2017)

[1] http://www.arthousesheffield.co.uk [1] http://www.arthousesheffield.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Dans-interview-with-louise-Oct-2017.pdf

[1] http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/museums/millennium-gallery/home