This short film will screen with other short films in Block 3 | Celebrating Black Voices
Friday, December 9th at 4pm
Palm Springs Art Museum. Palm Springs, California.
Buy Tickets Here
‘You Can Always Come Home’ is a short film that explores the domestic realm through the eyes of a young child. Made in Miami, Florida, the film highlights themes such as celebration, ritual, family, and love through Black spatial occupation of the kitchen and front porch. Tangent to the film is a poem written by artists Reginald O’Neal and Arsimmer McCoy that furthers the investigation and liberation of Blackness in the architected environment.
Juan Luis Matos Rodriguez Mestres Lopez (b. Havana, Cuba) is a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker based in Miami, FL. He studied at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg, Germany and received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. He is a 2020 Regional Emmy Award Winner and currently an artist in residence at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami, FL.
I was deeply inspired by architect Germane Barnes’ work around Black domestic spaces and the community and culture created around the kitchen and porch. Barnes’ approach to joy, ritual, celebration and Black love are themes that are often overlooked when it comes to conversations about the vastness of Blackness. We made this film as a way to introduce the complexities, nuances and power in the architecture of Blackness. While the film highlights aspects that are central to the city of Miami, the destruction of Black neighborhoods, a mothers care and discipline, and community are threads that can be seen all over the world.
