UWI mourns passing of Dr. Adrian Camps-Campins
The University of the West Indies (The UWI) St. Augustine Campus joins with the national community in expressing our deepest sympathies on the passing of artist and historian Dr. Adrian Camps-Campins. In 2014, Dr. Camps-Campins was conferred with a Degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) in 2014 by The UWI.
In response to the news of Dr. Camps-Campins’ passing, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, The UWI St. Augustine Campus Professor Brian Copeland expressed his condolences to the family of Dr. Camps-Campins and recalled his valuable contribution to the world of art and architecture. “Through his work, Dr. Camps-Campins compelled us to look through his eyes and experience the wonder, beauty and reverence owed to our heritage. His legacy will live on in his beautiful art and architecture.”
His notable depictions include many buildings and sites of historical significance as well as aspects of our culture: early 20th Century vendors, a Hindu temple, the famous Lion House, ancestral home of the Naipaul brothers and “The Carnival at Pembroke Street 1910” which offers a glimpse of the early street festival. In his own words describing the built landscape of our towns and villages, he draws our attention to the love that designed and crafted, “the gingerbread fretwork, the steep roofs, the turrets and dormers, the crestings and finials, the broad eaves, the occasional vision of joyous eccentricity.” In 2012, in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of Trinidad and Tobago, he presented the Government of Spain with an 8ft by 4ft painting titled, “The Last Meeting of the Spanish Cabildo, 1797”.
Dr. Camps-Campins has lectured on his work in Trinidad and at Oxford University and he practised beautiful activism. Much of his work can be seen on greeting cards and this enabled him to reach a much broader audience to raise public awareness of the history of Trinidad and Tobago and its unique architecture.
