Norberto Fernández, better known as “El Nene,” has been installing Orisha thrones since the 1960s. He was ordained in Cuba to Yemojá, in 1958 by Armando García, Shangó Dina, a very well known Obá Oriaté, who also eventually migrated to the U.S. El Nene was one of the pioneer throne makers in the U.S., and possibly the first to actually begin installing thrones as a specific function within the religious realm. Though he had installed many thrones in Cuba since the 1960s, he did so for his friends and religious relatives, but he was not considered a throne maker per se. He simply had the creativity to express himself in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
Soon after his arrival, Nene says, Yemojá told him in divination that he had to “work” the religion (i.e. function in some religious capacity). Nene says that he asked Yemojá for the liberty to choose the area that he would like to function in and she agreed to his request. This is how it all began. Nene gave birth to a new field in the religious world of the Lukumí that would eventually spread as others began following in his footsteps.
Nene’s craft is a true demonstration of syncretism at its highest peak. Western materials and embroidered panels, Oriental jars, European beads strung in African-influenced patterns, and a number of other elements, recreate a non-Western religious ideology and cosmos, in an elaborate installation used for ordinations, celebrations, and ceremonies, usually open to the public. Lukumí thrones are a true marvel for they accentuate the beauty and finesse of the orishas and the expressivity of the artist in ways that gratify both Divine and mundane exigencies. Nene’s work, although religious in nature, is also one of the best examples of the richness, diversity, and adaptative nature of Lukumí/Yoruba religion, something that facilitates its growth as it continues to spread to different areas of the world.
Nene’s work has been featured in various museum exhibitions, most notably two exhibits in Miami, “Caribbean Percussion Traditions,” and “At the Crossroads: Afro-Cuban Orisha Arts in Miami,” both at the Florida Historical Museum in Miami. Most recently, a throne installed by Nene is at the Museum Kunst Pallast in Dusseldorf, Germany, as part of the “Altars of the World” exhibit which will travel through Europe in the coming years.
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