What is Contemporary Art in Trinidad and the wider Caribbean?
As CCA develops it aspires to make further in-roads into facilitating and promoting the face of Contemporary art in the region. There is a dynamic community of artists that is growing, ever evolving, and yet a number of them and their work remains marginalised through a pervasive and sometimes overwhelming public perception of what their form of art really is. Contemporary art refers to art in the now. Referring to art after the 1960’s, it differs from its predecessors by its very indefinable nature. Contemporary art seems more concerned with issues surrounding the world today, rather than exploring notions of beauty alone.
I read an article in the Express newspapers by Edward Bowen who stated his disappointments with the way in which the Carifesta celebrations were being organized. A major concern he expressed referred to the exclusionism of the event and the way in which the structure would encourage and enforce a form of separatism amongst artists in the community, and between those participating in the event. It seems that Contemporary art practice still inhabits a small fraction in the dominant equation of art in the Caribbean. Not necessarily in practice, but in representation.
July’s edition of Art Papers would like to recognize the innovation of an artist named Mario Lewis. Mario has independently conceptualised and kick started an artist-led-initiative called Galvanize. He has presented his ideas to various artists and artist-minded people who have agreed to collaborate their efforts on this new project or entity. This project emerges autonomously and although it may collaborate with various venues for their exhibitions, it falls under no umbrella but its own. Members of the advisory board include: Chris Cozier, Nicholas Laughlin, Peter Doig, Georgia Popplewell, Atilah Springer, Steve Ouditt, and Charlotte Elias.
Galvanize is not a reaction to Carifesta nor is it a fringe event or an Anti-Carifesta establishment. Galvanize simply aims to start and maintain a conversation about art and artists in the region, and to promote the understanding of one another in this space, rather than further dividing them. Galvanize decided to enact a form of action, hoping to bring to light questions and issues that so many regional artists are asking and exploring. And to raise the questions that Carifesta 2006 may not fully attempt to answer.
Galvanize will hopefully shake societal strictures that have threatened to cripple or hide art that is deemed as ‘different’ or ‘non-art’ in our society. It seems appropriate in lieu of the upcoming Carifesta celebrations to launch a series of exhibitions/projects that will be visible to the many local and visiting artists, curators, writers, and practitioners. Hats off to this venture which does not seek to be separatist but rather fight that very attitude. I hope it tackles the sometimes conservative and limiting perceptions and sensibilities that many art and art practitioners in Trinidad, and the region, possess or subscribe to.
- Jaime Lee Loy, Exchange Programme Coordinator CCA
Please read more about Galvanize by selecting this link
This month's newsletter:
News- Art papers
• ‘Ukwabuka’(Crossing Over) Exhibition by Stary Mwaba
• Galvanize on the move
• Art Camp at CCA
• Artist Talk Series: Stary Mwaba and Brendan Fernandes
• Local residency programme
• CCA’s news selection team for the Residency programme
• See who’s in Studio now
Residency Programme:
Local: Sabrina Charran
International: Stary Mwaba, Brendan Fernandes
Opportunities
Local/Regional
• FOSAJ
International
• Atelier of Alexandria Workshop in Egypt
CCA Links
News- Art papers
‘Ukwabuka’ (Crossing Over) – Exhibition for Zambian Artist Stary Mwaba
Caribbean Contemporary Arts invites you to
'UKWABUKA' (Crossing Over)
by International Artist-in-Residence Stary Mwaba - Zambia
You are invited to the exhibition's opening in the InterAmericas Space
on Thursday the 13th July from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm.
The exhibition will continue until August 5th 2006
All are welcome.
As part of CCA7's Artist talk Series, Stary Mwaba will be speaking
about his work on Tuesday the 18th of July at 6pm.
The gallery will be open:
Wednesdays - Fridays 12pm - 5pm
Thursdays 12pm - 8pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Caribbean Contemporary Arts
CCA7, Building 7, Fernandes Industrial Centre
Eastern Main Road, Laventille, Port of Spain, Trinidad
Tel:(868) 625 1889 or 625 6805 Fax:(868) 624 0695
Emai: www.mail@cca7.org Website: www.cca7.org
GALVANIZE:
Text by Nicholas Laughlin
What is “Caribbean” art? (“Art in the widest sense, encompassing the visual, the musical, the literary, the performative etc.) Who decides? What should it look like, sound like, feel like? What should it be trying to do? Forty years after the “Independence moment” of the 1950’s and 1960’s, these are increasingly crucial, troubling, and stimulating questions for artists in the Caribbean, as well as their audiences. Galvanize main objective is to establish a series of arts programmes based in Port-of-Spain to tackle the above questions and many others by brining artists, critics, and audiences into full conversation, where everyone is both a speaker and a listener, where problems and questions are tackled from many directions at once, where above all we pay real attention to each other and make real attempt to engage in understanding.
Galvanize is best thought of not as a Carifesta “Fringe”, but as an independent effort aimed at addressing precisely those questions that Carifesta, with its Independent moment origins, seems blind to. The presence of several hundred Caribbean artists and administrators in Trinidad in September 2006 for Carifesta IX is the stimulus for starting this project.
The exhibition component ‘Visibly Absent’ is interested in a range of artistic productions by a number of contemporary artists and arts professionals on the Island. The exhibition was conceived to encourage conversations, between what are the critical ideas investigated by local artists through their practices and what is the public perception of contemporary art in Trinidad & Tobago today. For six-weeks from 14th September - 26th October 2006, the show will cover; new media, performance, site-specific projects, installations, video and public interventions in spaces which are not traditionally utilized for the presentation of art. Artists were invited through recommendations and the selection of proposals that configure to different public locations, open sites, and private residence in and around the city of Port-of-Spain. The exhibition will draw viewers to experience new and alternative modalities of production across a variety of environments.
Apart from the six exhibitions where work from a number of creative producers will be presented, collective projects from performance groups, literary figures are also welcome. Cultural professionals, whether they be dancers, musicians, video/filmmakers or from any other field of interdisciplinary practice can participate individually or in groups. Any project that has a direct relevance to the theme of the event may also be considered.
To provide clarity about the formal and theoretical nature implicit in the artists‚ ideas, a series of public symposia will be introduced to encourage discussions around the audience interpretation of the different work(s) produced for the show.
Galvanize does not sponsor shows and no fees are paid to artists. However for work that is selected, Galvanize will organize exhibition space and an opening reception. Galvanize will also publish a poster for the entire event, which will feature all participating artists, and information on the events. It will also organize advertising in print and electronic media. Those selected will be responsible for all their technical requirements. Galvanize retains the right to publish photographs and text(s) from shows selected for exhibit in promotional material relating to the event. Such content will not be used in any other form, unless specifically authorized by the artist as in the case of a publication.
GALVANIZE Selection Committee ˆ 2006: Chris Cozier, Peter Doig, Mario Lewis, Steve Ouditt
Art Camp at CCA
Local studio artist, Tessa Alexander, is hosting an art camp for children ages 6 to 12 at the Education Space at CCA7, Monday – Friday, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.. The camp will run for 3 weeks. Participants can choose either a (1) week session or a (2) two-weeks session between August 7 – August 25, 2006.
The classes will also focus on artists or art movements, local and foreign, past or present so that the kids can evaluate the work through open discussion. The children attending these classes will also have the opportunity to be exposed to the local and international artist in residence and CCA exhibitions.
Artist Talk Series: Stary Mwaba and Brendan Fernandes
Stary Mwaba will be hosting his artist talk on Tuesday the 18th of July at 6pm and Brendan Fernandes will be hosting his on Thursday the 27th of July at 6pm. For more information on Stary’s work please see last month’s posting or see Stary’s invitation. Brendan will be speaking about ‘Anomilia” :
Anomilia:
Anomilia is a series of digital drawings rendered through Adobe illustrator that depict creatures that are half animal and half African artefact. The bizarre beasts create hybrid creatures that take on the appearance of being from an unknown place, because we do not know them. They give of the sense of having survived from a long time ago or that they have come from a futuristic planet. They live in an oscillating space, being one thing and then another. They become representative of the mythical, the exotic and the primitive. They ask the questions, what are these animals and where have they come from?
Local Residency Programme
CCA’s local residency programme has been re-implemented this year, which will facilitate one artist at the centre every three months, with four artists selected each year. Sabrina Charran has started with CCA and has recently graduated from the Creative Arts Centre at the local university. Read more about this new artist by selecting this link.
CCA’s new selection team for the Residency programme:
Chris Cozier – Senior Artist, Writer, Critic
Samantha Noel – Education Programmer with Background studies in Art
Susie Dayal – Senior Artist and Art Educator
Marlon Griffith – Artist
Tessa Alexander – Local Resident Artist at CCA and Education Facilitator
Georgia Popplewell – Producer, Writer
Mario Lewis – Artist
Jaime Lee Loy – Meeting Chairperson
See Who is in Studio Now
Residency Programme
For more information on the International Residency Programme please contact Jaime via email. Two International residency artists attend the International programme every eight weeks. One residency is awarded to an artist at three month intervals. Local/regional artists occupy the remaining nine studios.
Local
Sabrina Charran recently graduated from The University of The West Indies, St Augustine. As a young and upcoming artist, Sabrina was nominated for her strong concepts. She has a keen interest in drawing, in graphic design, and in architecture, as well as psychoanalysis, human geography, and urbanism.
Sabrina was always proficient with her art and when she entered the Women in Art Biennial Art Competition, she placed first and was awarded Most Outstanding Art Student. In 2002, she was awarded the Leroy Clarke Trophy for Excellence in Art. In 2005, she was awarded the Eastman-Christensen Visual Arts Award for Excellence in Year 2 of her university studies.
International
Stary Mwaba and Brendan Fernandes will be with us for another month. To read more about their work please see last month’s posting (left margin of newsletter). Stary is preparing for his exhibition which opens next week Thursday in the InterAmericas space. Brendan will be hosting his artist talk alongside work displayed on ‘ The Wallspace’ at CCA.
See Art News for more information on the artist talks.
Opportunities
Local / Regional
FOSAJ invites applications for a residency in Haiti
Fondation Sant D'A Jakmel (FOSAJ) in Haiti invites international artists to apply for a 1-3 month residency programme. The residency offers artist a unique opportunity to create work in a comfortable space, and to interact and exchange ideas with other international artists. Artists are asked to fund their travel to and from Haiti as well as relevant art materials and personal expenses. The centre is fully equipped with adequate studio space and a resource centre with internet access. To find out more about the application process please visit http://www.fosaj.ht/residencies.htm .
International
Atelier of Alexandria Workshop in Egypt
AAW residency programs is a two month artists residency program, open to any artist working in any media from anywhere in the world. The aim of the Artists Residency Program (ARP) is to facilitate cultural exchange and creative dialogue internationally and locally by bringing together artists from diverse cultural backgrounds in a stimulating and supportive environment. AAW responds to the needs of the Art Community in Alexandria by providing individual studios within an interactive environment. The studios are rented as private spaces in which to work on a full time basis. AAW Studios address a need for the community of Alexandria to integrate within a meeting place where art is seen with the respect it deserves.
The application and all documents should be send by E-Mail to info@atelieralex.com or atelierofalexandria@yahoo.com and see their website at www.atelieralex.com
CCA Links
© Copyright Caribbean Contemporary Arts 2005 - 2006
The information in this newsletter including all pictures shall in no way be copied or facilitated for use without the permission of Caribbean Contemporary Arts.
Newsletter edited by Jaime Lee Loy
by International Artist-in-Residence Stary Mwaba - Zambia
You are invited to the exhibition's opening in the InterAmericas Space
on Thursday the 13th July from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm.
The exhibition will continue until August 5th 2006
All are welcome.
As part of CCA7's Artist talk Series, Stary Mwaba will be speaking
about his work on Tuesday the 18th of July at 6pm.
The gallery will be open:
Wednesdays - Fridays 12pm - 5pm
Thursdays 12pm - 8pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Caribbean Contemporary Arts
CCA7, Building 7, Fernandes Industrial Centre
Eastern Main Road, Laventille, Port of Spain, Trinidad
Tel:(868) 625 1889 or 625 6805 Fax:(868) 624 0695
Emai: www.mail@cca7.org Website: www.cca7.org
GALVANIZE:
Text by Nicholas Laughlin
What is “Caribbean” art? (“Art in the widest sense, encompassing the visual, the musical, the literary, the performative etc.) Who decides? What should it look like, sound like, feel like? What should it be trying to do? Forty years after the “Independence moment” of the 1950’s and 1960’s, these are increasingly crucial, troubling, and stimulating questions for artists in the Caribbean, as well as their audiences. Galvanize main objective is to establish a series of arts programmes based in Port-of-Spain to tackle the above questions and many others by brining artists, critics, and audiences into full conversation, where everyone is both a speaker and a listener, where problems and questions are tackled from many directions at once, where above all we pay real attention to each other and make real attempt to engage in understanding.
Galvanize is best thought of not as a Carifesta “Fringe”, but as an independent effort aimed at addressing precisely those questions that Carifesta, with its Independent moment origins, seems blind to. The presence of several hundred Caribbean artists and administrators in Trinidad in September 2006 for Carifesta IX is the stimulus for starting this project.
The exhibition component ‘Visibly Absent’ is interested in a range of artistic productions by a number of contemporary artists and arts professionals on the Island. The exhibition was conceived to encourage conversations, between what are the critical ideas investigated by local artists through their practices and what is the public perception of contemporary art in Trinidad & Tobago today. For six-weeks from 14th September - 26th October 2006, the show will cover; new media, performance, site-specific projects, installations, video and public interventions in spaces which are not traditionally utilized for the presentation of art. Artists were invited through recommendations and the selection of proposals that configure to different public locations, open sites, and private residence in and around the city of Port-of-Spain. The exhibition will draw viewers to experience new and alternative modalities of production across a variety of environments.
Apart from the six exhibitions where work from a number of creative producers will be presented, collective projects from performance groups, literary figures are also welcome. Cultural professionals, whether they be dancers, musicians, video/filmmakers or from any other field of interdisciplinary practice can participate individually or in groups. Any project that has a direct relevance to the theme of the event may also be considered.
To provide clarity about the formal and theoretical nature implicit in the artists‚ ideas, a series of public symposia will be introduced to encourage discussions around the audience interpretation of the different work(s) produced for the show.
Galvanize does not sponsor shows and no fees are paid to artists. However for work that is selected, Galvanize will organize exhibition space and an opening reception. Galvanize will also publish a poster for the entire event, which will feature all participating artists, and information on the events. It will also organize advertising in print and electronic media. Those selected will be responsible for all their technical requirements. Galvanize retains the right to publish photographs and text(s) from shows selected for exhibit in promotional material relating to the event. Such content will not be used in any other form, unless specifically authorized by the artist as in the case of a publication.
GALVANIZE Selection Committee ˆ 2006: Chris Cozier, Peter Doig, Mario Lewis, Steve Ouditt
Art Camp at CCA
Local studio artist, Tessa Alexander, is hosting an art camp for children ages 6 to 12 at the Education Space at CCA7, Monday – Friday, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.. The camp will run for 3 weeks. Participants can choose either a (1) week session or a (2) two-weeks session between August 7 – August 25, 2006.
The classes will also focus on artists or art movements, local and foreign, past or present so that the kids can evaluate the work through open discussion. The children attending these classes will also have the opportunity to be exposed to the local and international artist in residence and CCA exhibitions.
Artist Talk Series: Stary Mwaba and Brendan Fernandes
Stary Mwaba will be hosting his artist talk on Tuesday the 18th of July at 6pm and Brendan Fernandes will be hosting his on Thursday the 27th of July at 6pm. For more information on Stary’s work please see last month’s posting or see Stary’s invitation. Brendan will be speaking about ‘Anomilia” :
Anomilia:
Anomilia is a series of digital drawings rendered through Adobe illustrator that depict creatures that are half animal and half African artefact. The bizarre beasts create hybrid creatures that take on the appearance of being from an unknown place, because we do not know them. They give of the sense of having survived from a long time ago or that they have come from a futuristic planet. They live in an oscillating space, being one thing and then another. They become representative of the mythical, the exotic and the primitive. They ask the questions, what are these animals and where have they come from?
Local Residency Programme
CCA’s local residency programme has been re-implemented this year, which will facilitate one artist at the centre every three months, with four artists selected each year. Sabrina Charran has started with CCA and has recently graduated from the Creative Arts Centre at the local university. Read more about this new artist by selecting this link.
CCA’s new selection team for the Residency programme:
Chris Cozier – Senior Artist, Writer, Critic
Samantha Noel – Education Programmer with Background studies in Art
Susie Dayal – Senior Artist and Art Educator
Marlon Griffith – Artist
Tessa Alexander – Local Resident Artist at CCA and Education Facilitator
Georgia Popplewell – Producer, Writer
Mario Lewis – Artist
Jaime Lee Loy – Meeting Chairperson
See Who is in Studio Now
Residency Programme
For more information on the International Residency Programme please contact Jaime via email. Two International residency artists attend the International programme every eight weeks. One residency is awarded to an artist at three month intervals. Local/regional artists occupy the remaining nine studios.
Local
Sabrina Charran recently graduated from The University of The West Indies, St Augustine. As a young and upcoming artist, Sabrina was nominated for her strong concepts. She has a keen interest in drawing, in graphic design, and in architecture, as well as psychoanalysis, human geography, and urbanism.
Sabrina was always proficient with her art and when she entered the Women in Art Biennial Art Competition, she placed first and was awarded Most Outstanding Art Student. In 2002, she was awarded the Leroy Clarke Trophy for Excellence in Art. In 2005, she was awarded the Eastman-Christensen Visual Arts Award for Excellence in Year 2 of her university studies.
International
Stary Mwaba and Brendan Fernandes will be with us for another month. To read more about their work please see last month’s posting (left margin of newsletter). Stary is preparing for his exhibition which opens next week Thursday in the InterAmericas space. Brendan will be hosting his artist talk alongside work displayed on ‘ The Wallspace’ at CCA.
See Art News for more information on the artist talks.
Opportunities
Local / Regional
FOSAJ invites applications for a residency in Haiti
Fondation Sant D'A Jakmel (FOSAJ) in Haiti invites international artists to apply for a 1-3 month residency programme. The residency offers artist a unique opportunity to create work in a comfortable space, and to interact and exchange ideas with other international artists. Artists are asked to fund their travel to and from Haiti as well as relevant art materials and personal expenses. The centre is fully equipped with adequate studio space and a resource centre with internet access. To find out more about the application process please visit http://www.fosaj.ht/residencies.htm .
International
Atelier of Alexandria Workshop in Egypt
AAW residency programs is a two month artists residency program, open to any artist working in any media from anywhere in the world. The aim of the Artists Residency Program (ARP) is to facilitate cultural exchange and creative dialogue internationally and locally by bringing together artists from diverse cultural backgrounds in a stimulating and supportive environment. AAW responds to the needs of the Art Community in Alexandria by providing individual studios within an interactive environment. The studios are rented as private spaces in which to work on a full time basis. AAW Studios address a need for the community of Alexandria to integrate within a meeting place where art is seen with the respect it deserves.
The application and all documents should be send by E-Mail to info@atelieralex.com or atelierofalexandria@yahoo.com and see their website at www.atelieralex.com
CCA Links
© Copyright Caribbean Contemporary Arts 2005 - 2006
The information in this newsletter including all pictures shall in no way be copied or facilitated for use without the permission of Caribbean Contemporary Arts.
Newsletter edited by Jaime Lee Loy
posted by Art Papers Online @ 7/10/2006
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