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ART & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE BAHAMAS Can't see the images? CLICK HERE! • • • • TOP IMAGE: "Earth Spirit" by Brent Malone, 1990 Signed print on pap
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ART & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE BAHAMAS
Can't see the images? CLICK HERE!
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TOP IMAGE:
"Earth Spirit" by Brent Malone, 1990
Signed print on paper, 15 x 15.75
In the Collection of Dawn Davies and published in the book
"Love & Responsibility: The Dawn Davies Collection." |
Thursday, January 24, 2013 |
2013 Annual Quilt Show
TOMORROW: Thursday, January 24th, 2013 | 10am-4pm
Trinity Methodist Church, Frederick Street |
"Creative Connect" Monthly Mixer
Monday, January 28th, 2013 | 7pm
Popopstudios, Chippingham
The Bahamas Institute for Motion Pictures and the Bahamas Actors & Filmmakers Guild invite creative persons to join them for a free social networking monthly mixer entitled "Creative Connect" whose aim is connecting creative minds in The Bahamas and to help nurture resources and synergy amongst Bahamian filmmakers, actors, producers, musicians and artists. Whether you're involved in Bahamian productions, or just curious about arts and entertainment, make sure to stop by to help foster Bahamian creativity. |
"Fix Ya Face" Open House
Thursday, January 31st, 2013 | 3pm to 9pm
The D'Aguilar Art Foundation, Virginia Street |
Nassau Chamber Ensemble
presents an evening of
Ethnic & Contemporary Music
Saturday, February 2nd, 2013 | 6pm
Jacaranda House, Parliament & East Hill Streets |
'Matters of the Heart' Art Exhibition
Wednesday, February 6th, 2013 | 7pm
The Ladder Gallery, New Providence
Community Centre, Blake Road |
SAVE THE DATE
Peace & Love: Writings on the Wall – Recent Work by Stan Burnside
Thursday, February 14, 2013 | 6pm
Stan Burnside Gallery, Tower Heights, Eastern Road |
Art for the Parks Abaco opens tomorrow
An elite group of talented Bahamian artists will exhibit their works at Abaco Beach Resort during the Art for the Parks Festival, January 25-27, 2013.
This annual event, a collaboration between Abaco Beach Resort, the Bahamas National Trust and corporate sponsors, brings together more than 30 of the country’s most recognised artists and craftsman.
The festival offers both residents and visitors a unique opportunity to view and purchase artwork while raising awareness and funding for the preservation of Abaco’s six national parks.
“Art for the Parks has become a wonderful tradition at Abaco Beach Resort and we are thrilled to, once again, serve as host to the many incredible artists based here in the Bahamas,”said the resort’s owner.
“The preservation of our six national parks is an issue of great importance to both residents who have cherished them for years and visitors experiencing their beauty for the first time. We look forward to a wonderful event and are happy to play our part in support of the local art community and the preservation of our natural environment.”
Guests will enjoy viewing and purchasing works in all mediums including oils and acrylics, vibrant watercolours, handcrafted wood products, dazzling jewellery and incredible fabric art.
Art for the Parks commences with a cocktail reception and silent auction and continues through the weekend with musical entertainment, local cuisine, an interactive children’s art activity, a Fresh Market with local farmers and makers of jams, jellies and pepper sauces; as well as fresh bread by Lovely Reckly, a Chalk Art Competition sponsored by the Rotary Club of Abaco, live art demonstrations by select artists and Caricatures by Jo-ann Bradley, as well as a Heritage Lecture Series.
“We were amazed at the response to our Heritage Lecture Series last year,” said Kadie Mills, office manager for the BNT Abaco Office. “We are very excited to have another exciting group of lectures this year.”
Featured speakers at the Saturday lecture series will be Michael Pateman, speaking on the recent underwater archeological research done on the slave ship discovered off of Abaco; birdwatching in Abaco by Elwood Bracey; Annie Potts speaking on the lighthouses of the Bahamas and Brian Kakuk presenting on the conservation of blue holes and caves in the Bahamas.
Courtesy of The Tribune. |
 Bahamian Photographer Sabrina Lightbourn |
Who is a Bahamian?
Who is a Bahamian? It’s a loaded question, and one that photographer Sabrina Lightbourn has asked in a project that attempts to show the multi-cultural and diverse side of The Bahamas, and raise the level of tolerance when it comes to Bahamian identity.
“I want to challenge Bahamians to look at and think about who we are,” Lightbourn told Guardian Arts&Culture. “There is a lot of intolerance for people who don’t look and sound the way we think a traditional Bahamian should look and sound. We might look different and we might sound different but we are all Bahamian.”
The project is part of the “NE6 – Kingdom Come” exhibit now on at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. It includes a total of 100 black and white photographs of Bahamian faces. Eighty are displayed at the NAGB, and the remaining 20 large-scale images are installed in public spaces downtown.
Lightbourn says “Who is a Bahamian?” was inspired by French photographer/street artist JR, who photographed human faces from communities in conflict and printed them on larger-than-life canvasses and then pasted them on urban spaces. His goal was to force people to see one another in a way that confronts and engages audiences where they least expect it. |
 © Tyler Johnston |
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 Sabrina Lightbourn and friend with Peanuts Taylor portrait. © Tyler Johnston |
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 © Tyler Johnston |
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 Sabrina Lightbourn and friend installing portraits. © Tyler Johnston |
When the innovative TED Talks series asked JR to answer the question, “How are we going to save the world?”, he put the question to other artists and created the Inside Out Global Art Project. The large-scale participatory art project transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone is challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world.
Lightbourn says that when she got the invite to participate in the national exhibition and digested the theme, “Who is a Bahamian?” seemed the perfect fit. The theme asked artists to create works that responded to the challenges of change in modern times.
“At first I thought I would take photographs of Bahamians and non-Bahamians, and then I decided just to focus on Bahamians, to show how multi-cultural and diverse we are,” she explains.
At the heart of the project, says Lightbourn, was her own experiences as a white Bahamian and how frustrating that can be at times when it comes to her national identity.
“I’ve had the experience of feeling like an outsider and having to explain my right to be called a Bahamian, even though I have a wonderful Bahamian heritage,” she says. “It has been a struggle and I have been really angered by that.”
CLICK HERE to read full story by Erica Wells in The Guardian online. |
 Sabrina Lightbourn's "Who is a Bahamian?" installation now showing in the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas' 6th National Exhibition. |
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 Sonia with letterpress message © Nadia Huggins |
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 Sonia leading bookbinding workshop © Lisa Wells |
Interview with Poinciana Paper Press Director, Sonia Farmer
By Dr. Leanne Haynes for ARC Magazine
Sonia Farmer is a poet, a bookbinder, letterpress printer, and hand paper-maker, and aims to publish books as beautiful as the words they hold. She is the founder of Poinciana Paper Press, a small fine press that produces hand-bound limited-edition chapbooks of Caribbean writing, based out of The Bahamas. Her poetry has won the 2011 Small Axe Literary Competition in Poetry and has appeared in various publications. She holds a BFA in Writing from Pratt institute.
Leanne Haynes: You are a Letterpress expert. Tell me about how you came to learn the technique and what attracted you to it.
Sonia Farmer: I’m not sure I’m exactly an expert! I’m still learning…
I went to Pratt Institute to study writing. I wanted to be a journalist but I soon found a passion in poetry and bookbinding. I took an “art of the book” class in Sophomore year and everything changed—from there, I took as many art classes as my credits would allow, exploring silkscreening, relief printing, etching, letterpress, and even a pop-up books class. I also took internships with master book-binders and papermakers (Robbin Silverberg, Dieu Donne) and letterpress printers (Peter Kruty Editions, where I eventually worked full time) and volunteered with small presses like Ugly Duckling Presse, Small Anchor, and The Corresponding Society.
I had taken up an internship with a literary agency at one point early on in college, and though it gave me great work experience it showed me the ugly inside of the publishing industry. I didn’t like how books were commodified and marketed and how the system worked to benefit only a few genres. There was so place for poetry, for books with great ideas, with substance. When I volunteered with small presses, I responded to the spirit of it. They really and truly believed in everything they published, and it showed in the hands-on way they made their books. Whether they had ISBN numbers or not, were carefully bound or crudely stapled, were photocopied on whatever paper was available or handset and letterpress printed on carefully chosen archival paper, books published by small presses challenge the system, carve out a new space for important voices, and define new genres.
I like that, and I want to be a part of it, and I thought that small press culture could do well in the Caribbean, especially in The Bahamas where we haven’t had so much of a publishing landscape per se—more like a culture of self-publishing. I wanted to create a new space at home for beautiful books to be made. I consider myself a writer, book-binder, letter-press printer, papermaker and printmaker who aims to make books as beautiful as the words inside of them. For me, books are an extension of the reading experience—books are very present in the stories they hold. So I use a little bit of everything I’ve learned along the way to make my projects at Poinciana Paper Press....
CLICK HERE to read full interview at ARC Magazine's website. |
New Music Documentary ignites raging debate
The debate over what is considered true Bahamian music was reignited by the release of a new documentary: The Evolution of Bahamian Music. For years musicians have presented varying views on what is Bahamian music. In the documentary on Bahamian music, the debate continues.
Fred Ferguson is one veteran musician who has fought for the preservation of Bahamian music over the year.
“I am one of the persons who believe that culture is everything that you do in a specific location. There are specific sounds that define us as Bahamians. I am not one of the persons who believe anything that is done by a Bahamian is considered Bahamian music. If that argument follows then that would mean anything that is done by a Jamaican is Jamaican music. They would not allow you to carry that argument forward because their music is reggae. So I am one of the persons who fight for the preservation, if only for the purpose of documentation. Our music is either rake n scrape or Junknaoo,” he said in the documentary.
Bahamian rapper El Padrino was also interviewed in the documentary. Though he grew up listening to artist like Ronnie Butler, Freddie Munnings and more, his fascination with the hip hop culture and music blossomed.
When the topic about the true sound of indigenous Bahamian music came up, he said it is “far fetched” to label rake n scrape as indigenous to the Bahamas.
“If you say it is indigenous Bahamian music that would mean folklore songs or slave songs. Unless they can find songs that were written by the Indians long before, then that would be indigenous Bahamian music. Even some of the instruments like the harmonica or the goat skin drum are not even indigenous to the Bahamas,” said El Padrino.
“I love Bahamian music, and I grew up on it. A lot of what I have been through in my life relates to those types of song. But this is a new era. I came up in a more modern era as far as what we were exposed to and what I exposed myself to in my travels to the US. I have always been a fan of rap music, and I just think that my fascination with rap and hip hop kind of out shines my willingness to even want to do rake n scrape, which we call indigenous Bahamian music,” he said.....
CLICK HERE to read full article by Jeffarah Gibson of The Tribune online. |
 Artist and graphic designer Dionne Benjamin-Smith |
20 Questions with Dionne Benjamin-Smith
1. What’s been your most inspirational moment in the last five years?
I have had many – all surrounding God’s relationship with me. Too overwhelming to really speak of in this forum.
2. What’s your least favorite piece of artwork?
They’re unfortunately hanging on the wall in my father’s house.
3. What’s your favorite period of art history?
There is so much beauty and truth to be found in all periods of art history but I think my favorites are a toss-up between Impressionism and Contemporary Art. Impressionism gentles my soul and a lot of Contemporary Art stimulates my senses.
CLICK HERE for full interview in The Guardian online. |
 British actor and contemporary artist, Goldie -- who has been commissioned to produce artwork for some of the UK's leading bands and musicians in recent years -- created this arresting sail entitled "Lord of the Flies." |
Art for sail: Olympic yachts shows London how fine art can rule the waves
Art exhibitions don't usually float on water but the CNM Estates Fine Art Sails regatta, which debuted this weekend on London's River Thames, is no ordinary expose of contemporary culture.
Part fine-art show, part boat-race, the three-day event saw 10 sailboats -- skippered by a host of Olympic and World Championship sailors -- take to the water bearing sails adorned with the work of some of Britain's foremost modern artists.
Monochrome prints of giant facial features, manic flocks of imposing seagulls and a menacing child with tribal war-paints comprised just a few of the surreal and arresting works on show during a snow-blanketed weekend in the UK capital.
Organizers say the concept marks a first of its kind collaboration between art and top-class sailing and could soon be casting off at famous waterside locations around the world.
"This is the first time anyone has really tried to do this and the reaction has been quite amazing," said the founder of Fine Art Sails, Michael Ross.
"There is already interest in staging an event on the [Moskva] River in view of the Kremlin," he said, adding the possibility of others in San Francisco, Miami and on the Caspian Sea.
Artists who contributed works to the riverside event -- which formed part of the week-long London Boat Show -- include the fashion duo Mark Eley and Wakako Kishimoto, portrait artist Christian Furr, as well as musician and actor, Goldie.
As Fine Art Sails moves on to other locations, Ross hopes creatives of all disciplines and nationalities will be inspired to add their handiwork to the project.
CLICK HERE to read full article by Eoghan Macguire, for CNN. |
NAGB reaches out to Grand Bahama
The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) is looking to spread its reach beyond the shores of Nassau.
It has started with Grand Bahama, and earlier this week a delegation made up of staff and board members visited the island on a fact finding mission to assess the viability of opening a branch of the NAGB in Freeport.
“I’d like see the NAGB stand for national and not just for ‘Nassau’,” NAGB Director Amanda Coulson told Guardian Arts & Culture.
The group met with artists groups, government officials and Grand Bahama Port Authority executives, and conducted studio visits with local artists Claudette Dean, Del Foxton and Susan Moir Mackay.
Coulson said the delegation – made up of NAGB Board Chairman Stanley Burnside; Deputy Chair Chantal Bethel; Secretary Antonius Roberts; Board Member Dr. Gail Saunders; Coulson; and John Cox, chief curator — and its ideas were well received by the community.
“Everyone was extremely excited. Everyone is keen to have Bahamian art and culture better represented in Grand Bahama,” says Coulson.
Over a two-day period, Coulson and the delegation met with Melvin Seymour, permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Freeport; Ian Fair, chairman of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA); Ian Rolle, GBPA president, and Ginger Moxey, GBPA vice president.
Coulson and Cox also made a presentation to the American Women’s Club, and the delegation met with the Grand Bahama Artists Association. The group also got the chance to see the island thanks to a tour arranged by the Ministry of Tourism, and visit St. George’s High School to meet art students preparing for the art BGCSE....
CLICK HERE to read full article by Erica Wells in The Guardian online. |
Outsider Art Fair 2013
January 31 - February 3, 2013
Center 548
548 West 22nd St
New York
Founded by Sanford Smith in 1993, the Outsider Art Fair soon became a critical and commercial success and the leading, annual event in the field of Outsider, Self-Taught and Folk Art. Recognized for its maverick spirit, the fair played a vital role in building a passionate collecting community as crowds flocked annually to New York’s Puck Building, the event’s original site during its first 15 years.
Under Wide Open Arts, a new company formed by art dealer Andrew Edlin, the Outsider Art Fair has moved to Chelsea at the site of the former Dia Foundation and will continue to provide a dynamic atmosphere for dealers to showcase compelling and unusual artworks. The 2013 fair will also add new elements, including the sponsorship of guest curatorial projects and other special events. Visitors to the fair can expect to find prime examples of works by both legendary and newly discovered artists.
CLICK HERE for more information. |
Dean Arlen's 'Paint Installation Project 2013'
January 13 - February 7, 2013
Medulla Art Gallery, 37 Fitt Street
Port of Spain
Trinidad
Art is often controversial. Artist Dean Arlen, however, through his latest works, has set out to create not controversy but philosophical questions about the nature of art — the aesthetics and the idea of beauty. Through his works Arlen seeks to change conventional attitudes and practices in aesthetics, society and morality and requires the observer to think in his 'The Paint Installation Project: A Postcolonial Dada', which opened on Friday at Medulla Art Gallery in Woodbrook.
At first glance Arlen's work is meaningless. It is silly and puzzling; absurd even. But far from this his works, which are devoted to the philosophy of Dadaism and the relationship between art and public urban living spaces, if viewed with a critical mind, is unique and productive and creates open dialogue about a wide array of topics.
The Dada movement was an artistic revolution that took place in the early decades of the 20th century. It changed the face of contemporary art, introducing a wide range of new techniques, styles, and aesthetics. While Dada originally emerged as an anti-war movement, it was also in many ways an anti-art movement, characterised by aspects of surrealism, whimsy, and irrationality. Many famous artists produced work during the period, and others were heavily influenced by the work of the Dadaists....
CLICK HERE for full article on Arlen's work in the Trinidad Express.
CLICK HERE to visit Medulla Art Gallery's Facebook page. |
Smith & Benjamin's
Bahamian Art & Culture Newsletter
Art & Culture were created to
uplift the spirit of mankind.
Bahamian Art & Culture Newsletter is an email newsletter concentrating on the art & culture of The Bahamas and also the world around us. It is published once a week and is a service of Smith & Benjamin Art & Design, a boutique design firm based in Nassau, The Bahamas offering graphic design, custom illustration, fine art, art marketing, art brokerage and publishing.
Dionne Benjamin-Smith, Editor
Tel: (242) 377-0241
Eml: dionne@smith-benjamin.com |
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