Fresh Milk shares the first blog post by Haitian resident artist Pascale Faublas, who is joining us as part of an artist exchange programme with Le Centre d’Art, Haiti, to create opportunities for women arts practitioners. In her first week, Pascale introduces us to the experience of coming to Barbados during these challenging times, following travel protocols and transitioning into the start of her residency. This programme is supported by UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFDC) and the Foundation for Knowledge and Liberty (FOKAL). Read more below:

En français

Semaine 1

A année exceptionnelle, décisions exceptionnelles! En cette année 2020 marquée par la pandémie du Covid 19, ma résidence artistique a Fresh Milk en Barbades a été exceptionnellement coordonnée par Le Centre d’Art en Haïti et Fresh Milk en Barbades avec le support de l’Unesco et de la Fokal dans l’objectif de rapprocher les artistes de la Caraïbe et d’’offrir des opportunités aux femmes artistes en particulier.

Arrivée en Barbades le 1er Novembre, et suivant les mesures  imposées par le gouvernement, les 6 premiers jours de mon séjour seront conditionnés par ce virus, confinée dans une chambre d’hôtel désigné a cet effet , avec interdiction de prendre contact physique avec quiquonque pas avant les résultats négatifs d’un test Covid PCR pris au 2eme jour et un report de température tous les jours 2 fois par jour pendant 14 jours. 

Publications from the Colleen Lewis Reading Room

Publications from the Colleen Lewis Reading Room

Je serai donc accueillie a distance par Annalee Davis, qui généreusement me pourvoira en  livres provenant de la bibliothèque de Fresh Milk , traitant de la culture, de l’art dans la Caraïbe et la Barbades, me mettra en contact avec des personnes ressources telles que Dr. Tonya Haynes and Taitu Heron pour une mise en contexte de mon projet de résidence : Fanm se poto mitan.

C’est ainsi que,  le 6 Novembre, je suis reçue par Anna Lee Davis et Katherine Kennedy a Fresh Milk sur son site la  Walkers Dairy , une ancienne plantation coloniale aujourd’hui convertie en ferme ou se trouve l’atelier et la résidence d’artistes.

In ENGLISH

Week 1

In an exceptional year, exceptional actions! In this year, 2020, marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, my artistic residency at Fresh Milk in Barbados was exceptionally coordinated by Le Centre d’Art in Haiti and Fresh Milk in Barbados with the support of UNESCO and Fokal with the objective of bringing artists from the Caribbean closer together, and to offer opportunities to women artists in particular.

I arrived in Barbados on November 1, and following the measures imposed by the government, the first 6 days of my stay were conditioned by this virus. I was confined in a hotel room designated for this purpose, with a ban on making physical contact with anyone before the negative results of a Covid PCR test taken on the 2nd day and a temperature report every day twice a day for 14 days.

Publications from the Colleen Lewis Reading Room

Publications from the Colleen Lewis Reading Room

I was greeted at a distance by Annalee Davis, who generously provided me with books dealing with culture, art in the Caribbean and Barbados, all from the Colleen Lewis Reading Room at Fresh Milk. Fresh Milk put me in contact with Dr. Tonya Haynes (Institute for Gender & Development Studies at the University of the West Indies) and Taitu Heron (Director of the UWI Women and Development Unit, University of the West Indies) for me to contextualize my residency project: Fanm se poto mitan.

On November 6, I was received by Annalee Davis and Katherine Kennedy at Fresh Milk on their site at Walkers Dairy, a former colonial plantation now converted into a farm, which hosts workshops and artist residencies.

About Le Centre d’Art:

Le Centre d’Art in Port-au-Prince is an institution that works towards promoting artistic creations by Haitian practitioners on the basis of preserved heritage values. Since its creation in 1944, this atypical space with multiple missions has been at the heart of societal and artistic evolutions. As the major protagonist in the reconfiguration of the fine arts realm in Haiti, Le Centre d’Art has been paving the way for several schools and artistic movements.

Despite the destruction of the infrastructure during the earthquake of 2010, Le Centre d’Art managed to save more than 5000 works and 3000 archive files, which are today preserved and valued. Since the reopening in 2014, Le Centre d’Art has once again become an essential part of Haitian culture.

Its mission is to support artists and their creations, and to conserve and disseminate Haitian visual arts. It is a resource space for artists, art students, art lovers, collectors and researchers alike.