Raquel Marshall’s Residency – Week 2 Blog Post

September 21, 2016September 27, 20161 Comment

Barbadian visual artist Raquel Marshall writes about the second week of her Fresh Milk residency. This week, Raquel gives us some more insight into her impetus behind applying for the residency, and how her personal experiences with those who have suffered with alcoholism as well as research into the subject feed into the body of work she is creating while at Fresh Milk. This residency is generously supported by the Central Bank of Barbados. Read more here:

Raquel Marshall in the Fresh Milk studio

I have been working on a few different concepts this week. Here is a look at two of them.

The clay sculptures for the installation I imagined are coming along nicely. Each piece is its own unique vessel, and none are premeditated. Their shapes are quite fluid and remind me of sea life. I wanted to add texture to some of them and decided to go with coral and shell patterns. In trying to approach the subject of denial, it is my intention for these pieces to convey weight, time, care and an element of ‘what is hidden’ within the work. There is nothing I love more in the creative process than to start with a vague idea, be sensitive to the medium and observe the work evolve on its own. I have about 80-100 to make!!

I was inspired to do this piece after having to face a difficult time in my life, which pushed me to apply for this residency. In 2012, I lost my father to suicide due to a lifetime of alcohol abuse. It’s been 4 years (even though it feels like only 4 days at times) of numbness, questions and deep reflection; a time of cocooning and rebirth. The entire experience has inspired me to explore more about alcoholism (drug abuse), especially as it relates to our local (perhaps even regional) culture.

I am grateful to The Substance Abuse Foundation which is a place of healing for addicts because they have been very supportive in helping me find some statistics. Thanks to Larry Mayers and Bernard Pooler. I also had the privilege recently to sit with Kurlyne Alleyne and hear how she uses art as therapy with the patients there. I have such high respect for this organization and the people who work there. I feel proud of those who have walked through their doors to find healing as it is a very brave and honest act, and shows a tremendous strength and love of self.

In my efforts to gather some information I created a little anonymous survey. If you are a Barbadian please fill it out. Thanks to all of you who have taken the time so far. I hope to use the sentiments and statistics for future work.

I truly believe that love saves lives, and this brings me to the next concept I have been working on. According to Barbados Free Press in an article written in 2010, the number of car accidents reported was estimated at 240% higher than the UK, and in 2015 Barbados Today also reported that there was a rise in road fatalities from the year before. Police say drunk-driving and speeding are among the leading causes of accidents. Anesta Henry’s report expresses my personal sentiments through the statements of Richard Cox, the public relations officer of the Barbados Road Safety Association, and Ronald Stanford, Assistant Superintendent.

I have been challenging myself as to whether or not I am being loving and responsible when I watch someone who has spent a night drinking get into their car and drive away? For those of you who don’t know, we don’t have safety laws to prevent people from drinking and driving, we don’t even have breathalyser tests. I have watched many leave the “partay” even with their “one fuh de road” in hand (what a terminology!) and said nothing – I just prayed they made it home safely. Seat belts are required now, and I wanted to incorporate one in a piece as they have been proven to save some lives. I cut the belt into hearts in the way children try to make patterns with folded paper. It was all experimental. The cutting caused the belt to fray, and I found myself drawn to the very tactile and now fragile properties of this new object. I want to do another one. I hope that my work creates dialogue that promotes change.

I took some time this week to walk the grounds here at Fresh Milk. I took in the scenery and calmed my thoughts. Discovering new places and new things always brings out our inner child, so even though there is seriousness in thought, playfulness is never far from reach. My imagination was sparked…I discovered an intimidating snake-like creature with many arrow-shaped heads, a wondrous tree with many rooms, and a troll under a “bridge”. And had a stare down with a cow.

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This residency is sponsored by the Central Bank of Barbados

Matthew ‘Kupakwashe’ Murrell’s Emerging Director Residency – Week 2 Blog Post

September 20, 2016October 6, 2016Leave a comment

Matthew ‘Kupakwashe’ Murrell writes about the second week of his Emerging Directors Residency, a collaboration between Fresh Milk and the National Cultural Foundation (NCF). This week emphasized the importance of planning and strategizing to get the most out of the residency period, as well as seeing Matthew work more with his selected actors Patrick Foster, Nala and Luci Hammans as he continues to develop his interpretation of the play ‘Shakespeare’s Nigga’.

Greetings.

I almost didn’t know what to write for this report. At first when I thought about this week, I kind of felt I had very little to say or report – yet when I really thought about it, I have a lot to say.

Well, first off, I got more clarity on what is expected of me during the residency, which has caused me to re-evaluate many things, almost start over and restructure. One thing that’s for sure is the importance of timing and planning. With that said, the date of the residency showcase has been postponed till late October. This works better for me and for everyone. In order to have a productive rehearsal, I can’t have my actors being loud disturbing the concentration of the visual artists. Also, we have time to focus on the text with stretched out rehearsal times.

Speaking with Kendel Hippolyte, we’ve asked some serious questions and came up with very interesting observations about the texts and the characters. It’s very clear he loves this play and the craftiness of Joseph’s attempt at old English fused with modern English. In conversation with him and my actors, we’re still dissecting the characters and figuring out who they really are and what their purposes are. The language has a lot to offer in many different connotations and offers a range of possibilities for both actor and director to explore. Many views were agreed on and a few questioned, but the journey to discovery is most amazing and rewarding, definitely the highlight of the residency.

I can’t say that I have a 100% concrete idea and concept of how to stage it. Through the many conversations with mentor and cast, more ideas float in and out. This is great, but I also need to concentrate on the theme I am pushing, which is Black Masculinity. One of my objectives is to give this text a space in the Caribbean, have the actors own the language in their voice. Our discussions on black masculinity mostly take place through the character of Aaron and the decisions he makes. Why Shakespeare’s daughter? How does he feel about Othello? The will to over throw Shakespeare’s empire.

The rehearsal space gave room for exploration and discovery. Friday’s rehearsal saw Patrick and Nala on their feet working a scene where the power dynamic switches from Shakespeare to Aaron. After all the reading and discussion and dissecting of text for further understanding, after the second time on their feet, the actors got very intense. Choices of ‘interrogation’, ‘opium and open threats’, ‘dependency and power’ overcame the scene. Patrick and Nala as veteran actors entrusted me as a young director to get them to that point, and I am confident we have found the direction to head in. The actors, so happy and impressed by the work we put in, hug it out after a strong rehearsal!

So since the push back to October, I will be stretching my rehearsals to once a week. Though my time with Kendel is almost up, we agreed to keep talking through the duration of the residency as our conversations are very insightful, and often times humorous in the things we discover in the text and the ‘interesting’ choices I would like to make. I have more hours to make up with my actress than I do with my actors, but I’m excited about what I’ve learned in the process of directing, and excited to see what more can be uncovered.

– Kupa

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This project is a collaborative initiative, funded by the NCF Barbados

Leann Edghill’s Residency – Week 1 Blog Post

September 14, 2016September 14, 20161 Comment

Barbadian artist Leann Edghill writes about the first week of her Fresh Milk residency, where she has been adjusting to the space alongside her fellow residents Raquel Marshall and Matthew ‘Kupakwashe’ Murrell. Despite coming to Fresh Milk with a particular plan in mind, Leann hopes to be open to what the space and its resources can offer, while experimenting with different mediums in her work. This residency is generously supported by the Central Bank of Barbados. Read more here:

My first week here at Fresh Milk has been very welcoming. The space, the environment and the landscape has quite a refreshing feeling, but I also feel nostalgic about being in the country – except for the smell of nature, which hasn’t been my friend! I am currently sharing my experience with another local artist, Raquel C. Marshall, who is very excited about this journey we are on together. Raquel is very energetic and active, which I find helps me to keep just as active and driven as she is. Even though Raquel has more ideas than I do, we are both touching on similar issues and challenging ourselves in our work. I also met another resident on the farm, theatre artist Matthew ‘Kupakwashe’ Murrell. He is completing an Emerging Director Residency. Matthew is more tranquil than Raquel and I, but also a very interesting individual, and I am keen to understand the ways in which he views his art.

I came to Fresh Milk with a plan, knowing the types of mediums I wanted to explore. My idea is to continue conducting research on the iconic Barbie figure and historical events that occurred in Barbados, as well as how Barbie is deteriorating today due to modern technology.

Typically, I prefer to paint with a very bold and monochromatic colour scheme in the style of Pop Art. I am considering exploring watercolours, but I have mixed feelings about this approach although I am familiar with the medium. I think I need to allow the medium itself to dictate the artwork, rather than exercising full control over the process.

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This residency is sponsored by the Central Bank of Barbados

Raquel Marshall’s Residency – Week 1 Blog Post

September 13, 2016September 14, 2016Leave a comment

Barbadian visual artist Raquel Marshall writes about the first week of her Fresh Milk residency. Eager to get started, Raquel has been using her time to explore new ideas, take in the creative environment with her fellow resident artists and utilize the material in the Colleen Lewis Reading Room for research, as she considers the context of her work in this space. This residency is generously supported by the Central Bank of Barbados. Read more here:

The first week of my residency at Fresh Milk went by in a swoosh. I quickly felt at home here, and was able to settle and take advantage of “my time.” Coming into the residency, I already had some concepts in mind and was eager to develop them. I decided to start working on an installation using clay. While creating this, I’ve been pondering denial and the human survival instinct of hiding truths, either from each other or from ourselves. I managed 6 small pieces so far and am feeling accomplished.

I am blessed to be sharing this creative space with Matthew ‘Kupakwashe’ Murrell and Leann Edghill. Mathew and I engaged in a long, interesting conversation about Caribbean music, Barbadian music, calypso, soca and bashment soca on a long drive to drop him home one day. Consider me now more “edumacated.” He is passionate about cultural studies. Leann’s work intrigues me, as I find common threads between our practices, and yet our work is so different. I can’t wait to see what comes out of HER residency!

Reading material from the Colleen Lewis Reading Room

In between the interaction, the creating and the trying to source a variety of things, the Colleen Lewis reading room occupied the rest of my attention. Contemporary artists, Richard Bellingham and Rehema Chachage, caught my attention this week and I am currently watching the ART21 DVD series about art in the 21 st century.

Onward and upward.

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This residency is sponsored by the Central Bank of Barbados

Matthew ‘Kupakwashe’ Murrell’s Emerging Director Residency – Week 1 Blog Post

September 12, 2016October 6, 2016Leave a comment

Matthew ‘Kupakwashe’ Murrell is on the Fresh Milk platform this month as the second candidate in the inaugural Emerging Directors Residency, hosted in collaboration with the National Cultural Foundation (NCF). Despite working within a short time-frame and noting that two weeks is not enough to fully flesh out a residency of this kind, Matthew is making the most of the time and resources he has been afforded by having fruitful discussions with his assigned mentor, renowned St. Lucian poet, playwright and director Kendel Hippolyte, and doing research for his chosen play ‘Shakespeare’s Nigga’. Read more from Matthew below:

My name is Matthew ‘Kupakwashe’ Murrell and I am a part of the Emerging Theatre Director’s Residency pilot project with the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) and Fresh Milk. Although this is the first collaboration of its kind, it’s not the first time I’m undertaking a theatre residency at Fresh Milk. In 2013, I completed a residency in playwriting, producing an excerpt of a play I was devising titled ‘The Brightest Red’.

For the first week, I’ve experienced some ups and downs as it’s the first of its kind and some kinks have to be dealt with along the way to make future participants happy. Given two weeks to do research and then give a presentation of findings is really not enough. Talking to my assigned mentor, St. Lucian playwright and director Kendel Hippolyte, he agreed as well. One week for researching and another for rehearsals as I divided it, still meant little time for proper conceptualisation, rehearsals, scheduling etc. As a director’s residency, I would expect more time to be given for proper research and rehearsals, but it seemed more like a tight window for academic purposes of research and a small presentation of findings. I also expected not to do the whole piece as intended, but even a scene or two in this small window isn’t enough in my opinion. Time is necessary.

So for my residency I’m working on ‘Shakespeare’s Nigga’ written by Trinidadian born and Toronto based playwright and actor Joseph Jomo Pierre. I was first introduced to Joseph’s work years ago as a student at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination (EBCCI). At that time, Alison Sealy-Smith was teaching there fresh off the boat. I always found his work to be daring and unapologetic, and it influenced my writing a lot, especially when our works focused largely on masculinity. Later, Joseph and I became good friends when I travelled to Toronto and spoke about this particular project. ‘Shakespeare’s Nigga’ enters into the dream world of Shakespeare where he is confronted by his black/Moor characters. His rebellious slave Aaron (Titus Andronicus), his obedient ‘slaves’ Othello (Othello) and Tyrus (Titus Andronicus). Shakespeare also deals with his rebellious daughter Judith, who has an ongoing relationship with Aaron. I chose this play for the themes presented and what they meant for me. Shakespeare represents a part of the patriarchy; 50 years of Independence is being celebrating all throughout the Caribbean this year, and our literary giants still hold a back seat to Shakespeare.

His works in our space are considered ‘classics’ and used as a tool for classicism in our classrooms in the days of ‘growing up stupid under the union jack’. Reading the text, as a Caribbean ‘yute’, I saw the proverbial whip being handed down on Aaron’s back by Othello, who was ordered by Shakespeare to do so, as a constant reminder not only of physical but also mental slavery. Aaron’s response to uprise and to denounce Shakespeare as not his ‘negro’ but his ‘nigga’, turning around that hateful word and putting power and purpose to it, and also Othello’s realisation of Shakespeare’s separatism of he and Aaron to cause divide is nothing short of revolutionary for black literary consciousness.

“I am not Shakespeare’s negro. My palate is not so refine. My coarse hair knows not the acquaintance of a brush…”

– Aaron

As research goes, I’ve brushed up on my Shakespeare knowledge on Titus Andronicus and Othello. To be very fair, I am not a Shakespeare fan (except Hamlet), so personal feelings aside, it’s quite interesting to see the playwright’s use of characterisations of the hated Moorish slave in one piece and a hated Moorish commander in other. Both did what they could do to muster respect and a proper way of life, instead…

“…For the paper, look how low we’a stoop/
even if you in a Benz, you still a nigga in a coup/coup…”

– Kanye West

I’ve also done a lot of reading in Augusto Boal’s ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’ which I may add is one of the hardest rangate books on theatre and performance I’ve ever read. So theatre kids in college and university reading this blog, invest in it. Many a times while reading it, I’ve been constantly reminded of what I love about the theatre, and what I think has been missing from our scene for some time. Another part of my research was looking at Spike Lee’s ‘Chi-Raq’. As a Spike Lee fan all my life, I totally enjoyed what he did in taking Lysistrata and making it a contemporary film surrounding the tragedies happening in Chicago’s inner city. Taking a Greek tragedy and showing the purpose and strength of #BlackLivesMatter was especially something I wanted to focus on within my research.

Along with the research, my mentor Kendel and I had great conversations about theatre, the drama and the direction of the piece. The dream of Shakespeare opens countless ideas of how to manipulate the space. The use of language, sound and lights presented endless ideas and great discussions. Next week I work with my actors in the space. Right now, instead of using all the characters, I will only be using three. The legendary Patrick Foster as Shakespeare, the enigmatic Nala as Aaron and the feminist powerhouse Luci Hammans as Judith…I love my cast as you can see from their superpowers.

And as I end this report…