FRESH MILK IX – Thursday November 29th at 7:00 pm

November 28, 2012June 29, 2015Leave a comment

Kick-start your Independence weekend this Thursday by joining us at the Milking Parlour Studio forFRESH MILK IX, where we welcome the team from the IBB in Curaçao, consisting of co-foundersDavid Bade and Tirzo Martha, visiting Dutch artist Erik Habets, and three IBB students to the platform with a full night of showcasing talent.

Hustle de Money
7:30 pm

Our current artist in residence Alberta Whittle will perform ‘Hustle de Money – a Performance by Bertie aka Big Red aka General outta Glitter Zone’ which explores the social construction of identity as defined through race, gender and sexuality.

Click on the image above to visit Alberta’s blog.

Presentation by the IBB Team
8:00 – 9:00 pm

The IBB Team will give a presentation, introcucing the organization, speaking about its role in Curaçao and by extension Caribbean society, as well as students Dominic Schmetz, Kristel Rigaud and Rashid Pieter speaking about their own practices. Visit the IBB website for more information.

FRESH Art Exhibition and Sale

Exhibited all night in the Studio, we have the work of young artists Alicia Alleyne, Evan Avery, Tracey Chan, Shanika Grimes, Versia Harris, Katherine Kennedy and Rodell Warner on sale.

With Independence Day and the Christmas season right around the corner, it’s the perfect time to celebrate local and regional talent by buying some unique artwork – whether it’s for yourself or someone else, this sale is thegift that keeps on giving, as you contribute to our culture and community by supporting upcoming artists.

IBB Workshops at BCC – Mural Painting with David Bade

November 28, 2012May 19, 2015Leave a comment

David Bade getting started on his mural workshop with the BCC art students

David Bade conducting his mural painting workshop

Students getting involved with the mural painting workshop

David Bade ran one of three workshops with the Art Associate Degree students at BCC on Tuesday, to produce a 30 foot mural at the College. The students were really excited to participate in such an energetic project.

FRESH MILK Welcomes the IBB Team

November 28, 2012May 19, 2015Leave a comment

The IBB Team viewing the work of 2nd and 3rd year BFA students at BCC

The IBB Team conducting studio visits at Fresh Milk

Emerging artist Evan Avery's work on show for the IBB's studio visit

The IBB team looking at Evan Avery's work

Alicia Alleyne showing her work to the IBB Team

The IBB team in a studio visit with Alicia Alleyne

Fresh Milk welcomes the team from the Instituto Buena Bista (IBB) to Barbados this week, commencing the second part of our collaborative Satellite Project.

On Monday, IBB co-founders David Bade and Tirzo Martha, Dutch artist Erik Habets and IBB students Kristel Rigaud, Rashid Pieter and Dominic Schmetz visited the Barbados Community College (BCC), where they met with the 2nd and 3rd year students of the BFA Programme to view and discuss their work. They then travelled to the Milking Parlour Studio to conduct studio visits with young emerging artists Alicia Alleyne and Evan Avery.

Remember this Thursday night, November 29th the IBB will be giving a presentation at FRESH MILK IX, which also features a performance by Alberta Whittle, and an exhibition and sale – featuring the work of Alicia, Evan and other artists who have been on the platform. Not only can you buy a unique gift at the art sale, but you give back to the community by supporting these local and regional artists.

FRESH MILK at the IBB: Blog Post IV

November 27, 2012May 19, 2015Leave a comment

The Ustream interview with David Bade and Tirzo Martha

Mirado di Turtuga, a turtle watching point on the North Coast

Holly and Erik looking at the view from Fort Beekenburg

It’s been a week since I returned to Barbados – sorry this is late, but it just shows how busy and productive things have been at Fresh Milk, while we got everything in order for the arrival of the IBB team to Barbados, and preparations for FRESH MILK IX, which will be held Thursday, November 29th at 7pm. Never a dull moment!

Overall, the interactive Ustream project Creatives in Conversation which rounded off my set of interviews in Curacao was definitely a success. There were a few technical difficulties, but all the quirks such as jokes, impromptu karaoke sessions, IT technician Omar Kuwas having to usurp me as the interviewer when he possessed the sole laptop with an internet connection, and general good natured fun made it endearing, alongside the serious and very pertinent issues David Bade and Tirzo Martha brought up about the contemporary arts in Curacao and around the region. And of course, what I found to be the greatest aspect of the project was the response we got from our viewers. NLS in Jamaica hosted an event in a local bar to screen the interview, Ateliers ’89 in Aruba also tuned in, Fresh Milk was represented, and artists and interested persons from around the region and beyond (including responses from St. Vincent, the Netherlands etc.) all took part and sent in their questions.

The interest in the project, and David and Tirzo’s passionate answers show that there is a need for this inter-regional and international communication in the arts, and that the time is ripe for this interaction to take place. As Tirzo said, stop the circular conferences and stagnant symposiums – this is our chance to take collective action and find ways to really focus on and tackle the issues we have in the Caribbean together, as the ones actually affected by legislation passed from people who do not understand the situation. Creatives in Conversation showed that despite the difficulties in inter-regional travel, we can find alternate methods to at least make a start, and I think it could be a good idea for the informal art institutions (Fresh Milk, IBB, NLS, Ateliers ’89, Alice Yard, Popopstudios, Tembe Art Studio etc.) to schedule these streamed events on a regular basis, held in a different country each time, so we remain informed about what we do and circulate our own ideas on how we can strengthen the Caribbean art scene.

If you missed the interview live, you can still view it online at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ibb-live

That weekend, we took some down time and Holly, Erik, Marijn, David, Willy and I visited a turtle watching point, had lunch in a local restaurant and visited a couple of beaches on the Saturday. On Sunday we went adventuring to the East of the island, eventually settling on Caracas Bay, a rock and pebble beach with stunningly clear water. This was also next to Fort Beekenberg, which you could climb to the top of for gorgeous views over the island.

I already miss the students and staff at the IBB, my housemates Holly Bynoe, Erik and Marijn Habets, and our dogs Bruno and Tequila. I am very grateful to everyone who contributed to my time in Curacao. I have high hopes and expectations for the outcome of this residency, with the interviews which will be released in the coming weeks introducing a wider public to the Curacao arts, and the interactive platform that we would love to continue building to set the stage for an enhanced level of understanding and collaboration. We’re already well on our way, as Fresh Milk welcomed Tirzo, David, Erik and IBB students Dominic Schmetz, Kristel Rigaud and Rashid Pieter to Barbados this past Sunday. Looking forward to this week with them, and everything our partnership with the IBB will accomplish!

Katherine Kennedy

Alberta Whittle’s Residency Blog

November 23, 2012May 19, 2015Leave a comment

Alberta Whittle has a new post up on her blog about how her residency at FRESH MILK has been progressing:

In the neighbourhood where I grew up, I always used to see shoes suspended from telephone wires. I was always drawn to these shoes and instinctively wanted to retrieve them and take them home with me. Mainly sneakers, but of varying hues, sizes, brands and stages of deterioration. They never seemed to truly age, but marked territory and memory for the community in some way. I don’t remember what I hoped to do with them, but there was value or symbolism these shoes were imbued with that called to me. When I mentioned them to my sister, she said shoes dangling from the wire signified that drugs were peddled in this area. Hence, these shoes adopted a different meaning for me and became an image of demarcation of space, as much as of gang culture.

Bronzing the shoes refers to their symbolism as a signifier of a specific rite of passage, where shoes are appropriated by members of a community to represent a commodity and a zone. I intend to situate these newly-bronzed shoes in a similar frame to create an urban shrine to the invented realities suggested by the fete posters. – Alberta Whittle

Follow her blog at http://albertawhittlenavigation.blogspot.com/, and remember to come out to FRESH MILK IX next week Thursday, November 29th at 7pm to see her performance and more!