Category: Barbados

Versia Harris’ Residency at the IBB, Curacao

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Barbadian artist Versia Harris blogs about her residency at the Instituto Buena Bista (IBB) in Curacao, where she is taking part in their International Project Space programme for the month of October, 2013.

VersiaHarris-IPS

My impression of The Instituto Buena Bista when I first walked through their offices, studios and expansive garden, was that it is a place that supports art experimentation of all kinds. Whether it is audio, video, photography, new media or mixed media, etc, they have rooms and equipment that make these things possible. Scattered everywhere is artwork, both finished and unfinished. The place immediately put me at ease and also made me excited about creating new work.

The IBB courtyard

The IBB courtyard

Most of the first week was just about settling in and getting familiar with Curacao life but by the end of it, I started to flesh out some of the  ideas rolling around in my head.

versia2

versia3

The second week commenced my teaching at the Institute.  I opted to demonstrate to the students how I produce my animations so that they could then produce their own. Tutoring so many people is an entirely new experience that came with its ups and downs. On the one hand, most of them are quite receptive and have come up with some nice ideas of what to animate. On the other hand, students will be students. I found it difficult at first to deal with some of the excuses as to why they didn’t do this or that, the very late submissions or complete absences that kept me repeating myself. The experience is exciting and rewarding yet frustrating and exhausting, but it is something that I’m glad I got the opportunity to do.

Outside of my lessons some of the students and I have been discussing and exchanging ideas. I’ve started to toy with some live action video, something I have almost no experience in. It hasn’t gotten very far so I’m not sure how I feel about it yet, but I’m looking forward to what the rest of the time reveals to me about this medium.

Video stills from Versia Harris' work in progress

To keep up with Versia’s progress, follow her blog at versiaabeda.tumblr.com

Art Appreciation Course – Deadline extended, new course dates!

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art appreciation course updated final

ART APPRECIATION: WHAT’S THIS THING CALLED CONTEMPORARY ART?

DEADLINE EXTENDED – NEW COURSE DATES

Barbados Community College has extended registration for the Art Appreciation evening course by one week. The class is now scheduled to begin on Thursday October 10th. Registration closes at 3pm on Monday October 7th.

WHERE: Barbados Community College (BCC), Art Division of Fine Arts, Morningside Campus, Art History Room

WHEN: October 10 – December 19, 2013 (Thursday nights)

TIME: 5.30PM – 8.30PM

COST: $400.00 to be paid no later than Monday October 7th. The cashier’s office closes at 3pm.

HOW TO REGISTER: Go to Student Affairs in the Administration block at BCC. The registration form can be downloaded here.

DATES: October 10, 16 (Wednesday), 24, 31; November 7, 14, 21, 28; December 12, 19

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This Art Appreciation Course is designed to provide you with a basic understanding of the contemporary visual arts produced in Barbados, the Caribbean and its diaspora, with a focus on emerging and contemporary practices.  Through material covered in this course, you will become familiar with work being produced by select contemporary creatives working in Barbados, the Caribbean and further afield which may include looking at major Caribbean exhibitions. A selection of ART 21 videos will be screened showcasing interviews with contemporary artists from around the world, speaking about their practices. The introductory presentation will speak to ways of looking at art allowing you to develop a strategy to discuss and understand works of art. This course will also cover the increased presence and role of informal art spaces throughout the region and their impact on the contemporary art space. The elements that comprise a developed creative economy will be explored. Guest speakers will join some of the weekly sessions, exposing you to the richness of creatives working in Barbados. At least one off-site class will allow you to experience an event showcasing contemporary creatives sharing and speaking about their practices.

COURSE OBJECTIVE: The objective of this ten-session course is to develop an awareness of and appreciation for contemporary art practice. This framework will enable you to expand your understanding of the contemporary arts arena, stimulate critical thinking generally, and enhance your enjoyment of art. The course is suitable for enhancing your general knowledge about the arts and may stimulate confidence for the budding art collector.

ABOUT THE TUTOR: Annalee Davis is a part-time tutor in the BFA programme at the BCC. She is a practicing visual artist whose work exposes tensions within the larger context of a post-colonial Caribbean history and observes the nature of post-independent (failing) nation states. She explores notions of home, longing and belonging; questions the parameters that define who belong (and who doesn’t), and is concerned with issues surrounding the shifting landscapes of the archipelago. She has exhibited her work throughout the Caribbean and internationally since 1989. Annalee completed a BFA at the Maryland Institute, College of Art and an MFA at the Mason Gross School for the Arts, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She works from her studio, The Milking Parlour in St. George, Barbados. In August 2011 she founded The Fresh Milk Art Platform Inc., a platform for conversation about contemporary art and a space supporting emerging talent.

For more on Fresh Milk visit www.freshmilkbarbados.com and for more on her practice visit www.annaleedavis.com. For more information email annalee@annaleedavis.com

Fresh Milk and Groundation Grenada welcome Damali Abrams

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Damali Announcement flyer

FRESH MILK and Groundation Grenada are pleased to have NYC-based, Guyanese performance artist Damali Abrams visit our platforms as artist in residence for the month of October, 2013.

Damali, who has been working with FRESH MILK on The Fresh Performance Project which features interviews with Caribbean-based and NYC-based performance artists, will spend three weeks in Barbados and one week in Grenada. In addition to editing a full length documentary around Fresh Performance and producing her own work, Damali will also be conducting workshops and community outreach projects in both islands.

This exciting residency not only marks the first official collaboration between FRESH MILK and Groundation, but will also expand the cultural arena for both NY based and Caribbean based creatives, contributing to critical discourse around performance art.

Fresh Milk and Groundation Grenada wish to engage with the Caribbean diasporic art community in the New York area as well as a wider U.S. audience, and projects of this nature are unique in that they reverse the trend of Caribbean based artists wanting to find relevance for their work in a North American context. In this instance, it is a U.S. based artist who is keen to see how her work resonates within the Caribbean environment.

Given that performance art in the Caribbean is practiced by a small number of artists, this project will contribute to expanding a critical and creative community by offering support to performance artists who often work in isolation. Finally, the project will build cultural bridges between the U.S. and the Caribbean and generate understanding and community through the arts.

Damali will share the outcome of her residency at a public event to be held at FRESH MILK on October 24th. More information on this to follow!

Special thanks to the US Embassy in Barbados for supporting this project.

Adrian Green and Sky LARC’s Residency: Week 2

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Spoken word artist and Adrian Green and filmmaker LARC are collaborating at Fresh Milk for the month of September and working on the production of a video short. See LARC’s photographs of the performing artists they are working with, and read Adrian’s blog entry about the challenges of filmmaking, and innovation necessary to adapt to the process.

Review Performance

Reviewing the performance

I instinctively understood it before.  But I can appreciate more now.  Film making in Barbados is H(art)D.  I’ll come back to that.

This process of film making is entirely new and fascinating to me.  This is my first time working in the medium and thus far it is very different.

This is my perception of the process thus far.  We are in the pre-production stage and at this point there is not a lot of “art” going on.  The “art” goes into the conceptualisation and production of a script and/or treatment, and the production of visuals in filming and editing.  Aside from that it is planning and administrative work to be done, to ensure that the small window we have for shooting does not close on us prematurely.

The planning involves scheduling, corresponding with actors, securing props, equipment and finalising locations.  In other words, looking around making calls and waiting.  This is hard work for me who is not the most organised and usually depends on no one and nothing but himself  to get his art done. This is definitely not a 9 to 5 type gig.  Long periods of seeming inactivity are set to be followed by marathon sessions of filming and editing.

Now on the difficulty of island film making…

Time and budgetary constraints make it so the local film maker must be extra creative.  I think I’ll call it “Jazz style film making” or “Mcgyver film making.”  This is because the of the level of improvisation, ingenuity and innovation required.  You may start with a vision but can expect that the flexibility of your creative muscle will be tested when lack of resources, responses, time and so on, require you to find new ways, approaches and ideas.

But then again, I guess this is not unique to film making.  That is just art.  Somehow though, it seems amplified when applied to screen.  Movie Magic?

– Adrian Green

Megghan and friends

Megghan and friends

Art Appreciation Course: What is this thing called contemporary art?

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art appreciation course flyer

ART APPRECIATION: WHAT’S THIS THING CALLED CONTEMPORARY ART?

WHERE: Barbados Community College (BCC), Art Division of Fine Arts, Morningside Campus, Art History Room

WHEN: October 3rd – December 19th 2013 (Thursday nights)

TIME: 5.30PM – 8.30PM

COST: $400.00 to be paid before class starts on October 3rd

HOW TO REGISTER: Go to Student Affairs in the Administration block at BCC. The registration form can be downloaded here.

DATES: October 3, 10, 16, (Wednesday) 24, 31; November 14, 21, 28; December 12, 19.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This Art Appreciation Course is designed to provide you with a basic understanding of the contemporary visual arts produced in Barbados, the Caribbean and its diaspora, with a focus on emerging and contemporary practices.  Through material covered in this course, you will become familiar with work being produced by select contemporary creatives working in Barbados, the Caribbean and further afield which may include looking at major Caribbean exhibitions. A selection of ART 21 videos will be screened showcasing interviews with contemporary artists from around the world, speaking about their practices. The introductory presentation will speak to ways of looking at art allowing you to develop a strategy to discuss and understand works of art. This course will also cover the increased presence and role of informal art spaces throughout the region and their impact on the contemporary art space. The elements that comprise a developed creative economy will be explored. Guest speakers will join some of the weekly sessions, exposing you to the richness of creatives working in Barbados. At least one off-site class will allow you to experience an event showcasing contemporary creatives sharing and speaking about their practices.

COURSE OBJECTIVE: The objective of this ten-session course is to develop an awareness of and appreciation for contemporary art practice. This framework will enable you to expand your understanding of the contemporary arts arena, stimulate critical thinking generally, and enhance your enjoyment of art. The course is suitable for enhancing your general knowledge about the arts and may stimulate confidence for the budding art collector.

ABOUT THE TUTOR: Annalee Davis is a part-time tutor in the BFA programme at the BCC. She is a practicing visual artist whose work exposes tensions within the larger context of a post-colonial Caribbean history and observes the nature of post-independent (failing) nation states. She explores notions of home, longing and belonging; questions the parameters that define who belong (and who doesn’t), and is concerned with issues surrounding the shifting landscapes of the archipelago. She has exhibited her work throughout the Caribbean and internationally since 1989. Annalee completed a BFA at the Maryland Institute, College of Art and an MFA at the Mason Gross School for the Arts, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She works from her studio, The Milking Parlour in St. George, Barbados. In August 2011 she founded The Fresh Milk Art Platform Inc., a platform for conversation about contemporary art and a space supporting emerging talent.

For more on Fresh Milk visit www.freshmilkbarbados.com and for more on her practice visit www.annaleedavis.com. For more information email annalee@annaleedavis.com