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!

FRESH MILK at the IBB: Blog Post III

November 19, 2012May 19, 2015Leave a comment

IBB student and assistant for the collaboration, Tamika Lont

IBB student and one of the camera-men for the collaboration, Fabian Plantijn

IBB students and camera-men, Rashid Pieter and Fabian Plantijn

Gallery Alma Blou, where I spoke to curator Lusette Verboom

Visual artist and co-founder of the IBB Tirzo Martha

Interviewing artist and co-founder of the IBB, David Bade

After a visit to the beach on Sunday, I was refreshed and ready to get back to the interview project Monday, where Tamika, Fabian, Rashid and I visited Gallery Alma Blou to speak with the curator there, Lusette Verboom. The Gallery started off as a small souvenir and gift store, and it has since grown and developed into an art gallery and local craft shop located in Landhuis Habaai. It was a pleasure to speak to Lusette, who is not only passionate about supporting the arts, but about making them accessible to the public. Interestingly, while a few of the others I have spoken with noted some resistance from the public in engaging with and valuing contemporary art, Lusette mentions that the gallery has sometimes received a negative response from artists themselves, who oppose her choice to have a craft and souvenir shop alongside the gallery. They feel that it lowers the tone in some way, but Lusette disagrees; apart from the point of sustainability and having a means for the gallery to earn revenue through the interest in the gift shop, she also believes that there should be a measure of respect for the skills of local crafts-persons from fine artists, and that the commercial goods also act as a way to broaden the patronage of the gallery.

Before conducting my next two interviews, Holly and I decided to have an evening out…it didn’t quite go as planned, due to some confusing Google maps and a sold out film at the cinema, but we did get the chance to take a walk through Willemstad. Crossing the Queen Emma Bridge – which floats on the water, supported by sixteen pontoon boats – connecting the Otrobanda and Punda sides of the town, we had stunning views of the city by night. The music and open air cafe we passed created a great atmosphere for a stroll through Punda, and it was nice to see the area in a different light.

The final two interviews before our interactive Ustream project, were with Tirzo Martha and David Bade, artists and co-founders of the IBB. Preceding the live stream which featured both of them together, I spoke with them separately in their respective studio spaces about their work and the inception of the IBB. Tirzo currently has a studio on site at the IBB, while David has an area set up for his painting at home. I asked both of them about the impact of teaching and running the IBB on their personal practices, and both see it as more of a help than hindrance; Tirzo said having his space on site helps to inspire the students, setting an example for work ethic and creativity, and David views the IBB itself as a piece of art. They are using it as a catalyst for social change – a theme heavily embedded in both of their general concepts. Rather than focusing on projects or exhibitions which have a starting and ending point, the IBB is an ongoing piece, which continuously gives back to the community, both with the students that pass through the gates and the interaction with the patients at Capriles Clinic. This sets the scene for a new generation of artists, and nurtures a new way of thinking.

My final post will be on its way this week, where I’ll recap the regional Ustream broadcast Creatives in Conversation, and assess my trip on the whole. I think what Fresh Milk and the IBB have begun here, and the topics we have touched regarding communication and Caribbean ties are the start of something very important, and that we are on the way to building a critical and game changing path for the regional art scene. More on this later!

Katherine Kennedy

Fresh Milk and the IBB Present: Creatives in Conversation

November 16, 2012May 19, 2015Leave a comment

Remember to tune in to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ibb-live tonight at 6pm local time in Curaçao to watch CREATIVES IN CONVERSATION, an interactive Ustream interview with visual artists and co-founders of the Instituto Buena Bista (IBB) David Bade and Tirzo Martha.

This project, conceptualized by Barbadian art historian Natalie McGuire, recognises the internet as a medium where people in the Caribbean have been able to research what is happening regionally in the arts, but wants to take it a step further and proactively make the internet a space for critical dialogue and exchange.

Barbadian artist Katherine Kennedy will be representing FRESH MILK, interviewing visual artists and co-founders of the IBB David Bade and Tirzo Martha at the IBB in Curaçao, and you are invited to send in your comments and questions as the interview is occurring.

Be sure to tune in and be a part of this event, as we continue to link our Caribbean arts community.

FRESH MILK IX

November 15, 2012May 19, 2015Leave a comment

Come out to FRESH MILK IX (free) and enjoy performances by Fresh Milk’s Artist-in-Residence, Alberta Whittle. And meet and talk with artists from the Instituto Buena Bista in Curaçao. For more information, email us at freshmilkbarbados@gmail.com.