FRESH MILK XIX

June 22, 2016Leave a comment

The Fresh Milk Art Platform is pleased to present FRESH MILK XIX, taking place on Monday, June 27, 2016 from 6-8 pm. The event will feature Fijian-Australian artist Torika Bolatagici and Barbadian artist Anisah Wood, who are in residence at Fresh Milk for the month of June.

Torika will be speaking about both her own work and that of a selection of Pacific artists in a talk titled ‘Seeing the Black Pacific’. Anisah – the winner of the 2016 ‘My Time’ Local Artist Residency – will make a presentation about her practice and residency experience so far, as well as have an open discussion with Torika about her work.

This event is free and open to the public. Directions to Fresh Milk can be found on the ‘About Page’ of our website here.

Seeing the Black Pacific

During her residency in Barbados, Fijian-Australian artist Torika Bolatagici has been exploring the historical, cultural and biotic similarities of the island cultures of Fiji and Barbados. With shared histories of British colonization, cannibal mythology, indentured labour, tourism and a declining sugar industry, there are as many parallels between the two countries as there are differences. Torika is interested in how contemporary artists from these respective regions respond to, reflect and represent the island cultures of Melanesia and the Caribbean.

In this presentation, Torika will give an overview of the diverse practices emerging from Australian-based artists of Melanesian and Indian-Fijian heritage.

From the series ‘Kikau Street’ © Mohini Chandra, 2015

‘Tabu (sacred)’ © Torika Bolatagici, 2014

From the series ‘The Blood Generation’ © Taloi Havini and Stuart Miller. 2009

‘In a Bind’ © Lisa Hilli, 2015

Cultural Heritage, Revival and Redress
Julia Mage’au Gray (Papua New Guinea)
Lisa Hilli (Papua New Guinea)
Dulcie Stewart (Fiji)

Performing Contemporary Oceanic Identities
Salote Tawale (Fiji)
Eric Bridgeman (Papua New Guinea)

Positioning the (Geo)political Pacific
Taloi Havini (Autonomous Region of Bougainville);
Mohini Chandra (Fiji)
Torika Bolatagici (Fiji)

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About the featured speakers:

Torika Bolatagici

Torika Bolatagici was born in Tasmania and spent the early years of her life living between Hobart, Sydney and her father’s village – Suvavou, Fiji.

Torika works across a range of media, including photography, video and mixed media site-specific installation. Her interdisciplinary practice investigates the relationship between visual culture, human ecology, postcolonial counter narrative and visual historiography of the Black Pacific. She is interested in exploring the tensions and intersections between gender, embodied knowledge, commodification, migration and globalization.

Torika’s work has been exhibited in New York, San Francisco, Mexico City, Yogyakarta and throughout Aotearoa, New Zealand and Australia. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at local and international conferences and symposia about the representation of mixed-race identity; Pacific arts practice in Australia and Fiji; representations of teachers and teaching in cinema; and gender and militarism in the Pacific.

In her role as Symposium coordinator for the Contemporary Pacific Arts Festival in 2013 and 2014, Torika curated multiple panels to extend the discourse around contemporary Pacific arts practice in Australia and invited speakers to reflect on themes such as art and activism, museums, collecting and curating, cultural appropriation and contemporary practice. She also produced the symposium publication Mana Motu.

As well as 11 years experience teaching at tertiary level, Torika also has experience facilitating youth arts workshops for the local Pacific community, most recently the Pacific Photobook Project in Melbourne and Sydney.

Torika also presents the Community Reading Room – a pop-up destination for research, community discussion and engagement around international visual arts and culture, with a particular focus on contemporary art and theory from Oceania, Africa and the Americas. The Community Reading Room has appeared at Colour Box Studio (2013) and the Footscray Community Arts Centre (2014).

Torika is a photography lecturer in the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University, Melbourne where she teaches contemporary theory and practice. She is currently undertaking a PhD at the School of Art and Design, University of New South Wales.

Anisah Wood

Anisah Wood is a visual artist based in Barbados. She is in the process of completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Barbados Community College with a major in Studio Art. Her practice involves video art, digital photography, and installation. She has had the privilege of exhibiting the results of her practice at the Punch Creative Arena, The National Arts Council Barbados and at various national arts competitions.

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Torika Bolatagici’s project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Maj Hasager & Ask Kæreby – Week 4 Blog Post

December 10, 2015December 10, 2015Leave a comment

Danish artists Maj Hasager and Ask Kæreby who undertook a residency at Fresh Milk during the month of November share their fourth blog post about a very busy final week in Barbados. The end of their trip included everything from research, sound recordings, a catamaran cruise, an exhibition opening, a workshop and our last public event for 2015, FRESH MILK XVIII. Read more about their packed last days below:

Cannon supporting wall.

It seems now like a distant memory of being warm and sweaty night and day. We have returned to Copenhagen after a detour via London and Cologne, and suddenly the days are even shorter and the evenings and nights seem darker and colder. Winter in Copenhagen is a challenge. It always feels strange to have to reflect back on recent events when shifting location, and it sounds like a voiceover in my mind when trying to reconstruct the pieces and images that go with it.

Waiting for the library to open early Monday morning

At the museum

Our fourth and final week begins in the library of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, which seems to have chosen cryonics as their method for preserving their material. Maj meets with historian Miguel Pena while Ask reads on the formation of workers’ unions and migration to the Canal Zone – until the chatter of his teeth becomes so disturbing that we leave to defrost in the tropical sun. Even this didn’t prepare us fully for the Danish winter though…

We also pay a visit to Government Information Service, located in an unassuming building in the outskirts of town, and seeming to operate with a landline and the phone book as the primary resources. They are the sole distributor of the documentary Diggers, which is the only locally accessible source of footage from the construction of the Panama Canal. As it’s right after lunch, and our contact person is not around, we meet and greet seemingly all employees in the office, as a prolonged discussion over the spelling of the title takes place until we finally leave with DVD and receipt in hand.

Friendly neighbours

Tree in the backyard

Tuesday afternoon we are picked up by a driver, who is struggling to find our location hidden away in the centre of the Island – we are in fact “out of range” according to his company’s definition, and it does feel that way sometimes, which seems curious in such a small place.

Great working conditions

Hydrophone dragged after catamaran

We take the hydrophone sailing off the west coast, capturing some wonderful eerie sounds when anchored or wind powered – though any engine active in the entire bay can be heard clearly. As the sun sets, the visual beauty of the surroundings rivals the sonic seascape.

Versia Harris’ exhibition ‘This Quagmire’ at Punch Creative Arena

Ronald Williams and Katherine Kennedy at the opening of ‘This Quagmire’. Photo by Annalee Davis

On Wednesday morning Maj meets Annalee to have a studio visit on her work. Exciting conversations unfold before we head off to meet Allison Thompson, the director of the fine arts department at Barbados Community College (BCC), where exchanges on pedagogy, teaching methods and structures are shared. In the evening we are attending the opening of This Quagmire, an exhibition by Versia Harris at the Punch Creative Arena in the Morningside Gallery at BCC.

Therese and Maj in conversation. All photos of FRESH MILK XVIII by Dondré Trotman

Ask presenting research and soundings

Beyond Publishing’s presentation

Getting ready for the event

FRESH MILK XVIII

Wednesday is also the final session of the sound workshop, and everyone chips in with fascinating yet very different compositions. We are also busy preparing for FRESH MILK XXVIII, which is quite a packed evening with both of us presenting work, Maj in conversation with Therese Hadchity, and the Beyond Publishing collective presenting their activities as well.

A packed final week, that somehow sums up the intensity of a month’s residency at Fresh Milk. Our suitcases are loaded with reading material and textile works by Mark King when we leave Walkers in St. George. A huge thank you to the wonderful Fresh Milk team: Annalee Davis, Katherine Kennedy, Natalie McGuire and of course also Barbara and Vere Davis. One thing is for sure: We can’t wait to return.

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This residency is supported in part by the Danish Arts Foundation

FRESH MILK XVIII Photos

December 2, 2015Leave a comment

Fresh Milk invites you to take a look at some photos from our recent public event FRESH MILK XVIII, which took place on Thursday, November 26, 2015.

The event featured Danish artists Maj Hasager and Ask Kæreby who were in residence at Fresh Milk for the month of November. Maj was in conversation about her recent publication Making Visible with Barbados-based curator Therese Hadchity, while Ask made a presentation about his work in experimental sound art and spoke about the workshops he conducted at Fresh Milk.

Also on the platform were members from local company Beyond Publishing, who spoke about self-publishing in the graphic novel industry in Barbados.

All photography is by Dondré Trotman.

Titles by Beyond Publishing

Screening Maj Hasager’s film ‘We Will Meet in the Blind Spot’

Maj Hasager and Natalie McGuire

Screening Maj Hasager’s film ‘We Will Meet in the Blind Spot’

Sammy Davis and Natalie McGuire

Therese Hadchity in conversation with Ask Kaereby

FRESH MILK XVIII

Maj Hasager and Alicia Alleyne

Annalee Davis introducing the featured guests

FRESH MILK XVIII

‘Making Visible’ by Maj Hasager

FRESH MILK XVIII

Therese Hadchity in conversation with Maj Hasager

FRESH MILK XVIII

Ask Kaereby presenting his work

FRESH MILK XVIII

Ask Kaereby

FRESH MILK XVIII

Annalee Davis

Some members of the Beyond Publishing Caribbean Team: Alan Lynch, Matthew Clarke, Delvin Howell and Tristan Roach.

Some members of the Beyond Publishing Caribbean Team

Maj Hasager documenting the event

Alan Lynch, Matthew Clarke and Delvin Howell from Beyond Publishing

Matthew Clarke and Delvin Howell from Beyond Publishing

Some members of the Beyond Publishing Caribbean Team

Annalee Davis and Andre Woodvine

FRESH MILK XVIII featured speakers: Tristan Roach, Delvin Howell, Matthew Clarke, Alan Lynch, Therese Hadchity, Ask Kaereby and Maj Hasager

Annalee Davis speaking with Beyond Publishing

Katrina Harewood and Deanne Kennedy

Transoceanic Visual Exchange Caribbean 2015 Video

November 24, 2015Leave a comment

Take a look at a short video about Fresh Milk‘s recent project Transoceanic Visual Exchange (TVE) Caribbean, which was held throughout October. TVE 2015 was a survey of contemporary video art and film from across the Caribbean, Africa and Aotearoa that was presented in collaboration with Video Art Network Lagos (Nigeria) and RM (New Zealand).

Thanks so much to Sammy Davis for shooting and editing this video, to our local partners the Bim Films Festival, the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination (EBCCI) Film Club and the Barbados Community College (BCC), and to Stansfeld Scott Inc. for their sponsorship.

FRESH MILK XVIII

November 17, 2015November 20, 2015Leave a comment

The Fresh Milk Art Platform is pleased to present FRESH MILK XVIII, taking place on Thursday, November 26, 2015 from 6-9 pm. The event will feature Danish artists Maj Hasager and Ask Kæreby who are in residence at Fresh Milk for the month of November. Maj will be in conversation about her recent publication Making Visible with Barbados-based curator Therese Hadchity, while Ask will make a presentation about his work in experimental sound art and speak about the workshops he has been conducting at Fresh Milk.

Also on the platform will be members from local company Beyond Publishing, who will be speaking about self-publishing in the graphic novel industry in Barbados.

This event is free and open to the public. Limited numbers of Making Visible will be on sale, as well as graphic novels and t-shirts by Beyond Publishing.

Directions to Fresh Milk can be found on the ‘About Page’ of our website here.

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About the featured speakers:

Maj Hasager

Maj Hasager is a Danish artist and filmmaker based in Copenhagen, Denmark. She studied photography and fine art in Denmark, Sweden and the UK, earning an MFA from Malmö Art Academy, Sweden. Her work deals with power structures, identity, memory, the construction of history, and architecture, looking at how these interlinked phenomena are interpreted and represented culturally and spatially. Her artistic approach is research-based and interdisciplinary, and she works predominantly with text, sound, video and photography. The recent years Hasager has used oral history interview techniques as a method for accumulating information relating to personal stories, a site, and historical or political matters. It allows the material to unfold itself through different voices and from different perspectives and functions as a way of mapping an area or a context. Often these interviews lay the ground for the way she makes use of narrative forms and fictional writing as a tool to address personal stories in the context of socio-political matters.

She has exhibited her work internationally in events and institutions such as; Society Acts, Moderna Museet Malmö (2014), A voice of ones own, Malmö Konstmuseum (2014), Community works, Cleveland Institute of Art, 2014; Past Upon Past, Red Barn Photo Gallery, Belfast, Ireland (2013), Decembers, LAZNIA Centre for Contemporary Art, Gdańsk, Poland (2012), Liverpool Biennial, UK (2010). She has been awarded grants in support of her work from the Danish ArtsCouncil, The Danish Arts Foundation, Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (Beirut, Lebanon), ArtSchool Palestine, Danish Centre for Culture and Development and the Danish Arts Agency. She is the programme director of Critical and Pedagogical studies at Malmö Art Academy, and is a guest lecturer at the International Academy of Art – Palestine, Dar al-Kalima College, Bethlehem and University of Ulster, Belfast.

Ask Kæreby

Ask Kæreby is a Danish composer. He studied music production in Copenhagen, earning a MMus degree from The Royal Danish Academy of Music.

Kæreby’s artistic practice is interdisciplinary and research-based, including elements of experimental composition, sound design and electroacoustic music. He is interested in the presentation of narratives by means of sound – not through traditional musical gestures, but using different approaches such as musique concrète or the futurists’ bruitism. Working in the intersection between known formats, Kæreby wishes to challenge our ways of listening – to music (live as well as recorded), to our surroundings and to (sonic) art.

He has been awarded grants in support of his work from The Danish Arts Foundation, Danish Musicians’ Union, Wilhelm Hansen Foundation, Familien Hede Nielsen Foundation, Dansk Artist Association, Ellen & Erik Valdemar Jensen Music Grant, Anders Månsson & wife Memorial Grant and Karen Margrethe Torp-Pedersen & husband Foundation.

Therese Hadchity

Therese Hadchity is an independent art critic, curator and teacher based in Barbados. She was the owner/curator of the Zemicon Gallery in Bridgetown from 2000-2010. She has authored numerous catalogue-essays on Barbadian art and artists, including Ras Akyem Ramsay, Ras Ishi Butcher, Nick Whittle, Winston Kellman, Ewan Atkinson, Alison Chapman-Andrews and Eric Belgrave. Her current research-interest is in the impact of the transition from anti-colonial nationalism to post-colonial anti-nationalism on visual arts conversations in the Anglophone Caribbean.

Beyond Publishing

For many people a comic book or graphic novel was one of the first fun, casual reading experiences, filled with various themes of heroics, bravado and thrill. They provide an imaginative escape from reality and may reinforce or shape cultural values through various themes.

Comics and animation have mostly been imported into the region, and as a result we have rarely seen the Caribbean experience or our own identity in this format. Although the group is relatively new, Beyond Publishing has made promising strides and has published 7 individual titles to date.

Beyond Publishing focuses on comics and graphic novels in digital or print media, showcasing stories with a Barbadian or Caribbean flavour through several genres: comedy, adventure, education and drama.

Beyond Publishing has won the following awards for their work:

3rd place in 2012’s Automotive Arts Entrepreneurship Competition;
The series ‘Life and Death in Paradise’ has won two prizes from the Caribbean Advertising Federation Addy Awards: The Judges’ choice for WOW and a Gold Addy for Publication Design (Magazine or Book);
Offset #1 has won a 2015 Gold Addy for Publication Design (Magazine or Book) from the Caribbean Advertising Federation Addy Awards as well as a 2015 Glyph Award for Best Cover;
Hardears #1 has won two prizes from the Caribbean Advertising Federation Addy Awards: a Gold Addy for Book Design and another Gold Addy for Illustration.