Category: Writing

Torika Bolatagici’s Residency – Week 3 Blog Post

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Fijian-Australian artist Torika Bolatagici writes about the third week of her Fresh Milk residency. Things become increasingly busy as her time in Barbados goes on, with a number of studio visits, presentations and general research of the island’s history and environment providing her with a wealth of information – but leaving her with the feeling there will be much more to discover beyond the residency period! Read more below:

The pace really started to intensify last week and I started to feel the pressure of being half way through the residency as I juggled writing, presentation preparation meetings with artists and other appointments around the island.. I am really feeling like I will be leaving with unfinished business…

Monday was a full day that started with a press launch for the ‘Emerging Directors Programme’ which is an initiative between the National Cultural Foundation Barbados and Fresh Milk. It was wonderful to see all Barbadian print and TV media covering the launch and to hear the inaugural recipients, Matthew Murrell and Renelde Headley discussing their projects. I also loved meeting Andrea Wells (Chief Cultural Officer, NCF) and Amanda Cumberbatch (Cultural Officer, Theatre Arts, NCF). I have loved getting to know Renelde this week and look forward to seeing her project unfold.

Following the NCF launch, I met with Barbadian curator and scholar Natalie McGuire to discuss a forthcoming collaborative project and to visit the Barbados Museum. At the museum I was interested to discover more about Barbados history and botany and was surprised to see that Fiji was mentioned in the section about Sea Island cotton. This visit sparked my interest in visiting the last remaining sugar factory here, but I hear that visiting hours can be a bit haphazard, so we’ll see how we go.

Monday afternoon was perhaps one of the most surreal experiences I have had so far, as we were lucky enough to visit Frank Rickwood’s collection of Papua New Guinean artifacts at his Colleton Estate. I am still processing the breadth and significance of his collection and what it means to find such culturally important items so hidden away and so far from Papua New Guinea. The impact of visiting the Colleton Great House has not yet left me, especially having learned of John Colleton’s role in the movement of African slaves from Barbados to Carolina in the 17th Century.

The remainder of week 3 was filled with inspiring meetings with Barbadian artists and scholars Versia Harris, Katherine Kennedy, Llanor Alleyne, Mark King and Therese Hadchity – each of them giving me an insight into their research, practice and artistic journey and the broader creative culture of Barbados. An enriching way to finish my third week here.

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AusCo

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Anisah Wood’s Residency – Week 2 Blog Post

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Barbadian artist Anisah Wood writes about the second week of her Fresh Milk ‘My Time’ Local Residency. The community outreach component of her residency, the Quid Pro Quo skills exchange programme, continues to be a highlight of her experience, as well as interacting and sharing knowledge with fellow resident Torika Bolatagici and reconsidering perceptions of the Caribbean space. Read more below.

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Quid Pro Quo was indeed one of the highlights of the week. This particular session was hosted by Sheena Weekes, who enlightened us on the process of a medical examination.  As we in the audience keenly listened and participated in the session, we also witnessed Sheena’s visible eagerness to extend her knowledge of the medical field to us. It was that enthusiasm shown by both parties coupled with the feeling of satisfaction having learned something new and practical, that convinced me that Quid Pro Quo was indeed a great idea that will benefit all involved.

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I also had my first Hasselblad experience thanks to Torika Bolatagici. That was a heavy piece of equipment, but the experience of peering into the view finder at a flipped frame dwarfs the digital live view any day. However, I eventually returned to the digital world as my means of production. I’ve started editing another video to add to my body of work. As I engaged in this process, I found myself frequently contemplating on how my work can better address the peculiarities of the Caribbean space, and the various relationships as well as tensions that exist within it. What really is the Caribbean space? How is it on one hand interconnected and on the other hand fragmented? Inviting yet hostile? And how can my observations of these enquiries be represented? … I am still turning these thoughts over in my head and with each turn I unearth a new possibility.

Torika Bolatagici’s Residency – Week 2 Blog Post

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Pacific artist Torika Bolatagici shares her second blog post reflecting on her Fresh Milk residency. Highlights of the week included attending a lecture by Dr. Matthew C. Reilly at the Barbados Museum and Historical Society and discovering more about both the arts ecology and environmental ecology of the island through fruitful conversations, and by exploring the island armed with her new understanding of the space. Read more below:

One of the highlights of my 2nd week was attending Dr. Matthew C. Reilly’s lecture at the Barbados Museum and Historical Society titled “Contesting the ‘White Slavery’ Narrative:  Repositioning the “Redlegs” in Barbadian History and Society.” While I was aware of the history of African slavery in Barbados, I was not aware of the simultaneous history of white indentured servants, and the legacy that this has left for their descendants. I get the impression that the evidence-based research that Matthew presents is not convenient for those who cling to the Barbadian ‘white slave’ mythology that has become a reference point for many right-wing movements outside of Barbados.

Matthew’s subjectivity as an Irish-American is important and I found his work to be incredibly complex and nuanced, but presented in a clear and fascinating format. His lecture really opened my eyes to seeing the Barbadian landscape in a different way, and is helping me to understand this idea of ‘territoriality’ that Anisah Wood addresses in her work. I was particularly intrigued by the research he has been conducting in the area referred to as “Below Cliff” in the parish of St John on the rugged east coast of the island and I was humbled by the way Matthew’s work has reconnected communities that had been estranged for many years. I look forward to reading Matthew’s forthcoming publication and following his research as it unfolds.

The other highlight of Week 2 was sitting down with the Founder and Director of Fresh Milk, Annalee Davis and finding out more about the origins of the arts ecology here in Barbados, from tertiary arts education, to artist spaces, the positioning of contemporary Barbadian art within the Caribbean, to the reason she set up Fresh Milk and the Colleen Lewis Reading Room. Most importantly we were able to chat about her practice, which with all her competing responsibilities, I’m amazed she has time to nurture.

Unlike Jamaica, the Bahamas and Bermuda – Barbados does not have a National Gallery. So it’s clear that spaces like Fresh Milk are crucial for providing the physical space and intellectual context for critical thinking about contemporary art and building the capacity for local art writers. Fresh Milk is a space where socially engaged practice and connection to the community is welcomed and the role of art in society is valued. But it’s also very outward looking, and a lot of work has gone in to connecting with institutions like Videobrasil and the Pérez Art Museum Miami for their Tilting Axis conference. I look at a space like Fresh Milk and I wish that someone would be able to set up a space like this in Fiji (I’m looking at you Ema Tavola).

During my weekend downtime, I continue to explore the island, and after a week of thinking about race, plantations, slavery and identity – the politics of space, visibility and invisibility are becoming more evident. The contrast between the chattels and fenced resorts remind me of the village/resort dichotomy of the Pacific. And as I look at the imported flora of the island, I’m thinking about what it means to explant botanical matter and what it means for a space to ex-plantation.

As I sat on the boardwalk in Bridgetown one evening and watched planes pass overhead, I was reminded of the proximity of Barbados to the other Islands in the Caribbean, South America, Europe and the United States – and I really felt the geographic isolation of Australia. Next week I’m looking forward to meeting with some local artist and curators!

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AusCo

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Torika Bolatagici’s Residency – Week 1 Blog Post

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Melbourne-based Pacific artist Torika Bolatagici shares her first blog post about her Fresh Milk residency. Coming to Barbados with three main goals in mind – to understand the local arts ecology, meet contemporary Barbadian artists and make new work – Torika has spent the first week acclimatizing to both the physical and intangible environment of the country, drawing connections between the region and the Pacific islands and delving into the Colleen Lewis Reading Room to continue her research on contemporary Caribbean art. Read more below:

I am still processing my first week in Barbados. The past 7 days have been a chaotic and exciting mix of books, sweat, introductions, discoveries and breastfeeds in air-conditioned hire cars. Like previous resident Halcyon Macleod, the journey from Australia was a long series of delays and missed connections, and we also lost our portacot. But 7-days in and we’re starting to find our flow here. This week I swam in the Caribbean Sea and dipped my toes in the Atlantic Ocean. I have explored the east coast to Bath Beach and the west coast as far as St. Peter, and I learned a new word – plantocracy.

So, I arrived at Fresh Milk with three main goals; to understand the arts ecology here; meet contemporary Barbadian artists and make new work.

On my first day in the Colleen Lewis Reading Room, Annalee gave me a tour of the collection. It was so wonderful to finally be able to read publications I have only seen from afar including the early issues of ARC Magazine, Pictures from Paradise and See Me Here. ARC magazine was the main influence when I initiated the publication Mana Motu for the Contemporary Pacific Arts Festival in Australia. I have admired the work of Fresh Milk from a distance for some time and am eager to know more about how the space has developed and to find out more about arts education here.

I have a thing for Reading Rooms and art libraries. In 2011 I spent a couple of weeks at the Stuart Hall library at the Institute of International Visual Arts. As a result of that experience, I created the pop-up Community Reading Room in Melbourne, using my own collection. When I found out (via ARC) about the Colleen Lewis Reading Room Residency, I knew immediately that it was a space I wanted to engage with.

I have spent my first week getting acquainted with the collection in the Colleen Lewis Reading Room, in an effort to understand the development of the local arts ecology. The collection is incredible, and during my 4 week residency, I will just be able to scratch the surface.

Some of the main texts I have been looking at this week are:

  • Art in Barbados: What Kind of Mirror Image?
  • Caribbean Distpatches: Beyond the Tourist Dream
  • Caribbean: Crossroads of the World
  • Curating in the Caribbean
  • Developing Blackness: Studio Photographs of “Over the Hill”: Nassau in the Independence Era
  • How to See a Work of Art in Total Darkness
  • Paulo Nazareth
  • Pictures from Paradise
  • See Me Here

I came to Barbados with a desire to identify points of connection, overlap and departure between the island cultures of Barbados and Fiji. There was an instant feeling of familiarity stepping into the thick humidity of Grantley Adams International airport last Saturday, and although I travel frequently to Fiji, I think it has taken me a week to acclimatize to Barbadian heat. Annalee and Katherine, have made me (and my family) feel so welcome at Fresh Milk and I look forward to chatting with them about their respective practices.  Another highlight has been meeting local artist Anisah Wood, whose work I find compelling.

Anisah and I spent Day 2 getting to know each other and our conversation covered matters of indigeneity and belonging; deculturation, transculturation  and assimilation; migration; climate change; national identity; local politics; Indonesia and West Papua ; The Dominican Republic and Haiti; foreign investment and student loans. I’m learning so much from Anisah, including how to play the game warri as a part of her Quid Pro Quo residency outreach and I’m looking forward to seeing how the next 3 sessions unfold. I’ll be leading a session in the final week of my residency.

And so I am discovering that there are some obvious similarities between Fiji and Barbados. Colonial history. Indentured labour. A sugar industry. Tourism. Rum. Protex. Mahogany. Coconut water. Expats. Poverty. At the moment I am reading more about the military history of Barbados. One thing that frames my experience of Fiji, is the overt presence of militarism. My practice-based PhD explored the spaces in which the dialectics of race, embodiment, masculinity, globalisation, militarism, colonialism and agency meet, diverge and collide in a Fijian context. So I am intrigued by the size and invisibility of the Barbados Defence Force… this is an area I want to explore further in the coming weeks…

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AusCo

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Anisah Wood’s Residency – Week 1 Blog Post

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Recipient of the ‘My Time’ Local Residency 2016, Anisah Wood, shares her first blog post about her time on the Fresh Milk platform. Using this residency as an introduction to the wider art world after completing her BFA at Barbados Community College earlier this year, Anisah has gotten off to a positive start, using the Colleen Lewis Reading Room for research, connecting with fellow resident, Pacific artist Torika Bolatagici, and leading the first session of her Quid Pro Quo skills exchange programme. Read more below:

Showers of blessing.
The studio & Colleen Lewis Reading Room.

As a recent graduate, entering the art arena can seem quite daunting. While some prefer to plunge right in, my preference was to wet my feet first and make gradual strides into deep end of this art world. And they literally got wet on the first day of my My Time Local Residency at Fresh Milk by the torrential rain that drenched the island. Showers of blessing they call it, ringing in the island’s rainy season and my first residency.

During the days that followed I enjoyed making use of the Colleen Lewis Reading Room in my search for inspiration. Another joy was meeting Torika Bolatagici and her wonderful family. As she relayed to me the ins and outs of her home country and the Pacific Islands I was intrigued by the striking similarities between that region and the Caribbean. Another highlight of the week was the first session of the Quid Pro Quo skills exchange. For that session, I shared my knowledge of the game warri and photography. I must admit that I was a bit anxious about taking on the role of host for this session, and about providing a fair exchange of information. However, based on the feedback, the session went well *phew* and I was glad to make two new acquaintances from very diverse backgrounds. I eagerly look forward to informative exchanges over the upcoming weeks.

Quid Pro Quo skills exchange
Learning about warri at the Quid Pro Quo skills exchange
Photo by Anisah Wood.

Now that I have settled in I am hoping for an increase in momentum and intensify my work production. I am intrigued to see how a change in location will inform my work. These next few weeks will be exciting as I make my way to the deep end of the art arena.