The Wretched of the Earth – #CCF

May 27, 2015June 2, 2020Leave a comment

This week Ronald Williams has written a review about Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth; a book that addresses the complex role violence plays in decolonisation. He describes Fanon’s stance on colonisation as being reversible only through extreme force. For him, it feels particularly personal given the recent surge in police brutality aimed at Black youths in the United States of America.

Read this latest addition to the Fresh Milk Books Tumblr – the online space inviting interaction with our collection in the Colleen Lewis Reading Room.

For new Critical. Creative. Fresh reviews, look out for our #CCF responses and see the great material we have available at Fresh Milk!

Fresh Milk welcomes Saada Branker and Powys Dewhurst to the platform

May 27, 2015August 5, 20151 Comment

Fresh Milk is pleased to welcome our next artists-in-residence Saada Branker and Powys Dewhurst who will be joining us from June 1 to June 26. The two will spend their time collecting sights of the island and stories from locals about Hurricane Janet which hit Barbados on September 22, 1955. What they gather will be part of a multi-media project and short film presenting an exchange of Bajan and Bajan-Canadian memories about Janet and recovery.

Saada and Powys at Centre island, Toronto. Photo Credit: Kara Springer

About Saada Branker

Saada Branker is a writer and copy editor born in Montreal. There she grew up hearing stories from her Barbadian parents about their childhood years in St. George. Now living in Toronto, she has worked on various media projects. Saada is a Ryerson University journalism graduate with a BA in Political Science from Concordia University. Her passion for writing and journalism led to opportunities in broadcast news (CBC Newsworld), newsprint (Globe and Mail, Eye Weekly, Toronto Sun), magazines (Sway Magazine, AMOI, Numb, Word). Through Saada STYLO, her home-based copyediting business, she works with emerging writers.

Her recent copyediting projects include, BYOB: The Unapologetic Guide to Being Your Own Boss by Gloria Roheim (2013) and Game Face: The Art of Giving Interviews by Bodine Williams (Fall 2015).

About Powys Dewhurst

Powys Dewhurst is a filmmaker and content producer based in Canada who also holds British and Caribbean citizenship. He was born in Dominica and grew up in Barbados from age 7 to 16 in Fontabelle, Clapham Heights and Chelsea Road. His passion for film and media began in Barbados as a preteen. As a child he spent inordinate amounts of time at Roodals Drive In and Accra Beach, and after hours would liberate old comic strips from the offices of both the Nation and The Advocate newspapers.

He has filmed in East Africa which took him beneath the plains of Mount Kilimanjaro and in 2010 he was chosen by the Canadian Government, Cirque du Soleil and Canadian Heritage to have his work as one to represent Canada at World Expo 2010 in China, which saw 73 million international visitors. His work has screened at film festivals in Chicago, Toronto, Durban South Africa, Trinidad, Texas, Kenya, Brazil, England and elsewhere. He is currently producing and developing several works including Storm, Crazy Dies and Larger Than Life.

Powys recently wrapped up as a content producer at a Bell Media presented media summit in Canada bringing in notable speakers and media companies like Vice Media, Chris Hadfield, Superchannel, CBC, TIFF, eONE, Globe and Mail, and the biggest hit Canadian TV shows.

Fresh Milk welcomes latest intern Dominique Hunter

May 26, 2015June 10, 2015Leave a comment

Fresh Milk is pleased to welcome our latest intern and recent graduate from the Barbados Community College, Dominique Hunter. During a two week course she will be assisting Director of Fresh Milk Annalee Davis and Assistant to Director Katherine Kennedy in an administrative capacity, as well as facilitating a smooth transition for current artist in residence Thais Francis.

Photo by Monochrome

About Dominique Hunter

Dominique Hunter was born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1987. She received a Diploma in Fine Art from the E.R. Burrowes School of Art in 2007 and was awarded Best Graduating Student and Best Painter. Later that year she was invited to join the Guyana Women Artists’ Association. Her work has subsequently been exhibited at a number of exhibitions hosted by the association.

Hunter won the silver and bronze medals in Castellani House’s 7th and 8th Biennial National Drawing Competition (2008 and 2010 respectively). In 2010 two of her drawings were also featured as part of the National Gallery’s Republic Anniversary exhibition. Her first solo exhibition titled Introspection was also held at the National Gallery of Art, Castellani House in 2010. She has worked as a layout artist and Arts columnist at the Guyana Times Inc. newspaper and a graphic artist at Xclaim Media Inc. In December of 2014 she was awarded second place with a silver medal at the Guyana Visual Arts Competition.

Hunter recently graduated from the Barbados Community College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and was presented with the Lesley’s Legacy Foundation Award for most outstanding work in the portfolio exhibition.

Thais Francis’ Residency – Week 1 Blog Post

May 26, 2015Leave a comment

Trinidad-born, Brooklyn based multi-disciplinary performance artist and writer, and current artist in the Fresh Milk International Residency Programme, Thais Francis reflects on the first week in Barbados. She writes about her hesitation to confront her “quarter life identity issues” with a group of eager students from Workmans Primary School. After an eventful time with the children, she focuses on the challenges and rewards of writing her first feature screenplay. Read more below:

“You look like my auntie!”

“I look like your aunt?”

“I like how you does say Auntie…say it again?”

“Ummm…aunt?”

“Where you from?”

Their names are Nyesha and Ramaya- one is bedecked in her brownie outfit, the other wears her school uniform topped with three plaits and ribbons. Nyesha thinks I look like her aunt, and Ramaya has picked up on my accent. She asks me the question that I dread answering. What do I tell her? Do I go into a spiel about emigrating from Trinidad…or do I just say Maryland? My brain goes into overdrive and my “quarter life identity issues” resurface. More classmates join them, and all stare at me expectantly. Innocently invasive brown eyes filled with questions and excitement. They are reminders of the beauty of being 9 years old.

“I live in America”.

They are satisfied with my response. We then all walk over to the open field.

When I first saw the students at Workman’s Primary school, I was elated. The ribbons, uniforms, brown skin-all images of a past life tucked away in the folds of mind. However, it wasn’t hard to remember and transform with them. With Ms. Bradshaw’s class of 17 students I found myself using theater, music and dance to add more color to the kaleidoscope of their lives. We used our bodies to mime and form shapes that were parts of speech; we became a human orchestra, and created a dance to work on focus and memory. They referred to me as “ma’am”. After the class, I thought about that. “What is a ma’am and how did I become one?”

In other news, here in Barbados, I have learned how to light a stove, with a match. Like, I can strike a match and light a stove. I’ll be sure to show my granny this new skill when I visit- she’ll be impressed.

However, the main reason I am here is to work on my first feature screenplay. It’s actually weird, and frustrating, but sometimes cool, sometimes I like what I’m saying…most times I don’t. Mostly I’m excited to complete it, and then have people read it and rip it to shreds in a few weeks. I’m still figuring out what I’m saying- but I’m really into it the overarching idea, and the realness of the characters. I’m at page 78, luckily I worked on this A LOT in Trinidad and Abu Dhabi a few months ago-so I’m really happy I’m not starting from scratch. It makes this process less overwhelming.

Fresh Stops: Matthew Clarke up next!

May 22, 2015May 22, 2015Leave a comment

Fresh Milk and Adopt A Stop conclude the first edition of the Fresh Stops collaborative project with Matthew Clarke‘s piece ‘Hardears Universe’. In an attempt to bring art into the public space, six artists were commissioned to produce original artwork for benches that have been appearing at varied locations around the island. ‘Hardears Universe’ will soon be revealed at a location near you.

The other participating artists included Evan Avery, Versia Harris, Mark King, Simone Padmore and Ronald Williams. This project creates visibility for the work of emerging creatives, allowing the public to encounter and interact with their pieces in everyday life, generating interest and inviting dialogue about their practices.

About ‘Hardears Universe’:

Hardears Universe showcases a collection of characters from the ‘Hardears World’ featured in my graphic novels. It is a place of fantasy populated by characters from Caribbean folklore.

About Matthew Clarke:

Matthew Clarke‘s passion for art started at a young age, and he began participating in the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) while attending St. Michael’s School. Through the Festival, he achieved bronze, silver, gold and incentive awards, and went on to be the recipient of the Prime Minster’s Scholarship for Visual Art in 2003. Clarke completed his Associate Degree in Visual Art at the Barbados Community College (BCC) which earned him a Barbados Exhibition for tertiary studies, and in 2009 he obtained a Bachelor Degree with honours in Graphic Design at the same institution. He has freelanced for various design agencies (Virgo, 809, RED Advertising, G and A Communication, RCA) and worked at the Nation Publishing Company on the Attitude Magazine, creating its logo and design. He has also worked at Banks Holdings Limited (BHL), where he was appointed Internal Web Designer in charge of the Banks Beer website.

In addition to working on independent projects, he has been working as a graphic designer at RED Advertising and PR Agency as of 2011, where he is currently Deputy Creative Director. He is the co-owner and principle of a Caribbean comic company called Beyond Publishing, which has published over 22 books sold digitally and in print, both locally and internationally.