FRESH MILK XIII

October 15, 2013July 18, 2019Leave a comment

FRESH MILK is pleased to invite you to our upcoming public event FRESH MILK XIII, which will be held on Thursday, October 24^th 2013 from 6:30 – 8:00 pm at the Fresh Milk Art Platform Inc., St. George, Barbados. See our About page for directions.

The event will feature a screening of the full length documentary Fresh Performance: Contemporary Performance Art in NYC & the Caribbean, created by New York-based, Guyanese performance/video artist Damali Abrams, who is currently on a joint residency with Fresh Milk and Groundation Grenada.

Damali has been working with Fresh Milk since April this year on the Fresh Performance Project, which has seen her interviewing one Caribbean-based and one New York-based performance artist each month and editing the footage into a six-chapter series of short videos. Given that performance art in the Caribbean is practiced by a small number of artists, this project has opened up a critical dialogue contributing to expanding the creative arena, and offering support to performance artists who often work in isolation. The project aims to build cultural bridges between the U.S. and the Caribbean and generate understanding and community through the arts. Damali has been using her time in the Caribbean to produce a full length documentary on this subject, as well as undertaking public outreach components in both Barbados and Grenada. Her progress will be screened at FRESH MILK XIII, and a Q&A session to further the conversation will be facilitated.

Also being shown at the event will be a selection from Project 35 Volume 2, a traveling exhibition produced by Independent Curators International (ICI), New York. The exhibition is made possible, in part, by grants from the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and the Robert Lehman Foundation; the ICI Board of Trustees; and donors to ICI’s Access Fund. Among the curators who took part in this project is Trinidadian artist and writer Christopher Cozier.

Fresh Milk will also use this event as a platform to launch two very exciting projects – our new public gallery space the FRESH MILK ARTBOARD and the Fresh Milk Virtual Map of Caribbean Art Spaces. The Artboard, which resides in a field of cows bordering a public road on the way to Fresh Milk, will be used to feature the work of contemporary artists, increasing visibility and awareness of their practice to a wide audience. Kick-starting our new public gallery space will be Barbadian artist Evan Avery, whose work was taken to Brazil as one part of the Visual Arts component of the recently held Barbados trade mission to Sao Paulo. The graphic he designed is currently displayed at the informal art space Casa Tomada in their ‘A Casa Recebe’ programme, a street facing window showcasing work from artists locally and internationally, until March 2014. Having his work running concurrently in both spaces for a period of time deepens the relationship we are building with Casa Tomada and the arts community in Sao Paulo, and we look forward to hosting pieces from Brazilian artists on our Artboard as a part of this cultural exchange.

The Fresh Milk Virtual Map is a freely accessible, interactive online cultural map of the Caribbean, which clearly delineates the existing spaces for the arts in the region, from the nineteenth century up to the present time.

This map addresses the lack of available information about Caribbean arts at the formal, informal and educational levels. The region is mapped to show arts entities, listed with links to the websites of spaces, and maintained to keep information current. This map is not only a pivotal information hub and educational tool, but a place to form new bonds and to make connections among practitioners in the Caribbean and worldwide. We would eventually like to expand the map to include our partner institutions throughout the diaspora as well. We wish to acknowledge the amazing tour de force we have in Kriston Chen who has managed and designed the virtual map project.

Finally, we are also proud to showcase some of the beautiful new publications we have purchased for the Colleen Lewis Reading Room. Our collection has continued to grow through the generosity and support of donors, funders and organizations, and as always we invite people to email us at freshmilkbarbados@gmail.com to schedule appointments to make use of this valuable resource.

Special thanks to the US Embassy in Barbados for supporting Damali’s residency and contributing to the expansion of the Reading Room; to the Maria Holder Memorial Trust for supporting the Virtual Map as well as expanding the library collection; Groundation Grenada for taking part in this collaborative residency with us; the ICI for sharing Project 35; and to Musson Realty for donating their billboard for Fresh Milk to use as an exhibition space. We are extremely grateful for all of the relationships we have formed, which assist us in carrying out our mission.

Damali Abrams’ Residency: Week 2 Report

October 14, 2013June 9, 2015Leave a comment

I presented my work to art majors at BCC (Barbados Community College) on Monday. Seriously one of the toughest crowds ever. They seemed to have a lot to say based on facial expressions and whispering amongst themselves but would not say much to me no matter how I tried to engage them. I learned afterward that this is common among students here. One student also told me privately after class that the fact that I framed my work as feminist made the males afraid to respond based on what other guys might think of them. He also thought that the young women in the class might be afraid to respond, not wanting the guys to think that they were man-haters. When I mentioned feminism, one male student sadly asked “Why feminism? Why not something that includes everyone?” I tried to quickly define feminism and told him that it does include everyone. Then I prescribed some bell hooks.

I went back the next day with just Annalee’s class (a much smaller group than the day before) to watch Herb & Dorothy. It’s a really sweet documentary about this average couple (librarian & postal worker) who live in a cramped one-bedroom apartment and and spend their 40-something year marriage cramming the space with an amazing art collection worth millions. And then they refused offers to sell the work and instead donated the entire collection to the National Gallery.

After the film there was some very lively debate about what art is and what it is isn’t. Some of the students were quite offended that I’d said in my presentation the day prior that I believe that everything is art. They didn’t raise it during my talk but apparently talked a lot about it afterwards. It was great to hear the students’ views and I really enjoyed engaging with them and getting to see one student’s work after class.

At the end of the week I went with the same group to a gallery called ArtSplash where a local artist exhibiting there spoke with the class about his work. It was nice being able to interact with a local artist and hearing about his practice and process.

I feel like my consciousness is expanding in so many ways. I have been consuming so much beauty here on a daily basis. I have been absorbing art and conversations. I have experienced new levels of solitude. It takes me a long time to process things so I have no idea how all of this is going to manifest in my art in the long-run…

I have been filming a lot (as always). The scenery is magical and I want to capture everything. I also make sure to pause at moments to take it all in without the camera. On Saturday Mark King, another local artist, took me to Bathsheba Beach so that I could get some footage. It was overwhelmingly beautiful and I’m really thankful that he was willing to be so generous with his time.

On Thursday Katherine invited me to her zumba class. It was absolutely amazing! Nothing but soca and dancehall music and a fun opportunity to wine up and wuk up! I learned some new moves to bring back to New York.

The project I came here to work on feels stagnant right now. I am trying to breathe new life into it but I’m not sure how. I feel extremely inspired but it’s like I’m in a completely different dimension than when I began working on the Fresh Performance interviews way back in April. On the positive side, editing the work means deep listening to the words of the artists I’ve interviewed and I am gaining a lot of inspiration and insight from them as well.

And as you can see in the photos and video, I’m still enjoying covering things in glitter.

– Damali Abrams

The scenery behind Fresh Milk's Prendoma accomodation

Damali Abrams’ Residency: Week 1 Report

October 7, 2013June 9, 20152 Comments

Damali Abrams making a presentation to the BCC Fine Arts students

For the past six months I have been participating in an off-site residency, collaborating with Fresh Milk on the Fresh Performance project. To find out how performance art manifests in New York City and the Caribbean, I have been conducting a series of interviews with artists who engage performance in different forms in their work. This includes performative photos and videos as well as live performance. Each month from April through September, I interviewed one artist in NYC and one in the Caribbean via the internet. Each month the interviews had a different theme including defining performance art; gender & sexuality; and how performance communicates. Now I am here in Barbados to edit the interviews together into a full-length documentary.

The first week of my residency here on the Fresh Milk platform was lovely, though I also felt a bit anxious. I have about six hours of interview footage from the past six months, though the videos that I have been posting online have only been about ten minutes each. I finally have the opportunity to add in all of the interesting things that the artists said that I had to edit out. Though it is an interesting project, it is somewhat daunting as well.

When I’m at home in New York and I am working on editing video projects, I often take dance breaks to shake out my body as well as my brain. I’m too shy to do that here but I have been taking collage breaks, collecting images from books and magazines that Fresh Milk provided and covering them with glitter. I’m not sure how any of this will turn out or if it will even turn into anything concrete, but it is an enjoyable way to take breaks from sitting in front of the computer all day.

– Damali Abrams

Damali Abrams presenting her work to Fine Arts students at BCC

Versia Harris’ Residency at the IBB, Curacao

October 7, 2013May 20, 2015Leave a comment

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.

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

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.

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.

IBB students learning animation techniques from Versia Harris

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!

October 1, 2013May 20, 2015Leave a comment

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