The regional residency Caribbean Linked VI, co-managed by Ateliers ’89 (Aruba), The Fresh Milk Art Platform (Barbados) and ARC Magazine will be changing its focus this year in light of the severe impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon the lives of artists regionally. Caribbean Linked VI will be conducting all of its programming and support virtually from July 30th – August 31st, 2021, with live public conversations between the artists taking place on Wednesday, August 11th and Tuesday, August 31st from 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm AST on each day. As usual, the residency’s programming supports creatives across the French, Spanish, English and Dutch speaking Caribbean.
Participating artists for Caribbean Linked VI include Claudio Arnell (Saint Martin), Taisha Carrington (Barbados), Romelinda Maldonado (Aruba), Akley Olton (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), Susana Pilar (Cuba), John Reno Jackson (Cayman Islands), Sarabel Santos-Negrón (Puerto Rico), Samuel Sarmiento (Aruba/Venezuela) and Béliza Troupé (Guadeloupe).
This residency will allow the participants to be exposed to the practices of other emerging Caribbean artists, providing an opportunity to strengthen regional connections and cultural understanding. This edition of Caribbean Linked is being conceptualised as a bridging year, with participating artists still scheduled to meet physically in August 2022 at Ateliers ’89 in Oranjestad, Aruba.
Samuel Sarmiento, Caribbean Linked VI 2021 participating artist. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Now more than ever in light of COVID-19, it is critical to mitigate isolation and use available technologies to advance creative production, critical thinking and engagement. This preliminary remote encounter is focused on provisioning artists with dedicated studio time to make new works, while reinforcing the value of Caribbean artists’ practices and enabling their growth and development.
The writer in residence for the virtual edition will be Ethan Knowles, an emerging scholar and writer from The Bahamas currently studying in Rome, Italy. This year’s specially invited curators will be Sofia Olascoaga, an academic curator at MUAC (Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo – UNAM) in Mexico City, where she coordinates Campus Expandido an academic programme of critical theory, and Miguel A. López, former chief curator of TEOR/éTica turned independent curator living and working in Lima, Peru.
Dominique Hunter, Caribbean Linked IV 2016 participating artist. Photo courtesy of David Knight Jr.
‘La Linea en la Memoria’ by Irvin Aguilar, Caribbean Linked V 2018 participating artist. Photo courtesy of Sharelly Emanuelson.
The month long residency will be supported by the generous funding provided by BankGiro Loterij Fonds, Mondriaan Fonds and UNOCA.
For more information or to request interviews with any of the participating artists, please contact the Caribbean Linked Team at caribbeanlinked@gmail.com, and visit our website caribbeanlinked.com to learn more about all editions of the Caribbean Linked residency programme.
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