Tag: Fresh Milk

Pascale Faublas’ Fresh Milk Residency – Week 3 Blog Post

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Fresh Milk shares the third blog post by Haitian resident artist Pascale Faublas, who is joining us as part of an artist exchange programme with Le Centre d’Art, Haiti, to create opportunities for women arts practitioners. Pascale focuses this week on interactions with fellow creatives, cultural practitioners and spiritual women, who have inspired the creation of new pieces during her time in the studio. This programme is supported by UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFDC) and the Foundation for Knowledge and Liberty (FOKAL). Read more below:

En français

Semaine 3

Partager le  Fresh Milk studio avec Aliyah Hasinah , une écrivaine trentenaire, commissaire d’art contemporain , de parents de la Barbades et de la Jamaique , qui vit et travaille à Londres ; a été l’occasion  pour nous de nombreuses discussions , notamment sur les sujets se rapportant à la condition féminine. Avec elle, j’ai pu donc découvrir le concept de Pop féminisme . Un féminisme  contemporain, subversif, qui campe une femme confiante, assumant son corps et sa sexualité, une femme sujet de son destin.

Ainsi est née Fanm se Poto Mitan #1.

Fanm se Poto Mitan #1 by Pascale Faublas

Grace à la mise en contact  par Annalee Davis ,  j’ai pu , au courant de cette troisième semaine de résidence à FreshMilk , rencontrer trois Fanm Poto Mitan , d’age mur, d’origine caribéenne ( St. Vincent et Jamaïque) , qui résident et travaillent en Barbade.  Toutes les trois des êtres spirituels ( Manbo ou initiée, diplômée dans des domaines créatifs et de développement culturels ou social.

  1. Dr. Yanique Hume: Manbo, danseuse chorégraphe , chercheuse en anthropologie culturelle, études et performances avec un focus sur la Caraïbes, l’Amérique latine et la diaspora africaine.
  2. Ireka Jelani: Manbo, médecin traditionnel, entrepreneure et directrice de sa compagnie de vannerie Roots and Grasses, une plasticienne et  étudiante doctorante a l’université des West Indies.
  3. Taitu Heron: écrivaine et Directrice de la faculté  Women and Development  de l’université des West Indies.

Avec elles j’ai pu découvrir  non seulement la Barbade mais aussi  l’existence d’une  Caraïbe anglophone et l’étroite connexion (économique, sociale, culturelle) entre les différentes iles qui la composent. Nous avons pu discuter de la condition des femmes et des filles, discuter des  différences et ressemblances culturelles entre Haïti et cette caraïbe anglophone et de la nécessite de construire des liens pouvant unifier la grande Caraïbes.

Fanm se Kajou est née de ces passionnantes rencontres.

Fanm se Kajou by Pascale Faublas

In English

Week 3

Sharing the Fresh Milk studio with Aliyah Hasinah, a 30-something writer and curator of contemporary art living and working in London and whose parents are from Barbados and Jamaica, was the occasion for many discussions; especially on matters relating to the status of women. With her, I was able to discover the concept of Pop Feminism – a contemporary, subversive feminism, which encapsulates a confident woman, assuming her body and her sexuality, a woman subject to her destiny.

Thus was born Fanm se Poto Mitan # 1.

Fanm se Poto Mitan #1 by Pascale Faublas

Thanks to the contacts made by Annalee Davis, I was able during this third week of residency at Fresh Milk, to meet three Fanm Poto Mitans, middle aged and of Caribbean origin (St. Vincent and Jamaica), who reside and work in Barbados. All three are spiritual beings (Manbo or initiate, graduate in creative fields and cultural or social development).

1. Dr. Yanique Hume: Manbo, dancer, choreographer, researcher in cultural anthropology, studies and performances with a focus on the Caribbean, Latin America and the African diaspora.
2. Ireka Jelani: Manbo, traditional doctor, entrepreneur and director of her basketry company Roots and Grasses, plastic artist and doctoral student at the University of the West Indies.
3. Taitu Heron: Writer and Director of the Women and Development Faculty of the University of the West Indies.

With them I was able to discover not only Barbados, but also the existence of an English-speaking Caribbean and the close connection (economic, social, cultural) between the different islands that make it up. We were able to discuss the condition of women and girls, discuss the differences and cultural similarities between Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean, and the need to build links that can unify the greater Caribbean.

Fanm se Kajou was born from these fascinating encounters.

Fanm se Kajou by Pascale Faublas

About Le Centre d’Art:

Le Centre d’Art in Port-au-Prince is an institution that works towards promoting artistic creations by Haitian practitioners on the basis of preserved heritage values. Since its creation in 1944, this atypical space with multiple missions has been at the heart of societal and artistic evolutions. As the major protagonist in the reconfiguration of the fine arts realm in Haiti, Le Centre d’Art has been paving the way for several schools and artistic movements.

Despite the destruction of the infrastructure during the earthquake of 2010, Le Centre d’Art managed to save more than 5000 works and 3000 archive files, which are today preserved and valued. Since the reopening in 2014, Le Centre d’Art has once again become an essential part of Haitian culture.

Its mission is to support artists and their creations, and to conserve and disseminate Haitian visual arts. It is a resource space for artists, art students, art lovers, collectors and researchers alike.

Aliyah Hasinah’s Fresh Milk Residency – Week 2 Blog Post

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UK-based writer and curator of Bajan and Jamaican heritage, Aliyah Hasinah, shares her second blog post about her Fresh Milk international residency. This week has seen Aliyah continue her research into the history of Barbados, as well as make her own observations on the dynamics of the space regarding issues around race and class, and how contemporary realities connect with this history. She has also continued to meet and have studio visits with Barbadian artists, and is gathering ideas to work towards holding a workshop before the end of her residency. Read more below:

It’s been another week at Fresh Milk and I’m definitely learning so much about the structuring of Barbados’ economy, class system and art communities.

This week’s been one full of meetings, socials, studio visits and many an emotion. Firstly my homie Amyra Leon flew in from New York to see me and that in itself has been a huge blessing and spiritual moment.

At Fresh Milk I started the week off by focusing on learning more history of the African presence on the Island and so watched Hilary Beckles’ Ermie Bourne lecture.

I’ve summarised my learnings in this tweet.

Understanding the rebellious history and brutal quashings of Africans in Barbados has really brought me to a space of understanding some of the dynamics I see play out on the Island today.

The White presence on this Island is very interesting and precarious to me. It feels like I am back in Britain when I’m in spaces White people occupy here. The segregation and power still held by the colonial plantocratic society here scares me, but I also know it well having been surrounded by Whiteness in England my whole life. The way in which White People in Barbados inhibit space and the way I have seen some of them talk of Black Bajans in my presence disgusts me. History makes perfect sense in this regard. I am even more motivated to only centre Black Art and knowledge production in my curatorial practice. I have no time for pandering to whiteness or solution making for white people whilst I am on this Island, knowing the extent to which they segregate and benefit from the reparations of enslavement to this day.

Moving forward, on Wednesday I met the incredible Versia Harris, we spoke of contexts, dreams and installations of a fantastical nature. I’m very honoured to have met her and hope to work with her in the future. I also got the opportunity to meet some of the artists Fresh Milk suggested at Mojos this Wednesday.

On Thursday I dropped into one of Annalee’s classes at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill and heard some of the ways we can map out cultural sectors on the island and what is needed for young artists to thrive. Annalee also gave a brief synopsis of the touristification of the island too, and how Brand Barbados has created a new dependency on foreign investment. Colonisers started the culture of external imports to the point where most food on the Island today is imported despite the wealth of agriculture on the land. Also interesting to find out that Palm trees were not native to the island and were planted in place of deforested Mahogany.

On Friday I had a lovely studio visit from Kraig Yearwood. We spoke about all sorts of things and I got the chance to see some of his work and catalogue. Amyra also captured some of this which I’ll be sure to share at some point.

I have treasured my conversations with fellow resident Pascale Faublas and learnt a lot about Haiti’s resistance culture and spiritual practices being indicative of the earlier period of decolonisation through the Haitian Revolution. Pascale reminds me that ‘Haiti is a lot more African in spirit’, which makes sense in alignment with their history.

This week I’ll be planning shoots, writing up my learnings, reading more and visiting more artists. I’ll also be organising a workshop before I finish my residency with my friend Amyra Léon to work with Black Artists on the Island on dreaming about futures, artistic possibilities and securing the bag. Stay tuned.

Thanks so much and I’ll see you next week

Aliyah x

Pascale Faublas’ Fresh Milk Residency – Week 2 Blog Post

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Fresh Milk shares the second blog post by Haitian resident artist Pascale Faublas, who is joining us as part of an artist exchange programme with Le Centre d’Art, Haiti, to create opportunities for women arts practitioners. Pascale has had a productive second week, meeting a number of Barbadian creatives and having stimulating discussions about the regional art scene, as well as beginning to dive in to creating her own work in the Fresh Milk studio. This programme is supported by UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFDC) and the Foundation for Knowledge and Liberty (FOKAL). Read more below:

En français

Semaine 2

Fresh Milk Barbados est une ruche effervescente, une plateforme dynamique favorisant les rencontres, échanges  entre les  créatifs de la Barbade et d’ailleurs.  En effet,  ma deuxième semaine de résidence a été riche  en  rencontres, dialogues et discussions sur la réalité, et les problématiques spécifiques aux créateurs de la Caraïbes, leurs inspirations, aspirations, perspectives de création et de diffusion de l’art de la région.  Apres avoir visité l’exposition individuelle  «This is how our garden grows » de l’artiste barbadien Kraig Yearwood, celui ci nous a rendu visite a FreshMilk ou il nous a fait une brève et intéressante présentation de son travail et de son parcours, s’est entretenu avec ma co résidente, la conservatrice Aliyah Hasinah sur la situation de la présence de l’art de la Barbade localement, dans la région et sur la scène internationale, discuter de la nécessité de la décolonisation des Arts de la région caraïbes.

Un cocktail « Meet and Greet » organisé par FreshMilk m’a permis de rencontrer plusieurs milléniaux créatifs de la Barbade et de planifier des visites d’atelier pour la semaine a venir.

Au courant de cette 2eme semaine de résidence, riche de ces échanges, et mise à disposition de son atelier de rêve, j’ai  heureusement entamé ma première création artistique que j’ai hâte de vous présenter.

In English

Week 2

Fresh Milk Barbados is an effervescent hive, a dynamic platform promoting meetings and exchanges between creatives from Barbados and elsewhere. Indeed, my second week of the residency was rich in meetings, dialogues and discussions on our realities, and the specific issues of Caribbean creators, their inspirations, aspirations, perspectives of creation and dissemination of the art of the region. After visiting the solo exhibition ‘This is how our garden grows’ by Barbadian artist Kraig Yearwood, he visited us at Fresh Milk where he gave us a brief and interesting presentation of his work and his career. He spoke with my co-resident, curator Aliyah Hasinah about the status of Barbados’ art presence locally, in the region and on the international stage, discussing the need for the decolonization of the arts in the Caribbean.

A ‘Meet and Greet’ cocktail hosted by Fresh Milk allowed me to meet several creative Barbadian millennials and plan studio visits for the coming week.

During this 2nd week, rich in these exchanges made available in this dream studio, I fortunately started my first artistic creation, which I can’t wait to present to you.

About Le Centre d’Art:

Le Centre d’Art in Port-au-Prince is an institution that works towards promoting artistic creations by Haitian practitioners on the basis of preserved heritage values. Since its creation in 1944, this atypical space with multiple missions has been at the heart of societal and artistic evolutions. As the major protagonist in the reconfiguration of the fine arts realm in Haiti, Le Centre d’Art has been paving the way for several schools and artistic movements.

Despite the destruction of the infrastructure during the earthquake of 2010, Le Centre d’Art managed to save more than 5000 works and 3000 archive files, which are today preserved and valued. Since the reopening in 2014, Le Centre d’Art has once again become an essential part of Haitian culture.

Its mission is to support artists and their creations, and to conserve and disseminate Haitian visual arts. It is a resource space for artists, art students, art lovers, collectors and researchers alike.

CATAPULT Stay Home Artist Residency Blogs – Issue 2, Vol. 1 & 2

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The CATAPULT Stay Home Artist Residency (SHAR) provides opportunities for 24 cultural practitioners from the English, French, Spanish and Dutch speaking Caribbean to be supported while safely remaining in their studios/work-spaces, each of whom will receive a $3,000 USD stipend to produce work over a two-month period.

We are pleased to share Issue #2, Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the blog posts written by participating residents, documenting their experiences and processes during their residency. Issue #2 follows the journey of the second group of SHAR awardees: Camille Chedda (Jamaica), Lisa Allen-Agostini (Trinidad & Tobago), Joshua Clarke (Barbados), Sonia Farmer (The Bahamas), Jorge González (Puerto Rico), Gwladys Gambie (Martinique), Eliazar Ortiz (Dominican Republic) and Carol Joan Sorhaindo (Dominica).

Click on the images below to read these sets of resident blogs as e-zines!

Issue 2, Vol. 1

Issue 2, Vol. 2

ABOUT CATAPULT:

CATAPULT | A Caribbean Arts Grant is a COVID-19 relief programme conceptualised by Kingston Creative (Jamaica) and Fresh Milk (Barbados) and funded by the American Friends of Jamaica | The AFJ (USA). Designed as a capacity building initiative it will directly provide financial support to over 1,000 Caribbean artists, cultural practitioners and creative entrepreneurs impacted by the pandemic and working in the themes of culture, human rights, gender, LGBTQIA+, and climate justice.

ABOUT THE PARTNERS:

American Friends of Jamaica | The AFJ has a near 40 year history of funding charitable organizations in Jamaica in the fields of Education, Healthcare and Economic Development. A registered 501 c 3 nonprofit headquartered in New York City, AFJ relies on individual and corporate contributions made by donors who believe in our work and will advocate on our behalf. Part of the AFJ’s mission is to facilitate donor directed contributions which enables donors to support registered charitable organizations aligned with their own goals for philanthropy.

Kingston Creative is a registered non-profit organization founded in February 2017. Its mission is to enable creatives to succeed so that they can create economic and social value, gain access to global markets and have a positive impact on their community.

 

Fresh Milk is an organisation whose aim is to nurture, empower and connect Caribbean artists, raise regional awareness about contemporary arts and provide global opportunities for growth, excellence and success. Fresh Milk supports excellence in the visual arts through residencies and programmes that provide Caribbean artists with opportunities for development and foster a thriving art community.

Aliyah Hasinah’s Fresh Milk Residency – Week 1 Blog Post

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UK-based writer and curator of Bajan and Jamaican heritage, Aliyah Hasinah, shares her first blog post about her Fresh Milk international residency. Using this time primarily for research into the art scene and cultural policy in a Barbadian context, Aliyah kicks off her blogs by reflecting on some of the texts she has immersed herself in to ground her knowledge and understanding of the space, and looks forward to having more in-person discussions with artists, creatives and cultural practitioners as the weeks progress. Read more below:

It’s been a week since I started my residency at Fresh Milk with the intention of immersing myself in study to learn more about the art world and cultural policy in Barbados. Having not had the means to attend university, I’m always profoundly grateful for moments to study away from the day-to-day grind of trying to pay your rent in London, so hearing monkeys (my favourite animals) on the library roof has been a well welcomed change. I’d also like to thank Arts Council England for funding this residency because I’ve been LEARNING, I’ve been learning *Beyonce voice*. 

Prior to this, I met with Annalee Davis last year when starting my research into ‘Decolonising the Curatorial’, as funded by Arts Council England. My research was looking at the role of Crop Over as a space for exhibition outside the white walls of the gallery, a topic Claire Tancons discusses well in her essay ‘Curating Carnival’, and how galleries can never do justice to the embodied experience of carnival. 

Through my research, I sought to further understand the colonial history and how rebellions birthed art practices – or continued them – as we’ve always found ways to make art. Having only scratched the surface last year, I was keen to take more time to understand the layers and nuance of Bajan Art and cultural expression, outside of what was familial and familiar to me.

Just to prefix, I’m a loud mouth when it comes to explaining or calling out the manifestations of coloniality in the modern day in England. However, I’m very aware of my positionality as a curator from Britain researching in Barbados. My gaze does not come from one of authority but is an opinion formed from the research and conversations had with some of the island’s artists, art producers, essays as well as what I observe. 

One of the writings I’ve been reading this week that deeply resonated with me was Winston Kellman’s ‘Between A Rock And A Hard Place’ published in Sustainable Art Communities, as edited by Leon Wainwright and Kitty Zijlmans. Kellman explores several historical threads to bring us to the modern day, including the relationships with the UK and US following Barbados’ independence in 1966.

Kellman’s particular highlighting of how western modernity has shunned Caribbean art practice of landscape painting and sculpture, alluding to it being devoid of conceptual fervour is, in my mind, linked to a colonial mindset that deems ‘conceptual art’ in a particular way. 

This perspective ignores the context of the space and time that these artworks were created in, and instead attributes an archetypal aesthetic to the notion of contemporary art as opposed to understanding that sculpture and painting of the island has a deeper rooted contextualisation in the resources i.e. clay, and historical craftsmanship of the land – and is therefore contemporary if it is being made in the present. This disregard for painting and sculpture subconsciously alludes to artworks, often by Black artists, specifically in the Caribbean, being inferiorized because of a lack of contextual understanding of how the work came into being, and is additionally sidelined in national and international discourses surrounding contemporary conceptual art. All due to a lack of understanding of the context of the work. 

Anywho, I could go on for days about the learnings of the last week, all to say I’m very excited to deepen my study and continue learning about policy, sustainability and the hopes/dreams of emerging artists on the Island. The culture is very much being pushed forward by multiple artists. It is with thanks to those who have laid the foundations that younger artists today are scoping out what is possible in the process of building visual arts communities and infrastructures across Barbados that do not solely privilege the tourist economy (more on that real soon, hold tight tourism as neo-colonialism and insert Mo the Comedian saying ‘Barbados’).

I’m excited to start my new week, meeting more artists, collectors and academics. I may also post some of my readings and thoughts on my instagram (@aliyahhasinah) as I jump into my second week at Fresh Milk.

To end lightly here are 5 songs I’ve had on loop this week:

Until next week.

Lots of love and take care

Aliyah xx

P.s. Here’s some of what I’m reading / have been the last week and will continue to delve into this week, and hold tight Caleb Femi on the release of his new poetry book ‘Poor’ which everyone should cop if they can. (Feel free to send me reading and art recommendations on twitter @aliyahhasinah)