Art visual np2

APT (ed. Nicholas Laughlin) All I Can Say Is What I Can Say /  What I Can Say Is All I Can Say  (by Nicholas Laughlin) Neither Here Nor There (by Alicia Milne) Pinky & Emigrante (by Alicia Milne and Luis Vasquez La Roche) * THAT morning, I was not expecting it. An A4 envelope addressed to me: too large to be a bill or a simple letter, too small to be one of those unaddressed spam magazines. The return address is written in a familiar but not immediately recognisable handwriting (how little we see each other's handwriting in these days of emails, blogs, Facebook !) I do the usual hold up to the light and check test to ascertain if anything explosive is inside, then carefully open it. A small note: APT is a found journal. Its form is its content and its content is its form.    The October 2011 issue of APT is made of pages torn more or less at random from a 2009-2010 Trinidad and Tobago telephone directory.    It is titled REPUBLIC.     ...

Photo courtesy Letizia Gramaglia ANACONDA Water most closely resembles space, more so than our hard imagining of ideal nothings; water, sure as snakes are steady, pouring over every sit- uation * Trinidadian Poet Vahni Capildeo reads 'Anaconda' from Undraining Sea (2009) in this amazing new pod-cast at Spaces Between Words . She also reads from Utter,  another completed book,   and gives insight to her process of writing. * VAHNI CAPILDEO: When people say things like, 'what does this poem mean?' or 'how can you summarise this line?' I think well what is the point of writing a poem rather than writing a report? Because I want to be able to evoke contradictions and produce what could be called cognitive dissonance which, I think, is a very natural state and also sometimes to be able to grasp certain truths which are not, perhaps, theorisable. I mean obviously I am not a physicist but I think there are certain truths about the simultaneous perception of time and ...

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By Chris Ofili for the 2012 Olympics.  FIND out more, including a video by Tracy Assing about it, at ARC  here .

photo: Jan Stittleburg Concept - Sandra Hughes Two powerful time periods inform and inspire the creation of this project – the Chinese Year of the Dragon, which began on January 22, 2012 as well as the annual late fall season celebrated world-wide by traditions such as Samhain in Ireland, Halloween in the United States and the Day of the Dead (El Dia de Los Muertos) in Mexico. The magical, magnificent Dragon is the most powerful sign of the Chinese zodiac and heralds an exciting, “over the top” time period that invites and supports daring, passionate and deeply creative artistic processes and expressions. The Chinese Dragon is wildly generous, overly benevolent and extremely lucky. This protective and powerful Dragon can transform into any type of creature to overcome all challenges. Artist Renderings - Michael Hickey Each year during late October and early November powerful seasonal shifts are at work that move communities to connect, gather and enjoy themselves through parades, proce...

FROM THE ORGANISERS: Medulla Art Gallery is pleased to invite you to The Search – La Busqueda an exhibition of drawings by Luis Vasquez La Roche OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday 14th June 2012,  6.30pm – 9.00pm at 37 Fitt Street, Woodbrook, Port of Spain. RSVP 740 7597/medullaartgallery@gmail.com ARTIST TALK: Thursday 05th July, 6.30pm – 9.00pm Exhibition continues until Monday 09th July 2012 ABOUT THE SHOW: The use of different drawing mediums, from charcoal to graphite, reflects a transition in my concepts. The charcoal drawings explore a more emotional and confusing beginning of my search. The drawings with graphite on paper are more contained and logical, almost mathematical. Even though the figures seem to be geometrically accurate and proportioned, slight variations and adjustments have been made to make the drawing imperfect. These drawings explore more in depth questions like: which nationality represents me? which race do I feel more identified with? which culture I am most inf...

Novelist Chimananda Ngozi Adichie, author of  Purple Hibiscus ,  Half of a Yellow Sun  and  The Thing Around Your Neck  (stories) reads on Friday 25, May, at Treasure Beach in front of a packed crowd. (Photo by Andre Bagoo) * The more literary festivals there are in the Caribbean the better and Calabash attracts a devoted, enthusiastic (and large) following, amid the stunning backdrop of Treasure Beach.  The festival itself was dedicated to Jamaica's 50th Anniversary of Independence. Like the recently concluded Bocas Lit Fest in Trinidad, the programme featured a wide range of talent from the Caribbean, the diaspora and all over the world. Readers included Adiche, Jamaican writer and poet Olive Senior, Orlando Patterson, Victor Lavalle and many more. I also managed to catch excellent readings from several poets including: Jacqueline Bishop; Loretta Collins; Christine Craig; Fred D'Aguiar; Shara McCallum; Anis Mojgani; Claudia Rankine; and Kevin Young. Olive...

          ITS SURPRISING HOW SOME PEOPLE IN GHANA THINK THAT VISUAL ART IS FOR POOR PERFORMING STUDENTS. THEY FORGET THAT BASIC THINGS THAT ARE USED BY THEM WHERE BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE BY VISUAL ARTISTS.OUR CLOTHING , SHELTER ,HOUSING AND DECORATIVE  ITEMS WERE PRODUCED BY GREAT ARTIST WHO EXISTED. WHAT WOULD HAVE  HAPPENED IF THERE WERE NO HOUSES IN THE WORLD. IF NO CLOTHES EXISTED AND NO THINGS TO BEAUTIFY OURSELVES. THOSE WHO REFER TO THEIRSELVES AS SCHOLARS WASTE A LOT OF THEIR TIME BEAUTIFYING THEIR  BODIES BEFORE GOING TO WORK. THEY LOOK OUT FOR WELL DRESSED PERSONS BEFORE OFFERING THEM VACANCIES. OUR FASHION INDUSTRY IS CONTROLLED BY VERY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE WHO HAVE VERY FINE TASTE FOR BEAUTY. WE SHOULD RATHER FOCUS ON ENCOURAGING OUR CHILDREN TO STUDY ARTS. VISUAL ARTS FOCUSES ON DEVELOPING THE HEARTS , MIND AND THE HANDS.IT OFFERS A WIDE RANGE OF DIFFERENT COURSES AND VOCATIONS TO. ONE MAY CHOOSE TO STUDY LEATHER WORK,GRAP...

Visual Art is an interesting course that helps one to explore the world of creativity. Keep a date with me, Ange, always.

May 25, 2012, Medulla Art Gallery, Fitt Street, Woodbrook, in collaboration with ARC magazine. As the name, “Interpretations’ implies the gathering will focus on various perspectives of Thomas-Girvan’s work through a critical, exacting and nurturing framework. Personal connections to her studio practice will be explored along with the various seductions of text and object. The presenters will engage with re-readings of Thomas-Girvan’s work from a literary, philosophical, art historical and liminal perspective. The event will showcase new works by visual artists Jaime Lee Loy and Michelle Isava. Speakers for the night include writer and scholar Gabrielle Hezekiah, whose work centers on philosophy, visual art and theories of the moving image, short story writer Sharon Millar, co-editor of Robert & Christopher Publishers and Art Director of the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival Melanie Archer , artist and Rhodes Trust Fellow, Marsha Pearce, and Barbadian contemporary artist, educator...

Pictures from Paradise: A Survey of Contemporary Caribbean Photography (Robert & Christopher Publishers, ISBN: 978-976-95344-7-6, pp.222) IN THEIR introduction, editors Melanie Archer and Mariel Brown make clear their intentions. “Pictures from Paradise seeks to examine the ways in which contemporary art photography has evolved within the English-speaking Caribbean, rising beyond idyllic scenes to tackle more intricate issues,” they state. “Within the past few years, regional artists working with the medium of fine art photography have provided us with an increasingly searching image of the Caribbean and the people who inhabit it. In recognising that the region is not the picture-perfect paradise of traditional depictions, these artists focus instead on what is not easily seen or that which is often ignored – the complex social, racial, political and physical relationships and landscapes that exist within the Caribbean.” This is a book many have been waiting for. It succeeds — spec...

What is Caribbean art?: why we need art history, a discussion at the 2012 Bocas Lit Fest * WHO AND what is art for? Is art meant to be seen or experienced? Who is the intended audience? Do artists make work just for the sake of the work; for themselves or for others? Do artists create for a country or a region or an even broader audience? Do they imagine their work speaking to others, speaking after death? We have to pose these questions when we address another: what is the importance of preserving Caribbean art? (And, by the way, what is Caribbean art?) A special panel discussion put on at the recent Bocas Lit Fest  at the Old Fire Station Building in Port of Spain addressed the question of the need for art history. The panel, chaired by editor Nicholas Laughlin, included co-author of Art in the Caribbean , Anne Walmsley, artist Christopher Cozier, art teacher Andy Jacob, and cultural studies lecturer Marsha Pearce. Walmsley spoke about the process of putting t...

ARC  magazine and Rodell Warner are up to some magic. SEE more here .

Andre Bagoo, Vahni Capildeo and Nicholas Laughlin, Bocas Lit Fest programme director. Photo by Rodell Warner. SEE more photos here .

Photo by Rodell Warner DESPITE the carefully planned build-up, the Bocas Lit Fest still came upon me like a thief in the night. But how happy I am it did! For four days, all of my senses were overwhelmed by riches. The programme had breath, depth and variety and managed to not be dominated by any one single event or person. I was left listless at the end of it: wanting, remembering, thinking and looking forward to more festivals to come. Here is a list of some of my favourite events in random order. Audience at the Old Fire Station Building Music ‘From the Old Yard’ One of the most enjoyable highlights this literary festival (and there was an embarrassment of riches), was the premiere of a new piece of music, The Old Yard: Carnival Portraits from Trinidad , composed by Adam Walters, for strings, wind and percussion. The performance, at the UTT Academy for the Performing Arts, featured poems by Muhammad Muwakil and images by the great photographer Maria Nunes. This was a stunning event:...

LH:  Can you sum up  Trick Vessels  in three words? AB:    DREAM    COME    TRUE LH:  Do you like to perform your poetry? Have you done so? AB:  I’ll tell you a secret: I actually enjoy reading my poetry. But I love reading other people’s poems more: I feel like I am channelling them in a kind of mesmerism. I have read at Alice Yard and poetry events here and there. On 28 th  April, I am going to launch  Trick Vessels  at the Bocas Lit Fest in a reading alongside the great poet Vahni Capildeo. I cannot wait! From an interview at ARC. READ more here .

Excited is an understatement. FIND out more here .