On this week’s edition of NAGB’s Blank Canvas, we celebrate some of the artists in the Ninth National Exhibition (NE9). The national exhibition is held every two years and is put together from an open call for works to Bahamian artists—living nationally and internationally—or artists living and working in The Bahamas.
On Saturday night, December 1st, 2018, the Honourable Lanisha Rolle, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, stood in the stunning Fiona’s Theatre at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) and declared Culture Month officially open by reading a proclamation issued by the Prime Minister of The Bahamas, the Right Honourable Dr Hubert Minnis.
By Kevanté A. C. Cash, NAGB Correspondent. In conversation with the National Exhibition 9 Artist-in-Residence Danny Davis about his work for the upcoming Ninth National Exhibition. The Ninth National Exhibition (NE9), under the patronage of the Hon. Lanisha Rolle, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, is scheduled to open on Thursday, December 13th, 2018 at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) beginning at 6:00 pm. The NAGB will support the work of 38 artists under its theme “The Fruit and The Seed”. One of the artists being Danny Davis, the NE9 artist-in-residence which is supported in partnership with The Current Gallery and Art Studios. Davis is a lecturer at the University of The Bahamas, a chemist turn woodworker, an unorthodox match to say the least. He has lived between Nassau and Freeport for most of his creative career and has been able to draw inspiration for his work from both islands. I sat with him to engage in a rather exciting discourse about his interpretation of NE9’s theme, and how it will be shown through his piece.
On tonight’s Blank Canvas, guest host NAGB Education Officer Katrina Cartwright is joined by NAGB Community Outreach Officer Abby Smith and NAGB Curatorial Intern Matthew Rahming, who share some insights into their recent professional development endeavors–Abby at History Miami in Miami, Florida and Matthew at the NAGB.
The vessel was Knight’s preferred mode of expression and he incorporated text and marine and terrestrial themes that spoke to the history and landscape of The Bahamas into the surface and structure of his work.
By Natalie Willis. Oh my Andros! Da Big Yard, the wild and wonderful island full of love vine, graceful-yet-sinister buzzards, and full to the brim with people showing spirit as big as they come and then some. This October, the NAGB extended itself into the open arms of this vast island (by our standards anyway!). The Inter-Island Travelling Exhibition (ITE) is a cause near and dear to our hearts here at the NAGB, and for one very simple reason: the “N” in the NAGB stands for National, not Nassau. And with this in mind, the National Collection should follow this same line of thinking. Most recently, the current iteration of the ITE, “TRANS: A Migration of Identity”, made its way to the most gracious and welcoming of hosts in Central Andros at Brigadiers Restaurant in Davis Creek. Workshops, the construction of a mural, exhibition installation, and personal visits to schools all took place over a hectic fortnight, but as always the work we do to bring art to you is the most important. Who needs sleep right?
Tonight on the Blank Canvas, host Amanda Coulson, Executive Director at the NAGB, welcomes well known artist Max Taylor to the studio to discuss the upcoming exhibition “Imprint” that will be opening at Doongalik Studios on Friday, November 30th, 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Taylor has teamed up with artists Sue Katz and Kendra Frorup for what will make an interesting exhibition as they each bring their own style of printmaking to the mix.
By Katrina Cartwright. The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas is bringing a busy 2018 to a close with an amazing line up of activities and events that will appeal to holiday recreation seekers of all ages. Beginning on December 7th with a free live Willis and The Illest concert and ending with musical sweetness of Jazz Etc. on December 21st, the NAGB is giving residents and visitors alike a selection of options to engage and access the museum in ways that are comfortable and interesting to them.
By Natalie Willis. “Space is not a scientific object removed from ideology or politics. It has always been political and strategic.” – Henri Lefebvre. But how do you strategize something that grows organically? Cities pose that very question for us. Henri Lefebvre, a French philosopher and sociologist with a heavy Marxist influence, was interested in the fabric of our everyday lives and particularly in the ownership of spaces, particularly cities. I’d wager he’d have a field day in Nassau – with our planned and unplanned spaces, historic and new, and that the upcoming printmaking project by Jenna Chaplin for the National Exhibition 9 (NE9) might whet his appetite too.
On this week’s Blank Canvas, host Amanda Coulson is joined by artists Jodi Minnis and Angelika Wallace-Whitfield who speak to their participation in the upcoming exhibition “FOUR” at the Island House. “FOUR” is a collaboration between four young Bahamian artists, all women, who are making images of women, questioning their status in contemporary Bahamian society and mining their own growth.