All posts by Natalie Willis

By Dr Ian Bethell Bennett.  We often see the representation of indigenous culture on the screen or read about in books that present it in interesting yet reductive ways. Documentary and docudrama can aid in combating the erasure of identity, space and place that so much of the Caribbean is under.  Erasure is not only dangerous but also destructive, as it removes tangible culture from the radar and replaces it with ideas of development that belong nowhere and exist everywhere.  As the colonial space shows, the rapidly shifting geographies are real, as climate changes and ideas of development imagines space differently.  The important part is to document the shift and what was there before.

By Dr Ian Bethell Bennett.  Indigenous culture is being smothered in many areas of the Caribbean and The Bahamas.  This erasure has been assisted by a process of deculturation that includes the popular image of Bahamians and Bahamian culture being shifted to reflect an image that is about objectification and imagination.  This picture is built on the myth of the exotic.  Perhaps the best words to describe this are borrowed from Stark’s “History and Guide to The Bahama Islands” (1891).

By Katrina Cartwright.  On Saturday, January 20th, 2018, thirteen students from public, private and home schools attended the NAGB’s free portfolio workshop. Formulated for students in senior high school or in their freshman year at The University of The Bahamas, who are looking to transition into a tertiary art programme at an international school in 2018/2019, this workshop is one of two that will be held by the Gallery in 2018. It is hoped that this experience will give students the tools to successfully apply to any art programme of their choice.

By Katrina Cartwright. The NAGB presents new School-based Education Programming! There is always something fun and engaging to do at The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas and to give the public even more ways to interact with us, the NAGB’s Education team is rolling out new and updated programming just for students and teachers. We have revamped our school tours to give school groups an even more memorable experience and are excited to introduce three new initiatives: “Art with Ms. Abby,” “The Makings of a Master with Antonius Roberts” and teaching seminars.

By Natalie Willis.  Eric Jean-Louis (b. 1957) is an artist hailing from Haiti, well-known and much loved and it is easy to see why. His work is filled with the human and natural balance of light and dark,  the duality we all struggle with and that we see in the world and in ourselves. Visually, his work packs a graphic punch with his style of shading blocks of dark and adding bright stripes and slivers of light – and they are really a stunning sight to behold. To those who find themselves cringing and shying away from the word Voodoo, as in the title of this piece “Ceremonie de Bois Cayman: The Voodoo Still Lives” (2007) by Jean-Louis, it would remiss to deny and write off this practice of art and spirituality. There is light to be found in this form of spirituality, which is so often, and erroneously, deemed ‘dark magic’. As the current exhibition, “Medium: Practices and Routes of Spirituality and Mysticism” seeks to uncover the complexities of religious and spiritual practice in the region, so does this painting lay plain the crossovers and awkwardness of our relationship as Caribbean peoples to our African heritage.

By Dr Ian Bethell-Bennett.  The Bahamas, according to the discourse, is a Black country.  Majority Rule was established in 1967 and, since then, the language of nationalism has been extremely narrow, exclusive and definitive.  Before the power of the majority was inculcated into the halls of Parliament, the language was very different, and usually overlooked the Black population, except as inferior subordinates.  However, the face of The Bahamas, while changing, has changed little when seen through messages deployed through art.  Yes, art has evolved and developed.  The understanding that the Majority are people too, after the end of slavery and the permitting of souls into Black folk was not as earth shattering as one might have expected.  The artistic document, though, speaks of differences and similarities of seeing and unseeing that depends little on one’s majority or minority status, but rather on the depth and wealth of one’s artistic practice.  Many artists chose to include the more comprehensive and complete vision and voice of The Bahamas. Some chose to ignore or exclude.  The nationalist discourse chose to do the latter.