Tonight on “NAGB’s Blank Canvas” we start to meet the artists Allan Jones, Dorlan Curtis and Caroline Anderson from the NAGB’s latest show “Evolution of the Arc,” an exhibition that speaks to the development of The Bahamas as an archipelagic nation.
Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera is the first stop for the newest iteration of the NAGB’s Inter-Island Travelling Exhibition, “From Time: Water Has A Perfect Memory”. This exhibition functions in some ways as a time capsule, using historical knowledge and visual interpretations to engage with the country’s past and present and envision a more hopeful future. With colonial works from the 1800s, to the post-independence contemporary practice of the last few decades, “From Time” opens up conversations on slavery and colonialism to examine how that era’s gross accumulation of wealth and the booming industrial era it generated, served as the catalyst for the climate injustice we are now witnessing.
By Kevanté A.C. Cash, NAGB Correspondent . Artists Princess Pratt and Christine Wilson curate a night of poetic cultural expression to align with the theme of “The Fruit and The Seed” . Just when you thought the Ninth National Exhibition could not get any saucier—with artworks of daring themes brought forth to challenge the norms of a Bahamian society— poetic duo Saucy Expressions, represented by Princess Pratt and Christine Wilson, curates an evening of “Riddim n Tingum,” featuring rebellious words from Bahamian poets, musicians and writers, for a literary take on NE9’s “The Fruit and The Seed.” One of the two event organisers and performance poet, Princess Pratt, says her interest in wanting to organise an event like this stemmed from the fact that she had never seen a National Exhibition that featured performance poetry before. She wanted it to be an apparatus that bridged the gap between these seemingly separate worlds of artistry. So when the call came out, she and her creative business partner, Christine Wilson, conceived and presented a proposal to utilise the NAGB’s amphitheatre—Fiona’s Theatre—as a space for what would be called “Riddim n Tingum” for the NE9.
By Kevanté A.C. Cash, NAGB Correspondent. One of the beauties in the Bahamian creative landscape is the ability the community has to expand and build upon the precepts and concepts of art and artistry in times past to create what exists today as contemporary art. Artists of such a genre tend to incorporate a “voice” within their work that speaks toward social and/ or political issues they may find interest in and seek to advocate for, while ultimately staying true to their practice and sometimes, even honouring master artists they’ve been inspired by. Artist Christopher Outten does just that with his most recent body of work entitled “The Cultural Surface” displayed within his debut exhibition held at the Doongalik Art Studios during the month of February. I had an opportunity to attend the show’s opening night and host a conversation with Outten about the process in preparation for the show and how it finally feels to have a seat at the table among peers and the greats.
