Culture
January 26, 2013
Chances are, if you asked the average Bahamian high school student about Bahamian writers, they may be able to count how many they know on one hand. The widespread ignorance about our rich literary heritage is caused by a number of factors - most of all, education - but The College of The Bahamas (COB) is actively working to foster a love of literature once more through their Meet the Writer series.
Held once a semester, the Meet the Writer series brings established and emerging Bahamian writers in a wide range of practices to COB students and the Bahamian public to share their work.
Coordinator of the program and COB Associate Professor in English Literature Shaniqua Higgs says the program allows students to interact with writers they have been learning about in class. For many student writers themselves, the chance to meet those who have inspired them is exciting - and since the event is open to the public, everyone is invited to attend and learn more about our nation's storytellers and understand the importance of literature.
"I think the college should be leading the way in putting on events like this because it has a mandate to educate a nation," says Higgs. "I think that we often look abroad for intellectual stimulation and we ignore talented writers and artists in The Bahamas - we have a lot of them but they are not given recognition. It's a shame because literature in general is an important means to stimulate the mind."
"Humanities are being undervalued and some students tell me they didn't have to take literature in high school," she adds. "But then how do you develop appreciation for the arts? How do you become a critical thinker and a person who knows how to reason, to respect differences, to love reading? Literature is so important for its cultural value and for what it can teach us."
For this semester's Meet the Writer event on February 28, two poets - Obediah Michael Smith and Nicolette Bethel - will launch their most recent books by sharing selected pieces with the audience.
In "Discovery Daze", Obediah Michael Smith's 15th book of poetry, the prolific poet meditates on Bahamian life, making everyday objects and routines magical again as he finds art everywhere he looks in his Kemp Road neighborhood.
Readers may notice, however, the absence of his signature tongue-in-cheek poems - for Smith, the book is a response to the complaint that his poems often use inappropriate language and deal with adult subject matter. In his experience, it's the reason behind the exclusion of his work from school studies at home - despite the fact that he reads these same poems to high school students in other countries with no resistance.
"I've never been included in the local school literary canon and I don't know if it is my fault or their fault, but I want to rectify the situation," says Smith. "I've been included and celebrated internationally - in Peru, Venezuela, Cuba, in various regional anthologies - so why not at home?"
"I read to schoolchildren in these other countries I visit and they tell me adult subject matter does not matter - what mattered is that the work was good," he says. "So what is it about those places and this place? Why have they made me so self-conscious about what a work can contain and what you can put before students?"
"Discovery Daze" may be a book about which there can be no complaint when it comes to schoolchildren, but at what cost? For Smith, the whole exercise is counterintuitive - not only to his own creative practice which draws inspiration from all life, but to the very notion itself of preserving innocence in readers who live in the information age where everything is exposed and exploited.
"What is so shocking about that is when three o'clock rolls around and children are coming from this primary school up the road from me, they are using every manner of language," he says. "So is it that group of students we are trying to protect?"
"How well does this attitude we have protect them from what we think they are supposed to be innocent of?" he continues. "It has not worked, it does not work, and it is not working. It's a lie as well, because we are trying to suggest that they are not exposed to what they are definitely exposed to and I think that it's a question of including for them all that is life and showing them how it's beautiful and what it means."
Reading alongside Smith is COB lecturer Nicolette Bethel. Though known for her essays and plays expounding on Bahamian cultural life, Bethel writes poetry about the more personal aspects of her life and family history that many Bahamians can relate to.
Her first book of poetry, "Mama Lily and the Dead", published in 2010 by Poinciana Paper Press, recounts the tragedies faced by her resilient grandmother and extended family. In her new collection that she will launch at Meet the Writer, "Lent/Elegies", Bethel explores grief and meditates on the passing of time to come to terms with the death of her mother, Dr. Keva Bethel, through the "sevenling" poetic form.
"My approach to poetry is that it is a craft. I came to poetry really in the beginning to master all the nuances of English for the purposes of writing prose, and then I stuck with it," explains Bethel. "But it's always been about craft and it's been really challenging and exciting craft because you're using these constraints to express what it is you're trying to say."
"As a writer, my poems are about death. They all deal with that theme," she adds. "In these poems, I had no thought about the audience - the audience is myself. If I got them to where I was while I was writing them, that's all they can be."
Bethel published "Lent/Elegies" in a somewhat revolutionary way. In the Internet age, our understanding of books has changed as we explore digital platforms for storytelling. Whereas many writers and publishers scoff at the idea, Bethel embraces it. In 2007, she launched an online-only literary magazine "tongues of the ocean" and maintains several blogs. "Lent/Elegies" has been published through a "nanopress" online, free for anyone with Internet access to enjoy, so that the website is the book itself - though it is still available as a hard copy through Lulu.com and as an e-book.
"Internet has changed us. It changes the way we think, the way we look at and live in the world," says Bethel. "Publishing is resisting because publishing is firmly anchored in the print world and the print world is passing away."
"It's hard to challenge the idea that print changed the world - the ability to free thought, to multiply it, to master it. It created revolutions," she continues. "But that's the age we're living in now because of the Internet - revolutions and shifts are happening. People who have the same thoughts and the same experiences can communicate with each other not matter where they are on the planet, at no cost, they don't have to know each other, and that's never been able to happen before."
Indeed Bahamian writers are launching extraordinary projects, their work reaching and being celebrated by global viewers - it is high time the public took notice.
o These two literary giants will launch their respective new books through "Meet the Writer" at 6 p.m. on February 28 on the second floor of Chapter One. It is free and open to the public.
read more »
Held once a semester, the Meet the Writer series brings established and emerging Bahamian writers in a wide range of practices to COB students and the Bahamian public to share their work.
Coordinator of the program and COB Associate Professor in English Literature Shaniqua Higgs says the program allows students to interact with writers they have been learning about in class. For many student writers themselves, the chance to meet those who have inspired them is exciting - and since the event is open to the public, everyone is invited to attend and learn more about our nation's storytellers and understand the importance of literature.
"I think the college should be leading the way in putting on events like this because it has a mandate to educate a nation," says Higgs. "I think that we often look abroad for intellectual stimulation and we ignore talented writers and artists in The Bahamas - we have a lot of them but they are not given recognition. It's a shame because literature in general is an important means to stimulate the mind."
"Humanities are being undervalued and some students tell me they didn't have to take literature in high school," she adds. "But then how do you develop appreciation for the arts? How do you become a critical thinker and a person who knows how to reason, to respect differences, to love reading? Literature is so important for its cultural value and for what it can teach us."
For this semester's Meet the Writer event on February 28, two poets - Obediah Michael Smith and Nicolette Bethel - will launch their most recent books by sharing selected pieces with the audience.
In "Discovery Daze", Obediah Michael Smith's 15th book of poetry, the prolific poet meditates on Bahamian life, making everyday objects and routines magical again as he finds art everywhere he looks in his Kemp Road neighborhood.
Readers may notice, however, the absence of his signature tongue-in-cheek poems - for Smith, the book is a response to the complaint that his poems often use inappropriate language and deal with adult subject matter. In his experience, it's the reason behind the exclusion of his work from school studies at home - despite the fact that he reads these same poems to high school students in other countries with no resistance.
"I've never been included in the local school literary canon and I don't know if it is my fault or their fault, but I want to rectify the situation," says Smith. "I've been included and celebrated internationally - in Peru, Venezuela, Cuba, in various regional anthologies - so why not at home?"
"I read to schoolchildren in these other countries I visit and they tell me adult subject matter does not matter - what mattered is that the work was good," he says. "So what is it about those places and this place? Why have they made me so self-conscious about what a work can contain and what you can put before students?"
"Discovery Daze" may be a book about which there can be no complaint when it comes to schoolchildren, but at what cost? For Smith, the whole exercise is counterintuitive - not only to his own creative practice which draws inspiration from all life, but to the very notion itself of preserving innocence in readers who live in the information age where everything is exposed and exploited.
"What is so shocking about that is when three o'clock rolls around and children are coming from this primary school up the road from me, they are using every manner of language," he says. "So is it that group of students we are trying to protect?"
"How well does this attitude we have protect them from what we think they are supposed to be innocent of?" he continues. "It has not worked, it does not work, and it is not working. It's a lie as well, because we are trying to suggest that they are not exposed to what they are definitely exposed to and I think that it's a question of including for them all that is life and showing them how it's beautiful and what it means."
Reading alongside Smith is COB lecturer Nicolette Bethel. Though known for her essays and plays expounding on Bahamian cultural life, Bethel writes poetry about the more personal aspects of her life and family history that many Bahamians can relate to.
Her first book of poetry, "Mama Lily and the Dead", published in 2010 by Poinciana Paper Press, recounts the tragedies faced by her resilient grandmother and extended family. In her new collection that she will launch at Meet the Writer, "Lent/Elegies", Bethel explores grief and meditates on the passing of time to come to terms with the death of her mother, Dr. Keva Bethel, through the "sevenling" poetic form.
"My approach to poetry is that it is a craft. I came to poetry really in the beginning to master all the nuances of English for the purposes of writing prose, and then I stuck with it," explains Bethel. "But it's always been about craft and it's been really challenging and exciting craft because you're using these constraints to express what it is you're trying to say."
"As a writer, my poems are about death. They all deal with that theme," she adds. "In these poems, I had no thought about the audience - the audience is myself. If I got them to where I was while I was writing them, that's all they can be."
Bethel published "Lent/Elegies" in a somewhat revolutionary way. In the Internet age, our understanding of books has changed as we explore digital platforms for storytelling. Whereas many writers and publishers scoff at the idea, Bethel embraces it. In 2007, she launched an online-only literary magazine "tongues of the ocean" and maintains several blogs. "Lent/Elegies" has been published through a "nanopress" online, free for anyone with Internet access to enjoy, so that the website is the book itself - though it is still available as a hard copy through Lulu.com and as an e-book.
"Internet has changed us. It changes the way we think, the way we look at and live in the world," says Bethel. "Publishing is resisting because publishing is firmly anchored in the print world and the print world is passing away."
"It's hard to challenge the idea that print changed the world - the ability to free thought, to multiply it, to master it. It created revolutions," she continues. "But that's the age we're living in now because of the Internet - revolutions and shifts are happening. People who have the same thoughts and the same experiences can communicate with each other not matter where they are on the planet, at no cost, they don't have to know each other, and that's never been able to happen before."
Indeed Bahamian writers are launching extraordinary projects, their work reaching and being celebrated by global viewers - it is high time the public took notice.
o These two literary giants will launch their respective new books through "Meet the Writer" at 6 p.m. on February 28 on the second floor of Chapter One. It is free and open to the public.
read more »
January 26, 2013
For decades, straw work has been seen as one of the few authentic Bahamian forms of creative expression, but for 26 years, a group of women have been breathing life into the Family Island tradition of quilt making.
The Stepping Stone Quilters Guild is a group of women who've learned to quilt and honed their skills to produce some of the most amazing art one has ever seen.
Thursday, January 24 marked the opening of the guild's 24th annual quilt show at Trinity Methodist Church on Frederick Street.
Guild Member Maria Chisnall told Guardian Arts&Culture that in many fishing communities in the Family Islands, women used to make quilts for their fishermen to take on their voyages or for their children to sleep on. But the tradition seemed to have died out in Nassau.
So in 1986, four women formed a lunchtime club in order to learn how to quilt and the guild has now grown to include 20 Bahamian and non-Bahamian members, as well as two offshoot groups.
"We started putting on this show in 1990," said Chisnall, "because we heard there was cruise ship coming in that had a group of quilters on it. So we hosted the show down at Trinity Methodist Church, so that they could come off the boat and see our work.
"This is our 24th year and every year we get better and better and we're very proud of what we do... The group has exhibited at a beautiful show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We had a special exhibition of Androsia quilts. We've had individuals who have been featured in magazines or shows, where they were highlighted as quilters from The Bahamas."
As a matter of fact, Chisnall said when Queen Elizabeth II visited The Bahamas in 1994, the gift that was presented to her by the government was a quilt made by one of the guild's members.
"So we think we've elevated the standing of quilts from being mere bed covering," Chisnall joked.
Every year, the guild also issues a challenge to its members, usually a set of criteria that has a theme. It has restrictions regarding size, fabrics or patterns that have to be included.
"We issue this challenge in order to make people stretch and get out of their box, and they don't keep on doing the same thing every year over and over," said Chisnall.
"It's really designed to make us all think, make us all do something different each year and also so that people who don't quilt can understand how diverse it can be. Because here you are with women you have people who are given exactly the same set of rules to follow and yet every single one of the quilts is so different that it's amazing."
This year, the theme for the challenge was "Time", with some quilters depicting clocks, time zones and the passage of time.
"I showed the phases of the moon," said Chisnall. "I was trying to show how time passes in a pattern. We have a lady who put up a deliberately incomplete quilt and she has it labeled 'No Time'. We had a lady who showed the different stages of aging in silhouette from a little girl to an old lady. It depended on what came to their minds."
Another challenge quilters gave themselves was the "Mystery Quilts", where quilters received nine clues over the year, without knowing what the final quilt would look like. This year's clues included instructions for striped borders, striped flowers and striped leaves as well as instructions for assembling the quilt top.
Along with these challenges, quilts of various sizes and with various themes were on display.
Since a quilt can be anything that has three layers that are stitched together, Chisnall and Vee Jenkins made quilts for the recent Transforming Spaces show "Fibre", using printed fabric, coconut husk, burlap, wood and other interesting natural materials.
Some of the quilters are also artists, incorporating painting and fabric dying in their quilts. One quilt, "Sculling" by Ruth Lightbourn, looks like a pixelated photograph, made up of thousands of tiny squares.
According to Chisnall, "One of the things we feel we do is provide a beautiful thing for visitors who are coming off the cruise ships to see. We've had up to 750 people come in and see our show on occasion. So I think we've made our little contribution to tourism and forging bonds with people that normally wouldn't get a chance to see this kind of thing so near the city center."
o For more information, contact Maria Chisnall at machisnall@gmail.com or 359-2349. The exhibition is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday and admission is free. The show will be on display at Trinity Methodist Church on Frederick Street until Saturday, February 2.
read more »
The Stepping Stone Quilters Guild is a group of women who've learned to quilt and honed their skills to produce some of the most amazing art one has ever seen.
Thursday, January 24 marked the opening of the guild's 24th annual quilt show at Trinity Methodist Church on Frederick Street.
Guild Member Maria Chisnall told Guardian Arts&Culture that in many fishing communities in the Family Islands, women used to make quilts for their fishermen to take on their voyages or for their children to sleep on. But the tradition seemed to have died out in Nassau.
So in 1986, four women formed a lunchtime club in order to learn how to quilt and the guild has now grown to include 20 Bahamian and non-Bahamian members, as well as two offshoot groups.
"We started putting on this show in 1990," said Chisnall, "because we heard there was cruise ship coming in that had a group of quilters on it. So we hosted the show down at Trinity Methodist Church, so that they could come off the boat and see our work.
"This is our 24th year and every year we get better and better and we're very proud of what we do... The group has exhibited at a beautiful show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We had a special exhibition of Androsia quilts. We've had individuals who have been featured in magazines or shows, where they were highlighted as quilters from The Bahamas."
As a matter of fact, Chisnall said when Queen Elizabeth II visited The Bahamas in 1994, the gift that was presented to her by the government was a quilt made by one of the guild's members.
"So we think we've elevated the standing of quilts from being mere bed covering," Chisnall joked.
Every year, the guild also issues a challenge to its members, usually a set of criteria that has a theme. It has restrictions regarding size, fabrics or patterns that have to be included.
"We issue this challenge in order to make people stretch and get out of their box, and they don't keep on doing the same thing every year over and over," said Chisnall.
"It's really designed to make us all think, make us all do something different each year and also so that people who don't quilt can understand how diverse it can be. Because here you are with women you have people who are given exactly the same set of rules to follow and yet every single one of the quilts is so different that it's amazing."
This year, the theme for the challenge was "Time", with some quilters depicting clocks, time zones and the passage of time.
"I showed the phases of the moon," said Chisnall. "I was trying to show how time passes in a pattern. We have a lady who put up a deliberately incomplete quilt and she has it labeled 'No Time'. We had a lady who showed the different stages of aging in silhouette from a little girl to an old lady. It depended on what came to their minds."
Another challenge quilters gave themselves was the "Mystery Quilts", where quilters received nine clues over the year, without knowing what the final quilt would look like. This year's clues included instructions for striped borders, striped flowers and striped leaves as well as instructions for assembling the quilt top.
Along with these challenges, quilts of various sizes and with various themes were on display.
Since a quilt can be anything that has three layers that are stitched together, Chisnall and Vee Jenkins made quilts for the recent Transforming Spaces show "Fibre", using printed fabric, coconut husk, burlap, wood and other interesting natural materials.
Some of the quilters are also artists, incorporating painting and fabric dying in their quilts. One quilt, "Sculling" by Ruth Lightbourn, looks like a pixelated photograph, made up of thousands of tiny squares.
According to Chisnall, "One of the things we feel we do is provide a beautiful thing for visitors who are coming off the cruise ships to see. We've had up to 750 people come in and see our show on occasion. So I think we've made our little contribution to tourism and forging bonds with people that normally wouldn't get a chance to see this kind of thing so near the city center."
o For more information, contact Maria Chisnall at machisnall@gmail.com or 359-2349. The exhibition is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday and admission is free. The show will be on display at Trinity Methodist Church on Frederick Street until Saturday, February 2.
read more »
January 26, 2013
Bahamian artist Michael Edwards answers this week's 20 Questions from The Nassau Guardian's Arts&Culture.
1. What's been your most inspirational moment in the last five years?
Difficult to say. Most recently sharing the road with a 91-year-old who ran 26.2 miles - I didn't make it quite that far.
2. What's your least favorite piece of artwork?
Can't think of any.
3. What's your favorite period of art history?
Mid 20th century - Abstract Expressionism.
4. What are your top 5 movies of all time?
o Schindler's List
o The Usual Suspects
o The Shawshank Redemption
o Being John Malkovich
o The last name escapes me right now but it was by Ingmar Bergman
5. Coffee or tea?
I try to limit my caffeine intake as much as possible.
6. What book are you reading now?
"Wilderness and The American Mind" - great read.
7. What project are you working on now?
An environmental public art initiative to commemorate the country's 40th year of independence. It will be inter-disciplinary in nature for a systems thinking approach in order to regenerate and draw people to the proposed site.
8. What's the last show that surprised you?
Don't recall - sorry.
9. Saxons, One Family, Valley Boys or Roots?
None - they are distracted by the parade competition.
10. If you had to be stranded on one Family Island which one would it be?
Lutra.
11. What's the most memorable artwork you've ever seen?
That's a tough one. Perhaps Cloaca - Art(ificial) Shit Machine.
12. Which artist do you have a secret crush on?
None.
13. If you could have lunch with anyone who would it be?
Hedley Edwards - such creative vision and hustle.
14. Who do you think is the most important Bahamian in the country's history?
In terms of the modern economic model - perhaps give the nod to Sir Stafford Sands. It has not been challenged up to this point but I suspect it will be soon.
15. Who is your favorite living artist?
Don't have one as yet.
16. Sunrise or Sunset?
The former.
17. What role does the artist have in society?
To challenge the status quo;
To reimage and represent narratives;
To hold up a different lens through which to experience things;
To broaden the concept of creativity.
18. What's your most embarrassing moment?
The first day of repeating the eighth grade.
19. What wouldn't you do without?
Peanut Butter.
20. What's your definition of beauty?
Number 16 - early morning run watching the sun break the horizon.
read more »
1. What's been your most inspirational moment in the last five years?
Difficult to say. Most recently sharing the road with a 91-year-old who ran 26.2 miles - I didn't make it quite that far.
2. What's your least favorite piece of artwork?
Can't think of any.
3. What's your favorite period of art history?
Mid 20th century - Abstract Expressionism.
4. What are your top 5 movies of all time?
o Schindler's List
o The Usual Suspects
o The Shawshank Redemption
o Being John Malkovich
o The last name escapes me right now but it was by Ingmar Bergman
5. Coffee or tea?
I try to limit my caffeine intake as much as possible.
6. What book are you reading now?
"Wilderness and The American Mind" - great read.
7. What project are you working on now?
An environmental public art initiative to commemorate the country's 40th year of independence. It will be inter-disciplinary in nature for a systems thinking approach in order to regenerate and draw people to the proposed site.
8. What's the last show that surprised you?
Don't recall - sorry.
9. Saxons, One Family, Valley Boys or Roots?
None - they are distracted by the parade competition.
10. If you had to be stranded on one Family Island which one would it be?
Lutra.
11. What's the most memorable artwork you've ever seen?
That's a tough one. Perhaps Cloaca - Art(ificial) Shit Machine.
12. Which artist do you have a secret crush on?
None.
13. If you could have lunch with anyone who would it be?
Hedley Edwards - such creative vision and hustle.
14. Who do you think is the most important Bahamian in the country's history?
In terms of the modern economic model - perhaps give the nod to Sir Stafford Sands. It has not been challenged up to this point but I suspect it will be soon.
15. Who is your favorite living artist?
Don't have one as yet.
16. Sunrise or Sunset?
The former.
17. What role does the artist have in society?
To challenge the status quo;
To reimage and represent narratives;
To hold up a different lens through which to experience things;
To broaden the concept of creativity.
18. What's your most embarrassing moment?
The first day of repeating the eighth grade.
19. What wouldn't you do without?
Peanut Butter.
20. What's your definition of beauty?
Number 16 - early morning run watching the sun break the horizon.
read more »
January 26, 2013
Exhibitions
"Saltwater Healing" by Bahamian poet Angelique V. Nixon will be launched on Sunday, February 3, 3 p.m. at Doongalik Studios, Village Road. In 18 snapshots, Nixon collages photographs, drawings and pieces from the Bahamian landscape and uses them alongside handwritten poetry to explore and understand difficult stories through the lens of the natural world.
The Stepping Stone Quilters Annual Quilt Show runs through Saturday, February 2, at Trinity Methodist Church, Frederick Street from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday - Saturday. For more information contact Maria Chisnall machisnall@gmail.com or 359-2349.
"Creative Connect" monthly mixer on Monday, January 28, 7 p.m. at Popopstudios, Chippingham. This free social networking monthly mixer is hosted by The Bahamas Institute for Motion Pictures and The Bahamas Actors & Filmmakers Guild.
"Fix Ya Face" Open House on Thursday, January 31, 3 p.m. - 9 p.m. at the D'Aguilar Art Foundation, Virginia Street. For more information please call 322-2323 of 357-9263. Featuring 36 pieces that explore the human face through different styles and media, the show runs through January. To view please call 325-1957 or 322-2323 to make an appointment for Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
"Matters of the Heart" a Salus Project art exhibition opens on Wednesday, February 6 at 7 p.m. at the Ladder Gallery, New Providence Community Centre, Blake Road. The artwork will be donated to the Sassoon Foundation for a silent auction at the Heart Ball on February 16.
"Peace & Love: Writings on the Wall", an exhibition of recent work by Stan Burnside opens Thursday, February 14 6 p.m. at the Stan Burnside Gallery, Tower Heights, Eastern Road.
"Conceptual Movement" continues at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) with works from Popopstudios Junior Artists in Residence Yutavia George and Christina Darville. The exhibition is co-sponsored by The D'Aguilar Art Foundation and Antonius Roberts. For more information, visit www.nagb.org.bs, email info@nagb.org.bs or call 328-5800/1.
"New Works" by artist Heino Schmid are on display at Popopstudios Art Gallery, 22 Howard St. Chippingham. The exhibition, which is being held to raise funds for Schmid's participation in the major international art fair, VOLTA NY 2013. This marks the first time that Popop Gallery has been accepted to participate in a major art fair.
"Nature's Blessings", a collection of floral paintings and Bahamian scenes by the late Josephine Marie Sherman continues at Doongalik Studios, 20 Village Road. The show closes on Monday, February 28. Hours at the gallery at #18 Village Road are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday. For further information contact the gallery at 394-1886 or email doongalikart@batelnet.bs.
To commemorate the 46th anniversary of majority rule, a special Majority Rule Exhibition was opened on January 10 at The College of The Bahamas' (COB) Harry C. Moore Library and Information Centre. The exhibition can be viewed during library hours: Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. It will be on display until Thursday, January 31.
"Dieing To Be Beautiful: A Conversation Between A Mother And Son Through Photography After His Near Death Experience" continues at The Antonius Roberts Studio and Gallery at Hillside House, everyday except Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will be on display until Thursday, January 31. Hillside House also hosts a relaxing and welcoming Neighbourhood Coffee Morning every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Twice a month, they feature artists working in different disciplines leading demonstrations.
"Celebrating 40 years of Independence and Expression", the 2013 Colina Calendar Exhibition continues at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) with a showing and silent auction of the original calendar artwork. The "Expressions" art show runs at the NAGB through January.
"The Least of These" continues at the Ladder Gallery, located at the New Providence Community Centre, home of the New Providence Community Church, on Blake Road. Work by young artists is centered around HIV/AIDS awareness in commemoration of World AIDS Day Dec. 1. It will be on display until February.
NE6 'Kingdom Come' continues at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas through April 7, 2013. Gallery hours: Tue. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Sun. noon - 4 p.m. Admission $5 adults; $3 students/seniors; children under 12 are free. This sixth national exhibition features the work of 49 local artists who have been asked to respond to the challenges of transitions (social, environmental, political etc.) in modern times. This exhibition will be on display until April 7. For more information, visit www.nagb.org.bs, email info@nagb.org.bs or call 328-5800/1.
The Permanent Exhibition of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, displaying pieces under the theme "The Bahamian Landscape", continues this week at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. Gallery hours: Tue. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Sun. noon - 4 p.m. Admission $5 adults; $3 students/seniors; children under 12 are free. For more information, visit www.nagb.org.bs, email info@nagb.org.bs or call 328-5800/1.
Lectures and Readings
"Meet the Writer" hosted by The College of The Bahamas School of English Studies will feature Obediah Michael Smith and Nicolette Bethel. Smith's "Discovery Daze" and Bethel's "Lent/Elegies" will be launched at 6 p.m. on Monday, February 28 on the second floor of Chapter One Bookstore. It is free and open to the public.
Music
Nassau Chamber Ensemble presents an evening of ethnic and contemporary music on Saturday, February 2, 6 p.m. at Jacaranda House, Parliament & East Hill Streets.
Theatre
The hilarious comedy play "Election 2012: What Just Happened" is coming to the stage again, January 26 at the Bishop Michael Eldon Auditorium in Freeport at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 general admission, $25 at the door, and $30 preferred seating, $35 at the door. For tickets, reservations and inquiries, contact 351-6137, 351-6139 or 225-8254.
Films
FRIENDS of the Environment hosts its traveling film festival in Treasure Cay at the Treasure Cay Community Center on Wednesday, January 30, 4 - 6 p.m. Featured films include "The Island President", "End of the Line" and "Habitat Conservation in Abaco". FRIENDS members are free, otherwise tickets are $10. Visit the FRIENDS website for more information or to see the trailers:www.friendsoftheenvironment.org.
Workshops and classes
Classes continue for Popopstudios ICVA's spring semester of six-week courses including: "The Art of Drawing" with Toby Lunn (Mondays 6-9 p.m.), "Functional Ceramics" with Katrina Cartwright (Wednesdays 10a.m.-1 p.m.) and "The Art of the Book" with Sonia Farmer (Tuesdays 6-9 p.m.). The semester runs from January 14 to February 23 and courses range from $240 to $255. For more information, visit www.popopstudios.com/programming/.
Tours
Islandz, having acquired Downtown Art Tours, offers its Islandz Gallery Hop tours, examining art spaces downtown on Saturdays. Tickets are $20 per person for the two-hour tour. For more information or to book tickets, call 601-7592 or visit Islandz online at www.islandzmarket.com.
Tru Bahamian food tours offers a "Bites of Nassau" food tasting and cultural walking tour to connect people with authentic local food items, stories and traditions behind the foods and the Bahamians that prepare and preserve them, through a hands-on, interactive, educational tour and culinary adventure. Tickets are $69 per person, $49 for children under 12. Tours are everyday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., starting at the British Colonial Hilton and ending at Tortuga Rum Cake Company. For more information, visit www.trubahamianfoodtours.com.
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"Saltwater Healing" by Bahamian poet Angelique V. Nixon will be launched on Sunday, February 3, 3 p.m. at Doongalik Studios, Village Road. In 18 snapshots, Nixon collages photographs, drawings and pieces from the Bahamian landscape and uses them alongside handwritten poetry to explore and understand difficult stories through the lens of the natural world.
The Stepping Stone Quilters Annual Quilt Show runs through Saturday, February 2, at Trinity Methodist Church, Frederick Street from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday - Saturday. For more information contact Maria Chisnall machisnall@gmail.com or 359-2349.
"Creative Connect" monthly mixer on Monday, January 28, 7 p.m. at Popopstudios, Chippingham. This free social networking monthly mixer is hosted by The Bahamas Institute for Motion Pictures and The Bahamas Actors & Filmmakers Guild.
"Fix Ya Face" Open House on Thursday, January 31, 3 p.m. - 9 p.m. at the D'Aguilar Art Foundation, Virginia Street. For more information please call 322-2323 of 357-9263. Featuring 36 pieces that explore the human face through different styles and media, the show runs through January. To view please call 325-1957 or 322-2323 to make an appointment for Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
"Matters of the Heart" a Salus Project art exhibition opens on Wednesday, February 6 at 7 p.m. at the Ladder Gallery, New Providence Community Centre, Blake Road. The artwork will be donated to the Sassoon Foundation for a silent auction at the Heart Ball on February 16.
"Peace & Love: Writings on the Wall", an exhibition of recent work by Stan Burnside opens Thursday, February 14 6 p.m. at the Stan Burnside Gallery, Tower Heights, Eastern Road.
"Conceptual Movement" continues at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) with works from Popopstudios Junior Artists in Residence Yutavia George and Christina Darville. The exhibition is co-sponsored by The D'Aguilar Art Foundation and Antonius Roberts. For more information, visit www.nagb.org.bs, email info@nagb.org.bs or call 328-5800/1.
"New Works" by artist Heino Schmid are on display at Popopstudios Art Gallery, 22 Howard St. Chippingham. The exhibition, which is being held to raise funds for Schmid's participation in the major international art fair, VOLTA NY 2013. This marks the first time that Popop Gallery has been accepted to participate in a major art fair.
"Nature's Blessings", a collection of floral paintings and Bahamian scenes by the late Josephine Marie Sherman continues at Doongalik Studios, 20 Village Road. The show closes on Monday, February 28. Hours at the gallery at #18 Village Road are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday. For further information contact the gallery at 394-1886 or email doongalikart@batelnet.bs.
To commemorate the 46th anniversary of majority rule, a special Majority Rule Exhibition was opened on January 10 at The College of The Bahamas' (COB) Harry C. Moore Library and Information Centre. The exhibition can be viewed during library hours: Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. It will be on display until Thursday, January 31.
"Dieing To Be Beautiful: A Conversation Between A Mother And Son Through Photography After His Near Death Experience" continues at The Antonius Roberts Studio and Gallery at Hillside House, everyday except Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will be on display until Thursday, January 31. Hillside House also hosts a relaxing and welcoming Neighbourhood Coffee Morning every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Twice a month, they feature artists working in different disciplines leading demonstrations.
"Celebrating 40 years of Independence and Expression", the 2013 Colina Calendar Exhibition continues at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) with a showing and silent auction of the original calendar artwork. The "Expressions" art show runs at the NAGB through January.
"The Least of These" continues at the Ladder Gallery, located at the New Providence Community Centre, home of the New Providence Community Church, on Blake Road. Work by young artists is centered around HIV/AIDS awareness in commemoration of World AIDS Day Dec. 1. It will be on display until February.
NE6 'Kingdom Come' continues at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas through April 7, 2013. Gallery hours: Tue. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Sun. noon - 4 p.m. Admission $5 adults; $3 students/seniors; children under 12 are free. This sixth national exhibition features the work of 49 local artists who have been asked to respond to the challenges of transitions (social, environmental, political etc.) in modern times. This exhibition will be on display until April 7. For more information, visit www.nagb.org.bs, email info@nagb.org.bs or call 328-5800/1.
The Permanent Exhibition of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, displaying pieces under the theme "The Bahamian Landscape", continues this week at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. Gallery hours: Tue. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Sun. noon - 4 p.m. Admission $5 adults; $3 students/seniors; children under 12 are free. For more information, visit www.nagb.org.bs, email info@nagb.org.bs or call 328-5800/1.
Lectures and Readings
"Meet the Writer" hosted by The College of The Bahamas School of English Studies will feature Obediah Michael Smith and Nicolette Bethel. Smith's "Discovery Daze" and Bethel's "Lent/Elegies" will be launched at 6 p.m. on Monday, February 28 on the second floor of Chapter One Bookstore. It is free and open to the public.
Music
Nassau Chamber Ensemble presents an evening of ethnic and contemporary music on Saturday, February 2, 6 p.m. at Jacaranda House, Parliament & East Hill Streets.
Theatre
The hilarious comedy play "Election 2012: What Just Happened" is coming to the stage again, January 26 at the Bishop Michael Eldon Auditorium in Freeport at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 general admission, $25 at the door, and $30 preferred seating, $35 at the door. For tickets, reservations and inquiries, contact 351-6137, 351-6139 or 225-8254.
Films
FRIENDS of the Environment hosts its traveling film festival in Treasure Cay at the Treasure Cay Community Center on Wednesday, January 30, 4 - 6 p.m. Featured films include "The Island President", "End of the Line" and "Habitat Conservation in Abaco". FRIENDS members are free, otherwise tickets are $10. Visit the FRIENDS website for more information or to see the trailers:www.friendsoftheenvironment.org.
Workshops and classes
Classes continue for Popopstudios ICVA's spring semester of six-week courses including: "The Art of Drawing" with Toby Lunn (Mondays 6-9 p.m.), "Functional Ceramics" with Katrina Cartwright (Wednesdays 10a.m.-1 p.m.) and "The Art of the Book" with Sonia Farmer (Tuesdays 6-9 p.m.). The semester runs from January 14 to February 23 and courses range from $240 to $255. For more information, visit www.popopstudios.com/programming/.
Tours
Islandz, having acquired Downtown Art Tours, offers its Islandz Gallery Hop tours, examining art spaces downtown on Saturdays. Tickets are $20 per person for the two-hour tour. For more information or to book tickets, call 601-7592 or visit Islandz online at www.islandzmarket.com.
Tru Bahamian food tours offers a "Bites of Nassau" food tasting and cultural walking tour to connect people with authentic local food items, stories and traditions behind the foods and the Bahamians that prepare and preserve them, through a hands-on, interactive, educational tour and culinary adventure. Tickets are $69 per person, $49 for children under 12. Tours are everyday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., starting at the British Colonial Hilton and ending at Tortuga Rum Cake Company. For more information, visit www.trubahamianfoodtours.com.
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January 24, 2013
Majority Rule Day was celebrated at a special assembly at Ridgeland Primary School held under the theme: "Let the Children tell the story". read more »
January 24, 2013
The Reverend Canon Basil Tynes will celebrate his 25th anniversary of ordination to the sacred priesthood with a Solemn High Mass on Friday.The celebratory Mass will take place at 7 p.m.
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January 24, 2013
"Word-of-mouth" conversations will reveal that Bahamians are a peace-loving people who are tolerant of others and who also practice spiritual oneness with a creator that speaks a universal message to many cultures and in many languages, according to Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe.
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January 23, 2013
Members of the Parish of St Barnabas Church, along with Anglicans from around the diocese, will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ordination to the priesthood of Canon Basil Leon Tynes with a Solemn High Mass on Friday January 25 at 7pm. read more »
January 23, 2013
Nassau, Bahamas -- The United States Embassy in Nassau is pleased to announce the seventh annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Contest. This year's theme "Dream Inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.: Celebrating Forty Years of Bahamian Independence"will also include an art component in partnership with Antonius Roberts to encourage high school students in government and private schools to express themselves artistically.
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January 19, 2013
Who is a Bahamian? It's a loaded question, and one that photographer Sabrina Lightbourn has asked in a project that attempts to show the multi-cultural and diverse side of The Bahamas, and raise the level of tolerance when it comes to Bahamian identity."I want to challenge Bahamians to look at and think about who we are," Lightbourn told Guardian Arts&Culture. "There is a lot of intolerance for people who don't look and sound the way we think a traditional Bahamian should look and sound. We might look different and we might sound different but we are all Bahamian."The project is part of the "NE6 - Kingdom Come" exhibit now on at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. It includes a total of 100 black and white photographs of Bahamian faces. Eighty are displayed at the NAGB, and the remaining 20 large-scale images are installed in public spaces downtown.Lightbourn says "Who is a Bahamian?" was inspired by French photographer/street artist JR, who photographed human faces from communities in conflict and printed them on larger-than-life canvasses and then pasted them on urban spaces. His goal was to force people to see one another in a way that confronts and engages audiences where they least expect it.When the innovative TED Talks series asked JR to answer the question, "How are we going to save the world?", he put the question to other artists and created the Inside Out Global Art Project. The large-scale participatory art project transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone is challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world.Lightbourn says that when she got the invite to participate in the national exhibition and digested the theme, "Who is a Bahamian?" seemed the perfect fit. The theme asked artists to create works that responded to the challenges of change in modern times."At first I thought I would take photographs of Bahamians and non-Bahamians, and then I decided just to focus on Bahamians, to show how multi-cultural and diverse we are," she explains.At the heart of the project, says Lightbourn, was her own experiences as a white Bahamian and how frustrating that can be at times when it comes to her national identity."I've had the experience of feeling like an outsider and having to explain my right to be called a Bahamian, even though I have a wonderful Bahamian heritage," she says."It has been a struggle and I have been really angered by that."Lightbourn found during the installation of the images that some viewers identified with that frustration.The project has resonated with many."I had one guy come up to me and say, 'My parents are Haitian and I've always gotten teased and not accepted and this project really speaks to me,'" she recalls.Lightbourn says the process was fairly simple. At first, she started by making a list of segments of the community that she wanted to represent with the photographs."I wanted to make sure the Greek community, Over-the-Hill and Lyford Cay communities were represented," she says. Lightbourn then took to the downtown area and took her camera everywhere she went."I knew I was looking for diversity," she says. "Once I had photographed a Rasta I knew that was represented, then an older white established guy, and then I knew that was represented.""The actual photographing was pretty basic. It was not complicated. I would just walk down the street, talk to someone and tell them what I was doing, we'd find a wall and I would photograph them."When it came to identifying the public spaces downtown on which to install the images, Lightbourn says it was just a matter of picking up the phone and calling owners of the buildings. Some said, yes. Others said, no. The buildings -- the Bonneville Bones building on Bay Street and an older unused building on Cumberland Street next to Hillside House Gallery -- that feature the photographs now jump out at motorists and passers-by, forcing viewers to stop and think about the question, 'Who is a Bahamian?'The response to the project has been mostly positive, says Lightbourn, who adds that it has also sparked the idea of what is possible. Lightbourn says she has been approached about doing similar projects for other spaces, and has been asked to take the "Who is a Bahamian?" project to Harbour Island, Eleuthera. Lightbourn also hopes to expand the concept in future works.The question of "Who is a Bahamian?" may not be a simple one to answer, but it's worth considering as the country approaches its 40th anniversary as an independent nation and we are forced to face the changing face of who is a Bahamian.
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January 19, 2013
The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) is looking to spread its reach beyond the shores of Nassau.It has started with Grand Bahama, and earlier this week a delegation made up of staff and board members visited the island on a fact finding mission to assess the viability of opening a branch of the NAGB in Freeport."I'd like see the NAGB stand for national and not just for 'Nassau'," NAGB Director Amanda Coulson told Guardian Arts & Culture.The group met with artists groups, government officials and Grand Bahama Port Authority executives, and conducted studio visits with local artists Claudette Dean, Del Foxton and Susan Moir Mackay.Coulson said the delegation - made up of NAGB Board Chairman Stanley Burnside; Deputy Chair Chantal Bethel; Secretary Antonius Roberts; Board Member Dr. Gail Saunders; Coulson; and John Cox, chief curator -- and its ideas were well received by the community."Everyone was extremely excited. Everyone is keen to have Bahamian art and culture better represented in Grand Bahama," says Coulson.Over a two-day period, Coulson and the delegation met with Melvin Seymour, permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Freeport; Ian Fair, chairman of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA); Ian Rolle, GBPA president, and Ginger Moxey, GBPA vice presidentCoulson and Cox also made a presentation to the American Women's Club, and the delegation met with the Grand Bahama Artists Association. The group also got the chance to see the island thanks to a tour arranged by the Ministry of Tourism, and visit St. George's High School to meet art students preparing for the art BGCSE.Coulson says the school visit - an invitation from art teacher Alisa Streather-Robinson - was the perfect example of how access to the NAGB and its resources could benefit the community in Grand Bahama.Coulson says the idea to start with Grand Bahama was pushed by the NAGB Board Deputy Chair Chantal Bethel, a well-known Grand Bahama artist.Artists working on islands outside of Nassau often feel left out but establishing branches of NAGB in other islands provide the creative structure for less established artists to end up on the main stage, says Coulson."It gives [artists] a foot in the door," says Coulson.There are already plans for an arts and cultural festival in Grand Bahama for the 40th anniversary celebrations, which NAGB hopes to be a part of.Coulson says the process of establishing a permanent NAGB location in Freeport will start with small steps, such as smaller, temporary exhibitions that include portions of shows once exhibited at the NAGB. In the immediate future, the gallery is also looking at setting up branches in Abaco and Eleuthera.However, the next step in the process of setting up a branch in Freeport will involve finalizing a location for the exhibitions and looking for the community partners and financial support that can make it happen."I feel very positive after this visit," says Coulson. "I feel like it can be done."
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January 19, 2013
Artist and graphic designer Dionne Benjamin-Smith answers this week's 20 Questions from Guardian Arts & Culture.
1. What's been your most inspirational moment in the last five years?
I have had many - all surrounding God's relationship with me. Too overwhelming to really speak of in this forum.
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1. What's been your most inspirational moment in the last five years?
I have had many - all surrounding God's relationship with me. Too overwhelming to really speak of in this forum.
read more »
January 15, 2013
Minister of National Security Dr Bernard J Nottage lauded former Parliamentary Commissioner Errol Bethel for 50 years of national service during a special lunch held in Mr Bethel's honour. read more »
January 15, 2013
Members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc have celebrated the fraternity's 99th anniversary. read more »
January 14, 2013
Bahamian artist Lillian Blades answers this week's 20 Questions from Guardian Arts&Culture. Blades lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia. read more »
January 14, 2013
A decades-old promise made to a dying sister is coming to fruition in a collection of floral paintings and Bahamian scenes at Doongalik Studios."Nature's Blessings" features the work of the late Josephine Marie Sherman, daughter of the late John Alfred Sherman Jr., CPM, QPM, MBE, the first Bahamian fire chief, and Aurelia Levittie Sherman (nee Rahming), the sister of the late Sister Maria Rahming, one of the first Bahamian nuns.
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January 14, 2013
Enclosed are remarks by The Honourable Jerome K. Fitzgerald Minister of Education, Science and Technology at Senior Officers' In-House Education Conclave.
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January 14, 2013
If Bahamians were taught their history they would have a better appreciation for it, says Bahamian historian Dr. Gail Saunders. The Majority Rule Exhibition now on at The College of The Bahamas (COB) is giving Bahamians an opportunity to do just that. read more »
January 11, 2013
Nassau, The Bahamas - An exhibition detailing the struggle towards Majority Rule was unveiled at the Harry C Moore Library of the College of The Bahamas on the 46th Anniversary of Majority Rule, which came about on January 10,
1967.
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1967.
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January 11, 2013
Nassau, Bahamas - Remarks by Fred Mitchell at the Majority Rule Day Exhibition opening, College of The Bahamas on 10th January 2013:
The Prime Minister has asked me to stand in for him this evening. Due to the exigencies of his schedule, he is unable to make it. He sends his best wishes. You know of his commitment to Majority Rule Day. He has said that it is to
become a public holiday.
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The Prime Minister has asked me to stand in for him this evening. Due to the exigencies of his schedule, he is unable to make it. He sends his best wishes. You know of his commitment to Majority Rule Day. He has said that it is to
become a public holiday.
read more »
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