New Category : Art

Bahamas Humane Society Art Show and Other Events

Thu, Feb 23rd 2017, 12:50 PM

There are three items of note in the next two months!

Starting Wednesday, March 1st and continuing to Monday, March 6th, you are invited to an Art Show featuring the works of Harry Quinn. The show will be held at Carboona, Lyford Cay. The Opening Reception will be from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the 1st. For more information, please see the attached flyer.

Come and see the BHS booth at the BKC Dog Show Saturday March 18th and Sunday March 19th, and join us for the BHS mini-Fun Day on the Sunday. Waggiest Tail, Best Kisser and more! The Dog Show will be held at Clifford Park, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.

Pull out that hippy outfit and come and get your groove on! The Flower Power Party is back! Saturday, March 25th at the Nassau Yacht Club from 7 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. There will be prizes for the best costume along with an in-house raffle and silent auction. Tickets are $75 and are available at the Shelter. For more information, please visit the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1407929959257537/

Thank you to those who came out to support the Thrift Shop's Valentine's Day Jewellery Sale. It was very successful! Thank you, too, to the many people who donate to the Shop and make it possible for us to help support the BHS.

Bahamas Humane Society

Leading ladies to heat up the runway at Red Dress Soiree

Leading ladies to heat up the runway at Red Dress Soiree

Fri, Nov 18th 2016, 04:45 PM


Twelve leading ladies, 12 red gowns, one magical night. On Saturday, December 10, 2016 The Red Dress Soiree, powered by Aliv, will once again celebrate exceptional Bahamian women showcasing red gowns created by local designers at a high energy charity event. The event will be held in the Imperial Ballroom at Atlantis. Tickets are available for a donation of $225.


The event, dubbed the glamorous giveback, will feature a cocktail reception, a runway presentation of each leading lady in her specially designed gown, followed by a three-course dinner, dancing and a silent auction. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the event’s silent auction benefit The Bahamas AIDS Foundation, specifically its work with adolescents infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.


Attendees will be treated to 90 minutes of world-class entertainment as more than 10 local artists perform R&B and soul hits as the women rip the runway.


The 12 leading lady honorees have made significant contributions to society across many disciplines including disability equality, teen mothers, literacy and education and much more. The ladies include: Kim Aranha, Andrea Archer, Marion Bethel, Kayleaser Deveaux-Isaacs, C. Kim Gibson, Felicity Humblestone, Dr. Kim Johnson-Scriven, Janet Kemp, Christine King, Charlene McPhee, Alana Major and Neulessa Major.


“I am both humbled and honored to be selected as one of the 12 leading ladies this year,” said C. Kim Gibson. “I consider it a privilege to be among such amazing ladies who have not only excelled in their careers but have also given of themselves to make a difference in our country. I usually shy away from being in the spotlight, however supporting this cause overrides any reluctance that I may have had initially. Adolescents and children affected with HIV and AIDS is a population that is usually overlooked and proceeds from this event go a long way in improving the lives of those affected.”


Creating one-of-a-kind gowns for each leading lady will be 12 designers including Apryl Burrows, Gillian Curry-Williams, Theodore Elyett, Anthea Bullard, Patrice Lockhart, Javotte Bethell, Brynda Knowles, Rudolph Brown, Myrlande Julien, Ria Georgina, Phylicia Ellis and Kathy Pinder.


Community minded corporate sponsors of the event include Aliv, Percy’s The Island Game, Zamar Productions, Tyreflex Star Motors and Mercedes-Benz and Commonwealth Fabrics.


“The effects of HIV/AIDS are still far reaching in our society, and through our Ruby Level sponsorship of this event, we aim to help bring awareness to the severity of this disease and provide assistance to the adolescents in the Bahamas AIDS Foundation’s Outreach Programme,” said Erica Laing, executive director, T.I.G. Investments Ltd. “We salute the work of the committee, and the Bahamas AIDS Foundation at large, and we look forward to an amazing evening at the glamourous giveback!”


The Bahamas AIDS Foundation Adolescent Outreach Programme provides tutoring, psychosocial intervention, peer support , job training and placement, a snack and a hot meal, referral services, and individual and group counseling, all of which are directed to enable the adolescents to lead long, productive, healthy lives. The Red Dress Soirée, powered by Aliv directly supports these efforts.


Tickets can be purchased at The Bahamas AIDS Foundation on Delancy Street, Tristar Insurance Agents & Brokers Ltd. on East Bay Street and York Street, or by visiting www.reddressbahamas.com.

BNT's 26th Wine Art Festival on tap for the weekend

BNT's 26th Wine Art Festival on tap for the weekend

Fri, Oct 28th 2016, 03:01 PM

Fine art from 45 artists, 55 premium wines from Bristol Wines & Spirits, culinary demonstrations, best in show art competition, Emanji Circus Arts performance, live music and exciting prizes up for grab in the annual raffle will be the order of the day at the Bahamas National Trust's 26th Annual Wine and Art Festival.

Wearable art, featuring work by Dappered Concepts (men's accessories), Tiff (silk wear), LVC Custom Swimwear, Mega Mergers (accessories made from recycled materials and fashion jewelry by Terniska Erskin, Carolyn Anderson, Peter Bradley and Jennifer Bethel will be new additions to the festival which will be held on Saturday 12 noon to 9 p.m. at The Retreat on Village Road.

Ninth grade student Lucas Kaighin out of Abaco, Stefan Davis of Airbrush Junkies and Jamaal Rolle the celebrity artist will also be featured. There will also be live art demonstrations.

This year the BNT collaborated with the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas (NAGB) as their exclusive visual arts partner and organizational and vetting body to ensure that the production and execution of artworks at this year's festival is stellar and continues to raise the bar for local production.

The NAGB was responsible for the selection of works and the general aesthetic layout of this year's booths along with categorization. To shake things up they introduced four new themes to the festival which draw on the history of major art movements that have influenced Bahamian art and its development -- Surrealism + Fantasy, SurrealismTropicalism, The Landscape and The Everyday.

The wines included in this year's extensive showcase are from the Bristol and Premier Cru portfolios. Patrons of this year's festival will get the opportunity to try four different Sakes from every major wine-producing region.

"Considering there is no other showcase like Wine & Art around town, it is the perfect opportunity for us to help nurture newer palates, but still appeal to the more experienced connoisseur," said Rhys Campbell, Bristol's vice-president of corporate affairs.

Campbell described the event as the catalyst for what the company hopes will become the go-to event for the inexperienced palate wanting to up their wine tasting and pairing profile.

"These types of events truly allow us the flexibility and fluidity to experience the varietals in the way intended by the winemakers. We will even go a step further in offering a sale the week immediately following the festival at our Gladstone Road, East Bay and Blake Road locations, to allow customers the opportunity to pick up where they left off," he said.

In addition to the art displays and wine tasting, there will be a culinary demonstration by chef Owen Bain of Cassava Grille. Nine food vendors will provide a range of ethnic dishes.

The BNT, Bristol Wines & Spirits along with the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, the Ministry of Tourism, Scotiabank, JetBlue, and Bahamas Waste collaborated on the event.

In addition to financial contribution, JetBlue also donated airline vouchers to the annual raffle to travel to any JetBlue destination worldwide. Proceeds from the festival raffle that will also include gift certificates and artwork will aid in the restoration of national parks impacted by Hurricane Matthew.

Festival admission is $30 in advance adults, $35 at the gate, $10 young adults (12-17) and $5 children under 12.

Advance tickets can be purchased at The Retreat on Village Road, Bristol Wines and Spirits, Gladstone Road and Airbrush Junkies at the Mall at Marathon.

Intellectual property rights and creativity

Intellectual property rights and creativity

Fri, Sep 30th 2016, 01:54 PM


Producing wearable art at Bahama Hand Print. (Photo: Dr. Ian Bethell-Bennett)

The government often talks of celebrating Bahamian creativity and culture. The first thing 'they' do when they are invited somewhere is discuss taking Junkanoo to the event. That could mean paying for 300 strong junkanooers to be flown to Japan and taken care of while they are there. The public seldom complains.

As we round a new corner in the discussion on culture, it seems dishonest and in fact, corrupt to discuss culture as if government were truly involved in promoting or protecting Bahamian culture. They are not. In fact, their lack of engagement is threatening to undo so much of what so many generations of Bahamians have fought to produce and continue to fight to protect.

For years if not decades Bahamian artists have complained about the perils of creating in the Bahamas, and no one listened. The lack of any real relevant and active government policy and regulations with regard to Intellectual Property is simply put, backward. We talk so much of advancing to first world status, but yet each time we say that, we move further back. Each year government pays lip service and supposedly throws money at making it faster and easier to do business here, yet each year it becomes harder and more difficult to do so. Empty shops aren't just a result of the recession, the ubiquity of gambling houses popping up everywhere is asymptomatic of the lack of support given to Bahamian grown businesses that feed into the health and wellness of the public.

Any creative product produced in the Bahamas can be copied easily and sold off shore to a non-Bahamian manufacturer and be mass-produced at one tenth of what it costs a local Bahamian to create and produce it. Yet we see nothing wrong with this phenomenon. It is usually at this point that people say the Bahamas is made up of pirates. But when will the pirates surrender their bounty, when they know it is destroying the country they live in?

So let me throw out a hypothetical situation: If I produce a cup of uniquely Bahamian material made in The Bahamas, but a person takes a photo of it or buys one and takes it to China, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Taiwan. This is then shown to someone who has 500 people working for a dollar a week, without any care for international legal infrastructure, then use pattern that I spent four years to develop and create 5000 copies for cents on the dollar. The most offensive part of this equation is that they turn around and sell it back to the same people they stole the pattern from.

It's not stealing if you don't get caught, I hear people say often. However, the intellectual property and sweat that was put into creating that product has now been discarded. As cultural producers, Bahamians care little for what they have lost. They are happy to buy the same product cheaper from a charlatan than from someone we call brother.

Ironically, we feel no remorse. And worse, the government has allowed this illegality to continue.

As we spend so much time talking about creative culture and culture on the whole, let us take stock of the corruption inherent in the government system that facilitates the theft of intellectual property and patterns from Bahamians because someone in power must be benefiting.

Any work of art that is produced in the Bahamas, unless the person producing it is savvy enough to get his or her own right to it, the chances are it will be knocked off within the year. It is not even a knock off of flattery where another creation copies the intent, but rather a knock off of corruption where the only idea is to beat the owner of the idea to market and to destroy him or her on the way because the knock off can be made cheaper.

In fact, when Minister Ryan Pinder was in the Ministry, he claimed that there was an entire suite of Intellectual Property legislation ready to go as we acceded to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Years later, there has been no word on what that suite might be. This either shows complicity or simple government disregard for Bahamian creativity. It is obvious that government thinks little of creative people's minds or of their investment of time to produce anything. The mere fact that the dangers of such a lawless industry have been flagged countless times before should tell us that something is wrong.

One of the latest examples of cultural dishonesty and theft would be the plight brought to public attention by Miss Androsia who walked into a Bahamian business where they were selling fake Androsia fabric blatantly. Copyright and patenting means nothing in The Bahamas, a place where young people believe it is cool to boast about copying and pasting work from the Internet into one's own work and passing it off as one's own in a public speech.

We care so little about Intellectual Property rights that we celebrate plagiarists. Even when the crime is boasted about in public, nothing is done to the culprit. It may seem insignificant to run the red light because police will never be there to catch anyone, and if I gently hit someone's car I can get away with it because my car is bigger than theirs or I know someone who can make it disappear from record. What then happens if I kill someone as a result of my actions? The best word to answer this is probably nothing. The disregard is so high for life that someone can be killed and a connection can get someone off who has knowingly caused grievous bodily harm.

When it comes to someone's land, property or money if it is stolen, nothing happens to the perpetrator. At the end of the day, the entire country actually suffers and is ultimately undermined by the lack of legal infrastructure. However, Bahamians seem to thrive on this excuse and the double standards that permeate. However, as Androsia, straw plaiting and strong back are all co-opted by offshore imposters, nothing will be done to protect the time, money and sacrifice put into that product. What happened to Androsia over the past weeks is a mere example of how shamefacedly corrupt the system is and the failures of our legal system.

As we move on to the big day of creativity, there must be an environment that promotes creativity. Government is responsible for maintaining a lawful and regulated system of Intellectual Property. At every level of Bahamian society this seems to be disregarded from full out plagiarism to theft of patents and copying of people's creations: baskets, hats, bags, blouses.

In this way, government is complicit in the disregard for and breaking of international laws. The WTO and the United States take these things very seriously. When the straw vendors were held in New York for dealing in counterfeit goods that was an example of how seriously they take it. Why do we as a country continue to empower those who break laws and send those people who are law-abiding citizens to the poorhouse because the criminals steal from them and undercut their ability to earn money in the honest marketplace?

We seem to be celebrating piracy and the lawlessness of a pirate state. No intellectual property can be created in such a hostile environment, because, believe it or not, people pay to create new designs and when charlatans reproduce them without permission, they are in fact destroying a national cultural symbol. They are destroying a part of national culture, not building. The law and regulations are that.

Dr. Ian Bethell-Bennett