This spring, artists, collectors and art enthusiasts around the country are eager to experience the return of Transforming Spaces - the annual art tour unveiling thought-provoking transformations in galleries and creative spaces across New Providence. Held over two days, March 21 and 22, the 2015 Transforming Spaces bus tour will treat explorers to metamorphosed areas at Hillside House, Doongalik Studios, PopopStudios, the D'Aguilar Art Foundation, The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) and Liquid Courage Gallery. As they've done in previous years, this year's Transforming Spaces curators will work closely with administrators at each participating gallery to compose a series of six unique exhibitions and collections.
More than 40 visual artists along with College of The Bahamas architecture students will be involved in transforming each space. However, unlike previous years, there is no overarching theme for this spring's festival. Instead, artists have been asked to use each gallery's history, location and position in the context of Bahamian society as inspiration for transforming the space. In particular locations, some artists have also been encouraged to utilize local materials, including indigenous plants, in constructing the transformations.
Pam Burnside, member of the Transforming Spaces Organizing Committee, has expressed her enthusiasm for the return of the annual event.
"I am proud to be a part of this group which has, over these 11 years, been able to stimulate continued awareness of and appreciation for Bahamian visual arts, not only locally, but also increasingly in the international arena," she said. "Transforming Spaces has also been able to provide an essential platform for emerging artists, which bodes well for the strengthening of this sector. Creativity is the wave of the future and can be the third pillar of the Bahamian economy."
Tickets for Transforming Spaces can be purchased for $35 from Doongalik Studios, on Village Road, or The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, on West and West Hill Streets. Bussed tours of the transformed spaces will be held from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. and 2 - 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, and 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 22. Members of the public are also welcomed and encouraged to attend the week's highlights, which include a public talks forum on Thursday, March 19, at the NAGB and an opening party at Hillside House on Friday, March 20.
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