2010 Exhibitions

The NAGB's Fifth National Exhibition – What is Your Carbon Footprint?

UNDER the theme "The Carbon Footprint", The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas hosted its Fifth National Exhibition (NE5) which opened on September 4, 2010 and ran through February 26, 2011.

Haiti's catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake in January 2010 and other similar disasters in Chile, Turkey and the Iceland Volcanic ash as well as the BP oil spill served as catalyst for the theme of the exhibit (The Carbon Footprint: Bahamian Artists' 21st Century Response to the Environment) which explored ideas and narratives on issues relating to the 21st century global question of our carbon footprint and climate change.

These are just a few examples of the Earth reacting to the burdens and demands we manufacture and place on it. These events are all related one way or another to various forms of global climate change. It has been obvious that the planet has been showing us that we should strive to live in harmonious rhythm with nature. Should we choose to ignore the effects of our actions, we will have to accept the potential dire penalties.

The Gallery's National Exhibition is a biannual event where artists of The Bahamas are invited to submit works to a published Call for Artwork. However in 2010, the Gallery chose to work outside of the historical parameters of the selection process that has been in place since the Inaugural National Exhibition seven years ago.

"In the past, artists were invited to submit three pieces from their portfolio that had been produced in the past two years. This time they were asked to produce one piece in response to the theme with the objective of raising a social consciousness within our community," David A. Bailey, Acting Director of the NAGB during 2010 says, "It is the intention of the NAGB to explore this area from an artist's perspective seeing how they use their own unique artistic tools and vision to produce works that look at areas such as urbanisation, mobility (cars, planes, boats, etc.), domesticity, personal space, landscape, industrialisation, natural earth elements, fabricated non-natural elements, etc. that relate to carbon footprint and climate change."

The Gallery received submissions from a record 38 artists and the jury made up of seven members selected 23 of those pieces. Also, there is a balance of gender that was never present in any of the previous National Exhibitions: 12 male artists and 12 female artists (1:1).

The chosen artists of the NAGB's Fifth National Exhibition include: John Beadle, Sue Bennett-Williams, Dede Brown, Apryl Burrows, John Cox, Blue Curry, Claudette Dean, Jan Elliot, Mick Guy, John B. Gynell, Ken Heslop, Kristaan Ingraham, Kishan Munroe, Lavar Munroe, Susan Moir-Mackay, Lynn Parotti, Dylan Rapillard, Heino Schmid, Natasha Turnquest and Eleanor Whitely. The media spanned the gamut and included found objects and mixed media, paintings, textiles, photography, graphic design, and quilt making.

In keeping with the idea of reducing the Gallery's own carbon footprint, the NAGB chose to forego commercially printing and mailing Invitations to the Opening Reception but opted the paperless route and digitally emailed invitations to its guest list.

Further to this, in another innovative move, the Gallery also decided to not produce a printed catalogue as in years past, but instead created a "digital" catalogue in the form of a specially designed and produced Jump Drive which features images of all the artwork, video interviews and information on the participating artists. The NE5 digital catalogue is available for purchase in the NAGB Store, Mixed Media.

Additionally, Holly A. Parotti, Curator of the NE5, and Co-Curator, Jackson Petit, researched films that were included in the submission process to motivate those interested in submitting work and also to support a more cohesive conversation in the community.

Ms. Parotti said: "Arguably, zero impact is a myth. Everything that we do in our daily lives impacts the environment and we leave a carbon footprint. We can choose to continue to ignore issues like the effects of the interconnectedness of climate change and fuel consumption or we can reduce our dependency on materials or processes that endorse and amplify the devastation of our natural resources. By understanding one's contribution, one can begin to rectify the situation. By reacting, one acknowledges that there is a problem. By discussing, we can determine resolution. The hope of this exhibition is to enlighten and open the eyes of the Bahamian community so that we question our own impact environmentally and ecologically," she said.

The two films: Remembering Saro-Wiwa and Home, were profound and exceptionally moving. Remembering Saro-Wiwa is a monument to the activist Ken Saro-Wiwa who was executed because of his campaign against the annihilation caused by the presence, depletion and rape of the Niger Delta by certain oil companies. Yann Arthus-Bertrand's Home was also presented because of its beautiful aerial cinematography that documented the threat humanity imposes on the planet.

With the NAGB's vision to further catapult Bahamian art into the international arena, the Gallery invited two world renowned artists, Bahamian Janine Antoni and Chilean Alfredo Jaar, along with Director of Gasworks, UK, Alessio Antoniolli, to be a part of the jury that judged the submissions. By doing this, the NAGB hoped to open the conversation to the international contemporary art platform.

"This was not an easy challenge but at the NAGB, we feel that with difficult and complex times, it is important that artists are given the opportunity to respond," said Mr. Bailey.

diaries unlocked

This exhibition marked two important moments at the NAGB.

The first is producing a major exhibition in a National space where the artist is not local but from another Caribbean region. The thinking here is that as a National institution, it is our responsibility to ensure that local artists, critics and curators get to experience and dialogue with what is considered the best in the visual arts arena. In places like London, the National Gallery shows work by non-British artists such as Caravaggio for exactly the same reason why we showed Ras Ishi.

The second is about regional and global collegiate partnerships. The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas has always been keen to participate in collaborative projects with local Bahamian artists, curators and critics as well as institutions and colleagues who are from the Caribbean, the Americas, Europe and the rest of the world.

In order for the NAGB and The Bahamas' community to grow and develop, it is important we continue to push and question our national and international boundaries in constant critical dialogue with our national and international partners and not work in isolation.

Ras Ishi's Exhibition "Diaries Unlocked" represented and marked this important shift.

The Liverpool Biennial
Caribbean Pavilion: "Three Moments"
Contemporary Urban Centre, Liverpool, UK
September 18 - November 28, 2010
The Liverpool Biennial is the largest contemporary visual arts events in the UK. It is also one of the best attended in the world. For ten weeks every two years, the city of Liverpool is transformed into the most amazing living gallery of new art, showcasing the best contemporary artists from around the world.
The 2010 Biennial showcased six programmes, one of which was called City States, a collection of shows exploring the cultural dynamics between cities and states. City States consisted of six international Pavilions and a selection of artists from The Bahamas, Barbados, and Martinique were the focus of the Caribbean Pavilion in an exhibition called "Three Moments."
In this exhibition, three moments become symbolized by three Caribbean islands; The Bahamas, Martinique and Barbados. Ten artists were selected on their ability to make work that responds to contemporary and historical global themes. The artists representing The Bahamas were John Beadle, Blue Curry, Lavar Munroe, Lynn Parotti and Heino Schmid.
The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas was instrumental in organising "Three Moments" and securing funding so that the Bahamian Artists were able to participate. For the first time, artists from The Bahamas were collectively making new work that responds to the city of Liverpool while maintaining a distinctive stance on a 21st Century Caribbean modernist aesthetic.
"Three Moments" was selected and curated by Dominique Brebion (for Martinique), Alissandra Cummins (for Barbados), David A. Bailey, Acting Director, National Art Gallery of The Bahamas and Holly Parotti, Curatorial Assistant, National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (for The Bahamas), and Allison Thompson (for Barbados) in collaboration with the ICF (International Curators Forum).