Giving a voice to artists from the African-Caribbean diaspora; Night Stirred at Sea: Contemporary Caribbean Art

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

If you live in the City of Brampton, you have probably driven through downtown and noticed a huge billboard on the walls of the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives building. It is a picture of a young albino man, enveloped in a sea of blue paint, with random white splashes that highlight the contrast between his skin and the background.

What most captivated me about this piece are the expressions on the young man’s face. You can tell that he has experienced something, something that cannot quite be put into words, which is why the only way they could be expressed is through art.

The three large art pieces (astutely named the Pressure Series) are the artistic creation of Brampton’s own Janice Reid, a Canadian artist of Jamaican heritage based out of Brampton Ontario. She is a portrait photographer and is one of ten artists featured in the Night Stirred at Sea: Contemporary Caribbean Art exhibit that opened on October 29th, 2020 at Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives.

PAMA has partnered with Cart (Caribbean Art) Fair, Black Artist Network in Dialogue (BAND), and guest curators Karen Carter (Jamaican), and Greg Manuel to put together an exhibit that is a welcoming experience, especially during a time where many of us have been locked down, unable to travel, and needing something to pull us out of our funk.

The Toronto Caribbean Newspaper has been invited by PAMA a few times to be part of different cultural experiences, and I was very happy when we were contacted by PAMA’s Marketing Specialist Erin Fernandes about the exhibit. As usual, they invited us out to be a part of it, so on Thursday, October 29th, 2020, I excitedly made a trip to PAMA, knowing that I was going to be in for something special.

As usual, PAMA did not disappoint. Erin greeted me warmly when I arrived. I was pleased by the COVID-19 protocols that the museum had instituted. They were not intimidating, nor were they discriminatory, and I really appreciated this. Once we had ensured that everything was safe, I was brought into the exhibit that was being prepped for the virtual reception being held that night.

As soon as I walked in, I was transported back to some lovely memories of my visits to the beautiful island of Jamaica. The first photo that I saw was of an older melanated woman, sitting on a chair, looking straight at me with a stern, “You better behave yourself,” look on her face. I had to chuckle because the artist had captured that look at just the right time.

As Erin walked with me through the exhibit, I was blown away by the work that I was seeing. Many of the artists whose work was on display had been featured in the inaugural Cart (Caribbean Art) Fair in late January and early February 2020 in Mandeville, Jamaica. This was only a month before the whole world went crazy, and we all had to start dealing with this pandemic.

Naturally, the pandemic shut down everything, and for a while, no one was paying attention to anything but COVID-19. Then George Floyd happened, and the rise of the Black Lives Matter global movement occurred. There were protests happening all over the world. Dialogue surrounding racism became a topic of discussion, and the events shifted how many of us looked at life. Now, the role of the Caribbean, and how it has played in the development of the “new world” gave a voice to artists from the African-Caribbean diaspora. What these voices have proclaimed is no short of ingenious.

The artists in this exhibition span a wide range of life experiences and their works explore the themes of: identity, community, colonization, gender and place. These artists include:

· Krystal Ball (Jamaican/Canadian, Toronto based)
· Vanley Burke (Jamaican/British, London based)
· Katrina Coombs (Jamaican)
· Javier Dayes (Jamaican)
· Owen V. Gordon (Jamaican/Canadian, Toronto based)
· Ila Lovelace-Kuhnert (Trinidadian)
· Christina Leslie (Canadian, Toronto based)
· Miles Regis (Trinidadian/American, Los Angeles based)
· Janice Reid (Jamaican/Canadian, Brampton based)
· Storm Saulter (Jamaican)

After my tour with Erin, I had a chance to speak with the curators, and they filled me in on how this exhibit was brought to life.

“This is just one example of how we are doing our best to pull Caribbean artists into the global art market,” Karen begins. “It allows the whole world to know how talented Caribbean artists are. It connects the sector globally, and many of us Caribbean’s can connect with back home. It allows us to give back, not just here, but to the artists in the island.”

“Karen approached me in December of 2019 about heading to Jamaica to be part of this project,” Greg shared. “I went home to think about it, but she called me to let me know that she had already bought my ticket. Hey! Who doesn’t want to go to Jamaica. Karen had done a lot of the preparation in advance, and we had a group of really supportive people and amazing artists to work with.”

“I won’t lie,” Karen tells me, “I really hope that PAMA gets the go ahead for people to come and see this exhibit, even if they are timed showings. Seeing this exhibit virtually in no way compares to seeing it up close and personal.”

I couldn’t agree with Karen more. The exhibition provides a window into the systematic beauty and deep-rooted tensions of Caribbean cultural identity, and it does a magnificent job of connecting the region and the larger Caribbean diaspora to the world.

If you missed the Exhibition Reception that was held on Thursday October 29th, 2020, you have to check out the Focus on Photography, hosted by co-curator Greg Manuel on Thursday November 26th, 2020, and Focus on painting and textiles, hosted by Karen Carter on Thursday January 28th, 2021.

Stay up to date on the exhibit and the restrictions by visiting https://peelregion.ca/pama/caribbean-art/