This is the first part of an extended conversation with the Jamaican painter Phillip Thomas. Part two can be found here. Veerle Poupeye: How do you situate and define yourself as an artist, in the contemporary Jamaican and Caribbean context? Is that, in fact, the context in which you situate and define yourself and, if... Continue Reading →
Throwing Words at the Status Quo
Waldane Walker, 2019 Valedictorian, Edna Manley College One night, an evil spirit held me downI could not make one single soundJah told me, 'Son, use the word'And now I'm as free as a bird- Peter Tosh - Oh B@&#o k$&%t (1981) Every culture, and every language has its expletives and some are, well, more potent... Continue Reading →
Caribbean Conversations – Errol Ross Brewster – Part II
Errol Ross Brewster - Stop Death from Malnutrition (1984) Here is part II of my conversation with Errol Ross Brewster. Part I can be found here. Veerle Poupeye:- You were born and raised at a time when Guyana was entering a period of political and ideological radicalism, which significantly impacted the course of the country... Continue Reading →
Caribbean Conversations: Errol Ross Brewster – Part I
The Brewsters, 1956, Kitty, Georgetown Here is the first part of a two part conversation with Errol Ross Brewster. Part II can be found here. Errol Brewster is a Caribbean artist from Guyana, living in the United States. With more than four decades of a Caribbean-wide, multimedia imaging practice, he has participated in multiple CARIFESTA’s;... Continue Reading →
Errol Ross Brewster – “Beware the Promise Today”
I am very pleased to be able to publish this photo essay by Errol Ross Brewster, as a first post on his work. It will be followed by a two-part interview with him (click here for part I). “BEWARE THE PROMISE TODAY” is a photo essay about the demise in Guyana, in the early 1970s,... Continue Reading →
Political Ownership and the Cultural Sector
It's a well-known dilemma: the support of the State is almost always needed to establish and maintain cultural institutions, irrespective of whether these are part of the public sector or privately initiated, and of whether they are publicly funded, in full or in part, or merely get in-principle support and blessings. In Jamaica, public cultural... Continue Reading →