Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Last Lap Carnival Tuesday


The Carnival Band "Tribe" on Tuesday night on their final route home, Port of Spain


Earlier during the day, this masquerader heated up and was ready to "Roll and Go Down" to the unsurprised couple standing and viewing the parade, Port of Spain.


The receiving end of the female masquerader seems she should roll it a little harder


Two true "masqueraders" strutting their skills on a happy victim. As a rule, women are in full control here and are the initiators of this brief 30 second wining (courting) ritual. Carnival in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

Monday, February 27, 2006

The Midnight Robber Remembers


Here is a painting of the popular Midnight Robber from Trinidad and Tobago's carnival, and this portrait is in respect of a masquerader named Andrew 'PUGGY' Joseph. The painting was part of a costume from the Band, Mystery Raiders, in Port of Spain, Carnival Monday, 2006. See also The Midnight RobberTalk

Saucy Pow's Monday wining


Demonstration wining at Adam Smith Square, Trinidad Carnival Monday, 2006

The man who goes by the nick name Saucy Pow is showing the public, this carnival Monday how to wine, and to also, how to make a public spectacle. At the finale with his series of grating dance moves, he dropped his pants and exposed his white laced pantie.


Working the crowd who just to watch


Getting ready to drop those pants


Here is Saucy Pow dancing at Smoky and Bunty Bar in St. James in 2007






Sunday, February 26, 2006

I salute the Soca Warriors

I salute the Soca Warriors


Joan Harding as a Dame Lorraine at Victoria Square,Trinidad, 2006

Derived from slaves mocking the French aristocracy from the 18th century, this contemporary Dame Lorraine is in the 21st century and this time she is by mocking T
rinidad and Tobago's national football team, the Soca Warriors as they take part in the World Cup later this June.


A Soca Warrior ready of Germany, 2006

And just before this photograph was taken, Joan Harding was tackling and body swerving a football into a open field. Fast and swift, she could not be captured in time. The Dame Lorraine is a Traditional Carnival character and beneath her ring hooped skirt, Harding was wearing a pair of football tugs and matching socks.

The Dame Lorraine costume is emphasized by the physical characteristics of the female derrière. This is helped by padded pillows, and only the Caribbean woman can deliver the swing that exaggerates the movement of the skirt.

I Africa

A Zulu Chief and Witch Doctor wining together


Carnival Hollywood stars in Trinidad and Tobago

These two portrayals are representing the African roots in Trinidad and Tobago. At the Traditional Carnival venue at Victoria Square, Port of Spain in 2006, a Witch Doctor and Zulu Chief posed before the paparazzi moments before entering the stage through a blue nylon sheet. This is what African representation means to Trinidad and Tobago, with many of the ideas merely lifted from magazines like National Geographic. They are kitsch and vile at the same time.


A warrior from a region of Africa, he ain't out to play mas

Saturday, February 25, 2006

At the Amphitheatrum Flavium in Rome



Nero in a toga and in a costume too horrific for the lions to maw, carnival Kings and Queens, 2006

At the Amphitheatrum Flavium, the Emperor Vespasiano ordered the wooden gates opened in retribution to the quality of Kings and Queens represent for Trinidad carnival, 2006. A pride of lions bolted into the Coliseum to suppress and do justice in the name of Rome herself. At the centre, mas designers and masqueraders portraying the Empire of Rome were going to experience the full force of the Emperor. Even Peter Minshall parodied himself with a warmish King, and oversize head puppet for his Queen.
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It should be noted the many idea on Rome came out in 2006. This was influenced by HBO's television series on the subject.

Friday, February 24, 2006

The carnival character - Bats


The bookmann's interpretation of the carnival bat

The Bat is one of the many characters from Traditional mas in Trinidad and Tobago


A masquerader in his costume crawling, flapping, dancing and folding his wings in a series of choreographed movements imitating the bat. Sadly, he was the only
bat portrayal present at Viey La Cou in 2006.


Bats performing at Adam Smith square in Port of Spain Trinidad, 2006

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Viey La Cou - A venue didicated to Tradional mas from Trinidad and Tobago. The project began in 1988

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Rights of Passage - Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles

Play de Devil, play it bad....


Alex Kahn in the harness operating the large Bookman puppet

As part of their artist residency in Trinidad and Tobago at Caribbean Contemporary Arts, CCA7, the American puppeteers, Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles have devised a contemporary adaptation of a traditional carnival Dragon band. The project consists of puppets and masks made from waste materials like newspapers and discarded telephone books. On Carnival Tuesday, their small carnival band hit the streets of Port of Spain, and they both experienced the full magnitude of the festival that requires the stamina and endurance to carry these large costumes on their backs all day.


Sophia Michahelles in her Dragon costume playing mas in Port of Spain, Trinidad in 2006, using razor wire as the frame of the mystical beast, and covered loosely with strips of green cloth. She also toyed with puns over how she sees the Trinidad mystic, and how people barricade themselves from the outsiders with high walls surrounded by barbwire trimming. See the Canadian artist Paul Fortin version of being barricaded. ***

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A view from outside: Working drawings of the Bookman costume

First conceived in 1906 by Mas-man “Chinee Patrick”, to integrate Chinese mythic iconography into the Mas, the Dragon Band consists of three basic components. The Bookman leads the troupe, taking note of the misdeeds of mankind, followed by the Dragon, who struggles against the chains of torments of his keepers, the Imps. The Dragon Dance is triggered at the band approaches a body of water – any gutter, puddle, or river-crossing will do. The Dragon is associated with the Devil; and thus with fire, while water symbolizes the Holy Water of the Church, and by association all the prohibitions and hierarchies implied by any authority structure. The suddenly fearful Dragon writhes, shrinks, recoils, lashes out, and does anything in its power the avoid crossing the water, but eventually, dragged by the Imps, he leaps across, and continues down the road. Whether this crossing implies a supplication or a transgression, or both, is deliberately ambiguous. In either case, one can see The Dragon Dance is a cyclic enactment of constraint, conflict, and release, and as such, a microcosm of Carnival itself.

As outsiders to the Mas’ we have decided to work within the structure of the Dragon Band, to express our personal experience of class divisions and conflicts that currently pervade both Carnival and Port-of-Spain in general. Murders, kidnappings, and assaults have spawned a pervasive apprehension in Port-of-Spain, fueled by daily newspapers’ ghoulish and sensationalistic tally of Trinidad’s crimes for the year. Traveling by foot and by taxi, a precarious feeling of prohibition of movement is palpable amidst admonitions from locals about the various neighborhoods one must absolutely avoid. But mobility is constrained in the opposite direction as well. Crime (and fear of crime) arise from economic disparity, and our daily Maxi ride from the residency house to CCA7 confirms the vast gulf that divides Laventille from Maraval. As the corporate bikini-and-beads Mas Bands become the dominant expression of Carnival, an increasing number of Trinidadians are being priced out of participation in a festival whose very roots are defined usurping class hierarchies and creating a fleeting moment of equality (“All ah we is one” as Trinis say). As Carnival becomes the province of middle-class pretensions “All-inclusive” bands have become the very definition of exclusivity.

Text and images courtesy of Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles

King Sailor - The Ghost Drummer


Fancy Sailor, the Ghost Drummer, 2006

Kevin Quammie is in his King Sailor's costume called, Ghost Drummer. The 16 year old is taking after this father’s traditions of playing mas and liking power very much. The carnival band is called De. B.O.S.S. The abbreviation stands for the, Belmont Original Stylish Sailors and Kevin’s father says, these unique costumes traditional to Trinidad and Tobago's carnival are being overtaken by commercialism and by the trends sort from Rio Carnival, namely the pantie and draws covered with feathers, plastic beads and costing masqueraders over $2,000 dollars TT.


Ghost Drummer with African drums made from a discothèque balls between the white feathers and skulls pulsing with electronic diodes.

As a wire bender, Kevin father speaks about of the process it takes to build one of these costumes from the frame up. There are many factors a mas designer should know, weight, flexibility and movement of a costume, he says. The wind at the Savannah could take yuh, and that will be the end of you. The Ghost Drummer is in tribute to Andrews Beddoe, one of the finest African drummers and craftsmen in Trinidad and Tobago.
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Liking powder - Relating to sailors who throw baby power at each other during carnival in Trinidad and Tobago

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Calypso in Art


A rare billboard for a calypso tent at the former De Luxe theatre. Port of Spain, 2000 Trinidad, West Indies (Unsigned by the Artist, this billboard no longer exist)

Carnival is not necessarily colour. As imagery for Carnival goes, it is rare to come upon drawing such as this. I was very excited when I saw this large drawing, about 7 feet long by 3 to 3 1/2 feet high. It was produced for a calypso tent that was started at De Luxe theatre. This theatre no longer exists. In its place is a new night-club called Club Zen. The old theatre was one of those rare buildings that featured architecture from the period of Art Deco. What was particularly interesting about this old movie house was the bathrooms. They featured wrought iron details and geometric and floral tiles done in the delicate, quirky semi-restraint of the period. I miss the old place. There are so few symbols of pre World War II architecture, we seem to only save some of the cute ginger bread houses.

This beautiful, life like pencil drawing of calypsonians was rendered with love and respect forall of the musicians involved in that tent. Shadow is drawn the largest and is dressed in his symbolic black, he is sensitively detailed, and is represented on the bottom right of the poster, giving a strong diagonal and framing to the piece.

Whether the artist used photographs of the musicians or drew them from life is unclear, and not a detail that really matters because there is definite skill in the work that is unquestioned. I was surprised when I saw this drawing that it was not treated in any way to suggest value. It was handled like a billboard, and if sprayed or painted over with a binding agent to secure it from fading, it was only just done. It had no adornment to raise it to the level of masterwork, no glass panel over it, no border of wood to claim it. It seemed simply drawn and placed, propped up on the staircase outside the building. Although it was clear that a lot of skill and attention was paid to making it known that it was a good work. After all it was advertising the tent. But it was so by the way, like so much of our best work in Trinidad and Tobago.


Stalin in a billboard, Port of Spain, 2000 Trinidad, West Indies

The poster was part of a larger banner that held the names of all of the participants in the tent, and that was done in simple Sans Serif text on a green background, separate and apart from the drawing. This drawing to me said less about the whole ‘afro centric’ question (or statement) and more about building up our icons for themselves. It reminded me as well about some paintings I have seen in Chaguanas on the main road. Someone has a group of very realistically rendered portraits of Mas man Peter Minshall among others. By its placement and care, the artist was talking about respect and regard for things Trinidadian. Not for things based on racial coin, and I think that that is where we have to go. There is nothing wrong with racial pride. It is important for self-esteem.

What I am stating is that we live on an island, despite how big we feel, we are very small, and our wealth is within our diversity. Surely we can embrace everything we are, whole, whole, and develop what we know we can become without marginalizing other groups into feeling that only one kind of work is what our country is all about.-
Adele

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Speckling Off A Drawings To Rome


Derek Mohammed stepping back and admiring his work at Anthony Johnson’s mas camp, Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad West Indies, 2006

Airbrush artist Derek Mohammed can whip up a picture-portrait rendering in forty-five minutes. He pauses, steps back and fine-tunes his work. Untrained, he began airbrushing because he liked it, and with the help of his mother, the essential tools for this love were bought. Fifteen years later, Mohammed owns his own studio called, Realistic Airbrush Concept.


A Trini Revilers' costume – Chariots of Fire

Monday, February 20, 2006

4x4΄x 2˝ Doodle - Eddy Bowen

“.....The works explore and stretch techniques in acrylics. The attempt it to find a new visual metaphor, or to break new ground in the articulation of the landscape.” - Eddie Bowen


A series of primitive paintings of dwellings, fences, shrubs, tribal markings, and architectural aerial plans layered with indents or doodles made with a blunt tool. Eddie Bowens' recent works at CCA7, Trinidad, West Indies

For those of us familiar with the work of Edward Bowen, affectionately known as Eddy, one expects a pastiche of strong personal drawing style on a scale that gets the work noticed. Over the years Mr. Bowen has not only experimented with his love of pencil sketching of architectural elements, but has looked at working in alternative spaces. His has been a very long and solitary career, much informed by his desire and love of the work for itself. He is one of the rare contained artists, whose works happen despite support.

With all of that said, this latest offering from Mr. Bowen entitled 9 x 5 features a group of large canvases of architectural structures. What is relevant about these pieces is his investigation of colour. There is a lot to look at in these pieces. I recall the recent experimental works of David Hockney, a delight of colours and scraping textural surfaces. But these investigations are not about being pretty, but about looking at the complexity of structures as they age and change in meaning. I enjoyed being able to look at the canvases squarely, looking all around and through the technique at what I believe to be his narrative about all of the contradictions of our world at this time.



Eddy Bowen's complex kinetic pencil drawings that expresses his inner obsessions with mechanics, cogs, rods, and mathematics.


An Bowen invitation card from 1991

Sunday, February 19, 2006

The Bookman literally - Viey La Cou


The Hand of (The Bookman) thebookmann's name is absent from the list to enter the gates of bacchanal


An illustration of Bookman or Gownman from the Heritage Library of Trinidad and Tobago

The Bookman or Gownman is a feature of devil mas portrayals. The costume consists of Tudor-style pants, or embroidered gown made of velvet and satin, with a pleated or fluted bodice and a cape festooned with a biblical scene.


Detail of the cape

The bookman carries a pen and a large book where he writes the names of prospective souls for the devil. The bookman is the principal character in the devil band characters, the others are the imps and beasts. Known as the Ruler, he performs in dance by a waltz-like movement with intermit bowing. The musical accompaniment may be a orchestra of trumpet, saxophones, bass or drums playing conventional tunes.


The headpiece is an oversized mask with mounted horns and the mask that mirrors the face of (Lucifer) himself

The series of these photographs are characters from traditional Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. Sadly it is a vanishing Art. (Elements of the text from the Heritage Library of Trinidad and Tobago)

The Bookman out of newsprint called "Rights of Passage" Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles Artists in residence, CCA7 See the complete project

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Saturday, February 18, 2006

Jackie's Port of Spain Murals


The atrium at BP Trinidad and Tobago

Although the atrium of British Petroleum is light,high and airy, the glare from the skylight makes Mr.Hinkson's work difficult to enjoy in its totality at certain times of day. However it is remarkable to see so much of his work filling such a large space with such ease. Ours is not a positive tradition of keeping and maintaining murals by artists. One has just to think about Carlisle Change's work alone. Although this is not a public mural, but privately owned, this work is best seen from the elevators as only then can one actually really appreciate the many levels to the panels of the paintings. To do so the general public would have to go during the week and ask for access,as the elevators are not accessible on the weekend. - Adele

Friday, February 17, 2006

Watch Meh In Meh Glitter


A mermaid and Unicorn carnival costume parked as if they were in a car lot

At the first stage of judging the Kings and Queens of Carnival, 2006 one competitor is quite upset over the weight of her costume, she says after crossing the Grand Stand, Nah, I eh carrying focking dat, it too heavy. The costume in question is this hefty bosomed strapping shoulder transgender papier-mâché Mermaid surrounded by Parrot fish that are quite bamboozled by the camera's flash.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

The Curtain Closes - Boscoe Holder


A Tobago Wedding -The end of an era

The Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago and Gallery 101 hosted fifty-eight works of the artist. The pieces dated from 1991 to 2002. Mr. Holder has been painting for over fifty years and he could be considered in some ways our society painter. ( As well as our oldest and most important working artist) He is known for his renderings of people of colour. This is no small thing in our culture, as there is a love/hate relationship still to this day with shades of brownness. He also represents a long lost past in his fondness of having his female sitters wear white brody anglese and French doyettes. Mr. Holder has not painted recently due to illness, and as I walked around the white space I found myself feeling a mixture of sadness and pleasure while looking at the pieces. The names, Boy with Sombrero, Grande Riviere, Martinique Headtie, Semi Nude with Bandana, these works encouraged a train of thought about much of the works I have seen recently by artists who have had very long careers, and have shown their latest offerings lately.

I was pleased to see works that were more involved with the environment, and I was especially struck by Mr. Holder’s technical restraint with his paints, this he used to a nearly completely dry finish on many a work, as though he were seeking out the very patina from the colour, wanting to apply it in a raw way to enjoy the contrast against the skin that he layers to produce its many hidden facets of red, yellow ochre and his signature blue detailing. At some point every artist has to look at their career’s meaning and purpose, it is not enough to just talk about sales of the product.



The renderings of colour

Last year there was the work of LeRoy Clarke, the photographer Noel Norton A retrospective, and this year, the work of Wayne Berkeley and friends. Mr. Holder’s has been better represented in terms of planning, lighting and placement of works. His prices are also quite reasonable for someone working so consistently. On the low end the works start at TT$5600 with the high end between TT$20,000 to TT$40,000. His work sold very well, with about half selling when I was there. What I wondered with Mr. Holder’s offering was about the standards that older artists work toward as they get into their twilight years.

In some instances it seems that older artists are encouraged to dust off and prettify pieces based on the value of their name. I have a serious problem with that! After all an artist does not work their whole life to bring their work to a certain standard and then compromise late in life! Surely not! I have walked into many a show and wondered how the works were chosen. What was the intention of the curator? Where is the restraint? Why not just show the best instead of displaying the work like market produce? But that aside, the older artist can teach us so much, and when their work is compromised…well, all falls down indeed. No longer can one look at the career, instead it becomes like the story of the Emperor’s new clothes. No one dare say that the work is a warmed over meal from some bygone time.



The pleasures of the male

To his credit I saw growth in Mr. Holder’s pieces. He has always had a stellar work ethic, and despite illness over the years he has shown in his pieces a joy in the investigation of colour and form. You do expect to see his black people in headscarves and his occasional paintings of men loaded with a homo-erotic undercurrent. These things are like signatures of his process. Underlying all of his work is a sense of love for a simpler way of life, a Trinidad and Tobago that could be mapped. In that way one could see the past ebbing away like sand as we try to hold to it. Those times are gone forever.


Holder's later work 2002

Who will replace such an icon? No one really. The closest technician to him to me is Irenee Shaw, whose work does not portent to want to explore such a path. However hers is a body of work that has captured present day people in environments that reflect a stillness and a leisure class, and is by no means a wasted form of working if she should choose to do more of such work. But it will never be the same, it shall also never really be a continuation either, as the gild is off the rose. When it was important to ask, the questions never came. We never stopped to see what this dedication to ourselves was really about, and how we could be honored and challenged by it, and so we are doomed to make another spiral of our knowledge because we fail to see what our artists are about. - Adele Todd


The beauty of being Black

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Dingolay Ray


A Trinidadian disgused as an American, Ray Funk at Gayelle's television studio in St. James, Trinidad and Tobago, 2006



Rare footage of the Lord Kitchener and a early American calypso melody of Rum and Coca Cola.

Ray Funk has been a trial judge in Alaska for the last seven years after serving as a public defender and assistant attorney general. He is an historian when it comes to world music and Trinidad and Tobago has a soft spot in his heart. His collection of calypso music is unmatched anywhere else in the world.


Ray as the Ravenous Raven of the North, for carnival 2006

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Obsession in Princess Town


Billy S. Mahammed, the owner of Luck’s Jewelery Shop, Iere Village, Princess Town, Trinidad. His first profession is drinking at a bar called Obsession

Driving through Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago, the homes are all freshly painted with well kept lawns and smooth roads. We were puzzled with how quaint everything appeared on our Sunday drive to find some amazing imagery we had seen on past visits. As we rounded the bend, we saw three small booths perched on the corner where people go to apply to learn to drive.


Learning to drive in the pleasant Village of Iere, where the roadways are blemish-less and racetrack smooth

Next to this trio is the easily missed home of a kind gentleman who helped guide us to the third of a series of bars called Obsession. Billy S. Mahammed led us into his humble house to show us his working studio where he makes jewelery. He was taught by his father he told us with pride. We wanted to write this little note about Billy because he is a reminder to us as to what is always so wonderful about our island. People who are just themselves, kind, helpful and doing the best that they can. - Adele


A bar called Obsession: Pushing the artistic vision of interior and exterior motifs further with these blue and pink walls and with a series of wall art depicting a Victoria Secret knockoff

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Chateau de Tack

Were money had taken us higher, to a place far and beyond


From the road, a Chateau too small for its grounds, at St. Clair, Trinidad. At Christmas they plan to import snow.

Well, let’s start with a Balustrade and follow it through with an Acorinthian Column. Put in an Entablature and what about a Festoon? Give me a Patera, Pier, Putto, Fluting, Quatrefoil, Quoins, Spandrel Motif and for my yellow Hummer, a Porte-Corchère. Any why not complete my monstrosity with a Widow's Walk to maco meh neigbour yard.


Shop at your own risk. A park bench in front of a shed selling concrete fountains on one of the busiest Highways in Trinidad and Tobago.

Looking to refurbish your home? Do you need Pillars, columns and fountains in a variety of colours and cast in Royal concrete, stop here, shop here and take in the beautiful view of a highway.


The making of a home with less garishness, Central Trinidad

Friday, February 10, 2006

Side by Side We Stand - Tassa and Soca


Prayers and offering to Ali Asghar at the Hosay observations in St. James, Trinidad, West Indies, 2006

Where in any country would you observe a religious rite side by side to a pub blaring soca music from large fete speakers, and with couples grinding on the curb holding alcohol bottles loosely and swinging in tempo ? In Trinidad and Tobago of course.

The origins of the Tassa drum is an adaptation from the classical Indian Tabla drum. The drum consists of a clay base where the goat skin is stretched over and held by straps. If this drum falls it will shatter. A
hybrid to the Tassa is a drum made from iron sea buoy cut in half. The shell is fitted with a synthetic material taken from a drum kit, and the quality of the sound produced from this instrument is in comparable to the natural goat skin. Only a keen instrumentalist may pick up on its flaws. Tassa drums are heated to preserve its pitch.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Picking a Pantone Colour, My Dear


Pantone chart for a house paining

What does it take to put on a show about the history of someone’s career? What does it take to put on a show of recent work by someone with a very long career of successful work? In Trinidad and Tobago this task seems to be impossible. It is with sadness that I write that the shows that I have been seeing that focus on the works of artists and photographers who have built solid reputations over the course of their career have left me asking more questions than can be answered. I do not understand why the shows are produced so very cheaply. The framing, hanging, lighting, none of these things seem to been taken into account. I choose not to mention what shows these have been, as it is a phenomenon that I have witnessed no matter who put on the show.

I am also concerned about whether the people who have built these long standing careers are in fact fine with the outcome of these shows? Most recently one such pioneer produced a series of new works that greatly reduced what I have come to consider their strong sense of originality, craftsmanship and beauty for a very commercial, low quality, high priced churned out collection. I know that crime is our main concern in Trinidad and Tobago at this time. But as an artist myself I have to state here that in my profession where so many of my colleagues complain that they are not given enough respect or funding, there is the other side, what is the real quality of what is produced and displayed? I have been trying to monitor the cost of art over the last ten years and the trends that I have observed are quite questionable. There are people who come right out of A’Levels and the University of the West Indies Art programme and begin to sell work at prices on par with artists who have been working for several years. It makes me ask, who regulates these prices? I must be clear here, I have nothing against people making livings in art. What I wonder is who and how do these costs get calculated?


A King exhibition in 2005, Art Creators Gallery, Port of Spain

What are people paying for? The framing? The skill of the artist? What? So much of the work that is seen in gallery spaces looks alike, so you know that you are not buying something that is necessarily original. Yet many things sell consistently from year to year, yet other things do not. Sometimes I find myself admiring the frames and not the works. Many artists themselves have pre conceived notions about what the public wants, and go out of their way to produce work in a sort of indiscriminate way, putting as much as they can on display, with no thought to whether the pieces stand together to produce a cohesive whole. Then there is the fact that the public does not ask but reacts. Yes it is true that a work should speak to you and move you, and ultimately once you purchase something, you live with it and enjoy it long after the money has left your account.

Also, yes, I remember the bad old days when people would come into a gallery space and say that they wanted something to go with their couch. That is just the way people felt at the time. I recall one woman using a Pantone colour chart to pick the tones she saw in an artists work, She breezily said that she was just repainting her house and wanted those colours from the painting! What gall! I must add one more memory of those times, I also recall some very well off people whispering to an artist whether they should buy the work of the very senior artist whose work they had come to see. They had no interest in the work at all, in fact they could not understand it. You see, they knew that he was looking a bit frail and were told that whatever they bought, the work should appreciate in value when he died any day soon. I am happy to say that the person lived a few more years and had many more shows.

What I want to say about work and cost and attitudes ultimately is that we in Trinidad and Tobago have about one hundred years of work by artists, and just like our carnival, it seems to be a very disposable commodity with no checks and balances. Surely we can do better than we have. Talk about what gives work value, put on quality shows that show an actual regard for our long working artists. We boast that we are so sophisticated in many ways, and yet we keep trying to dig the eye out of everyone else, giving people a 6 for a 9. Come on, crime does not only come in bodily harm. Just something to think about. The value placed on Art in this Republic, Trinidad and Tobago. -Adele

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