Remembering Charlotte Elias

Charlotte Elias third to the left at the Watamula artists workshop in Curaçao, 2000

In 1997 very few people knew of a girl by the name of Charlotte Elias. They knew the Elias name, but the girl may have only been glimpsed in the pages of BeeWee Beat a few years before. She came back to her country of origin and began an elaborate venture called Caribbean Contemporary Arts.

I remember those good old days, where a girl of perceived privilege had a big dream and a coterie of artists willing to support the scheme. Naturally over the years CCA7 has had its ups and downs. The level of support garnered by the non-governmental organization was always going to be tenuous, and the artists involved and on the periphery would always want to know what was 'in it' for them. On a good day, such a dream has its insurmountable challenges of personalities alone, far less the ideas of place and space.

This article intends to acknowledge Ms. Elias for her contribution to the history of Art in Trinidad and Tobago and all of its impact, regionally and internationally. She was the figurehead, and the strength behind the name and for that she deserves thanks and appreciation.