Peter Doig, and the Man with the umbrella

A poster highlighting the Trinidad and Tobago's film festive 2008 by using the work by the Scottish painter, Peter Doig. Doig's rendition is of an eccentric man who wandered the streets of Port of Spain. His composition is quoted from his original painting, Lapeyrouse Wall

Why is it that it takes the casual observation of an international artist to see what we take for granted every day? In the work of Peter Doig, Man with umbrella, he captures the steady gate and avid quirkiness of one of our many local characters of the savanna. You may still be able to see this gentleman with his umbrella on any given day if you look with care, minding his own business and looking very relaxed with himself. He wears shades and is very clean. I used to look at him often and one day when I was going to school I approached him to let him know that I found his style very unique and interesting. At that time, I would see him in different shirts with images on them made from bits of fabric. Sometimes he included text too.

The man was walking Performance Art. On my approach to him, he listened to what I had to say and then went into a slow but steady bizarre statement about himself and God. I thanked him for his time and went on my way. We have several loners who may be homeless, may be mentally challenged or may simply be eccentric in our midst in Trinidad and Tobago. I am happy to see Mr. Doig giving this particular character his dignity in paint for posterity, for when the high rises replace the gingerbread houses completely, there shall be a lovely frozen memory of simpler times. - Adele

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In its third year, the Trinidad and Tobago Film festive is screening a body of work by Trinidadians and Tobagonians including a host of international filmmakers who have their roots from the Caribbean. The two week festival will give the public a taste of independent film and what it takes to be filmmaker through a series of workshops detailing the process of the craft. The festive begins on the 17th September, 2008

The following list are the films to be screened via the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival

• • Africa Unite : Stephanie Black
  • Alabaster Moon : Sarah Beckett
  • Almost Heaven : Ed Herzog
  • Arena: The Strange Luck of VS Naipaul : Adam Low
  • Candy Shop : Joel Burke
  • Cherps : Kolton Lee
  • Derek : Isaac Julien
  • Desamores : Edmundo Rodriguez
  • Eat For this is My Body : Michelange Quay
  • El Benny : Jorge Luis Sanchez
  • Film Makers of the Caribbean PT1 : Edmond Attong
  • Florentino and the Devil : Michael New
  • Francisco de Miranda : Diego Risquez
  • Ghosts of Cite Soleil : Asger Leth
  • It's All About Dancing : Jason Williams
  • Jamesie: King of Scratch : Andrea Leland
  • Pan Man, Rhythm of the Palms : Sander Burger
  • Poor Boys Game : Clément Virgo
  • The Price of Sugar : Bill Haney
  • Soca Power : Claude Santiago Jean Michel GIBERT
  • The Black Mozart : Steven James
  • The Garifuna Journey : Andrea Leland
  • The Mystic Masseur : Ismail Merchant
  • Wrestling with the Angels : Marsha Pearce
    
• Shorts
  • A Culture in Motion: Scripting Identity With Images : Tamara Tam-Cruickshank
  • A Long Way Home : Graeme Suite
  • Adam and Eve : Laura Munoz
  • Afia : Lacey Duke
  • Anamnesis : Brendan Foster-Algoo
  • Baby Blues : Sara Ann Chow Quan
  • Balance : Christian James
  • Baltimore : Isaac Julien
  • Binghi : Natashe Callander
  • Curious City : Thomas K Jemmerson
  • Dancescape : Nalini Akal
  • Deeper Shadow Song : Corretta Singer
  • Directions : Renee Pollonais
  • Documentary Interview : V.S. Naipaul : Indrani Bachan Persad
  • El Café de Lupe : Marina Fuentes
  • Fantôme Afrique : Isaac Julien
  • Historias del Viento : Javier Beltrán Ramos
  • Invisible : Elspeth Duncan
  • Let Go : Nadya Shah
  • Locked Out : Diana Bernard
  • Luso Trinidad: Home in the Land of the Homeless : Alicia Milne
  • Mandy (Herman Tales) : Roger Alexis
  • Manipulation : Daniel Greaves
  • Mr loverman : Jimmel Dariel
  • Old Rabbits Die Hard : Stefano Caines
  • On the Map : Annalee Davis
  • Paradise Omeros : Isaac Julien
  • Queens of Curepe : Michael Mooleedhar
  • Salt of the Earth : Sophie Meyer
  • Scoundrel : Nile Saulter
  • Top Cop (Herman Tales) : Roger Alexis
  • The Art of Inspiration : Jean Ahn , Dara Brown, Christopher Thomas, Nikita Joseph, Nishi Soondar & Sasha Ramcharran
  • The Art of Stickfighting : Joseph Valley
  • The Caged Bird : Andre Johnson
  • The Cost of Living : Oliver Milne
  • The Fiddler : Kareen Brown
  • The Patriot (Herman Tales) : Roger Alexis
  • The Siege : Junior-Andrew Lett
  • True North : Isaac Julien
  • Western Union : Isaac Julien
  • Who Let The Dogs Out : Oyetayo Ojaade
  • "W" : Sonja Dumas
  • X Tempo : Valdir Silva

Be thankful Independence forty six

Callcards identifying who we are as a people; A New Nation, I am Trinidadian, I am Tobagonian, Brotherhood, Unite as one, I come from a paradise, I am Caribbean , I have a future.

The Bookman and Adele took a moment today to do a project to reflect thankfulness for Trinidad and Tobago. Small callcards were made up with different statements on them in red, white or black and were placed around various common meeting areas. The objective being to create an intimacy with the recipient as well as to encourage reflection.


The Coat of Arms at the Queen's park Savannah, a day before Trinidad and Tobago celebrates forty six years of Independence.

We also took the installation, Patrimony out of its original space and into the environment and shot it in state, as part of our response to our nation's anniversary. We are still filled with optimism and hope and we saw many signs today, as we drove around and looked at our national colours draped in homes and on trophies for a walk/run tomorrow in St. Joseph. As the sun went down on the day, there was a wonderful calmness and beauty to our land, and we felt truely grateful. - Adele

The Games of the XXX Olympiad - London 2012

The Concorde is an example of Invention which the British are instilled by. The Games of the XXX Olympiad in 2012 shall motive their ability to host it with a zeal of refinement, power and unforgeable beauty.

As a young boy, I had a fascination with drawing airplanes, and as a hobby, I carved a scale model of the Concorde by using a piece of wood and cardboard for its wings. The model was supported by a wire brace, and the airplane looked convincing and could stand on its own. The Concorde along with the DC-9 were two planes I showed at the British Airways, Air Canada and Air France travel bureaus in Port of Spain, Trinidad and for my efforts, I was given one of their display models.

In my fascination with flight, I devised a contraption using a nylon cord attached from one end of the fence all along to the other end of the yard. The showroom scale model, Air France A300 was suspended by a pulley and the under the wings I mounted a landing gear. At the point where the plane touched the dirt, it gave the appearance that the plane was landing. The only problem was, I had to race up and down the hill to release it. So as it scaled down the line, I had to run ahead to the spot where the wheels touched the ground.

Just recently, I was asked why didn't I become a pilot, I believe that it was the fascination of machines in flight that instilled my dream.

The Brian Lara Promenade Memorial

A model of the Brian Lara Promenade Memorial to the good, bad or indifferent. The subject, Andy James is etched on glass, a young man known as Canada and nicked name saltfish by many women from his district.....hmm. Source: Newsday newpaper

The ghostly image you see is an impression of one of the many people killed in Trinidad by some form of violence in 2008. As a statement to the deep concerns that we all share in Trinidad and Tobago, and for the senseless scourge of crime, the bookman and Adele offer this memorial to Trinidad and Tobago. The project culminated at the Brian Lara Promenade consists of a series of etched plates comprising of an epitaph with the names of the victims. Each plate is numbered. So far the murder figure since the year 2000 has reached over 2000 people. The memorial may be a place for reflection, memory and forgiveness.

The memorializing may lift the heavy burden which this country feels. The influx of crime is due by a general consensus by the introduction of American cable and the deportation of expiates from north America.

Older women to her neighbour; If I hear pow, pow, pow, I eh pulling meh curtaining to peep, I hitting the floor.

Alice Yard kicks starts with a group of young artists

Sonja Dumas at Alice Yard in support of the video work by Michelle Isava where both artists seek the prospects of having a collaborate project together in the future.

An exhibition of young artists opens at Alice Yard in Port of Spain and includes the works by Michelle Isava. She is interviewed on what it takes to be an artist in Trinidad and Tobago and confides that upcoming young artists, the babies as she puts it are consistently bitter because they expect results without applying the necessary will to do something about it.

During the interview, Isava carefully constructs the language of art speak and this in itself shows her determination to move forward into the uncharted waters of art practice and theoretical thinking.

Dean Arlen - UN Charter on the Rights of a child to play

The artist Dean Arlen speaks with the bookman on his ongoing Public Art projects and the role as he sees, to which artists must apply to have a social impact on the society. He concurred that under the UN charter of the Rights of a Child, children must be given the will to play freely. And in this, the formulations in skills to socially interact are an important part of nourishing a child's creativity. His proposal for a public play ground supports that very principle. The 30 minute documentary is in three parts. See part 2 and part 3 of the interview.

UN Charter of Rights pertaining to a child:

Principle 2

The child shall enjoy special protection, and shall be given opportunities and facilities, by law and by other means, to enable him to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity. In the enactment of laws for this purpose, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.

Richard Thompson's Olympic victory run

To run like a cheetah, your body has to conform to one


Richard Thompson's victory walk at the Beijing Olympic Games, 2008

The Trinidadian sprinter Richard Thompson has won the silver Olympic medal in his 100 metre dash at the Beijing Games in 9.89 seconds. His win comes at a time where Trinidad and Tobago's social woes have damped a well deserving celebration in his feat. Only a few car horns hooted in his honour, nevertheless a plot of land, house and other amenities will welcome him home.

It should be noted that the modern sprinter is less bulker in his upper chest mass as with previous runners and their bodies are slender. In the sprint, the runner manages to keep his head quite low and this may be to reduce less drag. Eventually, the human body will mutate to accommodate the threshold of endurance and surpass the 9 second score.

To conclude, Trinidad and Tobago had won the Olympic silver medal for the 1 x100 metre relay in 38.06. ranking the small nation at 50 in the medal standing. The Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt has placed his island on the world map by breaking three world records and ranking Jamaica 19th in the overall medal standing.


This raw video explains it all in its endurance and in the human spirit.

The Olympic charter:

Preamble Modern Olympism was conceived by Pierre de Coubertin, on whose initiative the International Athletic Congress of Paris was held in June 1894.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) constituted itself on 23 June 1894. The first Olympic Games (Games of the Olympiad) of modern times were celebrated in Athens, Greece, in 1896. In 1914, the Olympic flag presented by Pierre de Coubertin at the Paris Congress was adopted. It includes the five interlaced rings, which represent the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games. The first Olympic Winter Games were celebrated in Chamonix, France, in 1924.

Fundamental Principles of Olympism 1 Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.

2 The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.

3 The Olympic Movement is the concerted, organised, universal and permanent action, carried out under the supreme authority of the IOC, of all individuals and entities who are inspired by the values of Olympism. It covers the five continents. It reaches its peak with the bringing together of the world's athletes at the great sports festival, the Olympic Games. Its symbol is five interlaced rings.

4 The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. The organization, administration and management of sport must be controlled by independent sports organizations.

5 Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.

Erasing what I once believed - Trinidad Graffiti

The graffiti artist, Louse, Maraval, Trinidad

The graffiti artists, Louse, spade and others have systematically brought closure to their street art by ironically defacing their own work with white and black cross marks. This is in order to completely eradicate the graffiti out from dilapidated spots around the capital, Port of Spain. Trinidad. The work to which puzzled the public by its array of iconic symbolism pertaining to a pop culture may just hibernate until new ideas can resurface.


Bringing an end to street graffiti, Woodbrook, Trinidad

High Art in a low art state

A burnt out warehouse in Sea lots, Port of Spain as Red Black and White (depending on the changing sky), Trinidad West Indies

Both Adele and the bookman have conceptualized a public installation using an existing structure which is to be wrapped with red cord or rope. The proposed site is a burned out warehouse where only the steel rafters are still intact. The task would be to wrap the structure completely. The upper installation would be complemented by a reflective pool that extended the length of the structure.The piece could set Trinidad into the world of contemporary art if only a vision towards these sorts of projects exists.

Nor do I see or faintly hear

A blind and slightly deaf man waiting for a taxi on his way to Port of Spain, Trinidad

The man you see here relies on the principal of his faith which guides him to wherever he needs to go. He is blind but also wears a pair of hearing aids to amplify his weak hearing. On the steps near Lord Kitchener former home in Diego Martin, he once stood on the pavement and tapped his cane profusely on the edge as he held a rosary with a crucifix to his chest then raised it the sky. This was in his attempt to cross the road. Eventually, a good Samaritan ahead came to his aid.

Whether this is an example of faith. it explains the power of trust in something and to the handicaps and crutches you believe you may have, believe in the belief will take you to and back safely.

China' s Olympic opening feat

Pushing the limits to where humans can go through invention


A globe used as a video projector and also designed to allow acrobats the possibility to perform on the surface of the structure

As part of the opening ceremony to the XXIX Olympiad Games in Beijing, China, a large globe floated into the air with acrobats performing around it each suspended by a wire harness. No matter where any of the acrobats stood on the sphere, they remained upright at all times as they cartwheeled along a railing. In its pageantry and fireworks, the ceremony marked China as a world power to contend with. They took all steps to show what was possible.

The preparation for this opening event, performers had rehearsed for many months sparking the degree of dedication to which their athletes have trained for the games. Chinese athletes may break all records unseen before as they attempt to show the world the threshold to their human spirit and endurance.


An art centre under construction in Port of Spain by the Chinese is a sample of China's globalization and its second rebirth of the Chinese presence in Trinidad and Tobago

The British Olympic committee for the 2012 games are scratching their heads today as to wonder how they are going to match or surpass this presentation. Bets are on floating canopies mobilized by sky walkers.

The Trinidadian carnival designer, Peter Minshall has been responsible for the opening for Barcelona, Atlanta and Utah, Olympics respectively. His popular puppet mobiles (Saga boy and Tan Tan) and disked shaped (Callaloo) costumes were used in the presentation.

Insurrection at Toco

A part of Toco's history painted on three water tanks, Trinidad, West Indies, 1997

This mural depicts the insurrection by the Caribs from the Spanish conquerors during the Spanish mission.The artist has reconstructed the systemic way in which these people were eradicated governed by the propagating of the Christian faith under the Spanish crown. The two murals are painted on two of three water tanks at Toco, Trinidad. It is a part of Toco's history as in the insurrection, men, women and children threw themselves over the cliff or were otherwise killed by the conquerors.

Galera Point, Toco where both the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet. It is the spot where many indigenous Indians committed genocide in order not to be captured by the invaders.

Ruling Art - thebookmann

How to Move Mountains, the power of the bookman

A coloured minister had called his flock together to pray for rain. The congregation had assembled and the parson discoursed on the subject of Faith.

Faith am a power to move mountains, he declaimed, if it no bigger that a mustard seed. but you all am congregated here to pray for de Almighty to send down de blessind rain and you all come widout even de mustard seed of faith. You all am here prayin’ and hopm’ dat de good Lawd will bless dis community wid plenteous rains but dey ain’t a single solitary one of you got any Faith dat He will do it. If you had a single speck of it sorne of you niggahs would have done brung umbrellas.

Prayer with hope, too often, is entirely lacking in faith for hope usually is a hopeless sort of thing. It is negative in its nature implies a doubt that the thing hoped for will be manifested. Most people intone the the word with an accent of doubt and common usage has coloured it with a measure of probably failure. Very little expectations is conveyed in the use of the word.

On the other hand a word of faith and confidence are expressed in the word Trust. If the coloured congregation has trusted that rain would follow their prayers, the confident expectation would have induced each member to bring his umbrella. but hopeful individuals at usually have umbrellas at home because the hopelessness of hope tents to offset any attempt to express confident assurance or faith.

It is difficult in many case to anticipate by affirming will hope that the dream will materialized. I hope, I will be successful is not positive affirmation and tents to merely emphasize the doubt of success. But I trust that I an doing the this necessary to earn success is with much confidence that a far goal will be achieved.

Phraseology and the selection of the vocabulary have much to do with establishing the right mental habits and thus the right behavior. The tone of the voice is important. Much doubt may be neutralized by a confident assertion even if the anticipation is not deep seated and well established.

Notes transcribed from a book on the power of thought, words and action ( cir.1940)

A graffitist finds a place

Quirky and bizarre graffiti in Port of Spain, Trinidad

The graffiti artist, Colin Gill has finally found a place which complements his quirky and bizarre work. The black and white graphic icon is painted on a wall which is enclosed to a plot of land that is in the process of some sort of construction. The work has a poetic resonance as the mounts of gravel and land clearing gives the installation a beauty in its panoramic view.

Previously, Gill's attempt on street art as a form of public expression had failed because his abstract paintings looked gimmicky, and it seemed to compete in territory with other graffiti artists.

Modern Art and hallucinations

Wassily Kandinsky, VII, 1913

This montage may explain how the brain gets its fix optically from patterns and colours. It may give clues to the hidden mystery behind why some modern art paintings have a hallucinating effect. The patterns register a psychedelic experience which triggers the mind and in turn injects a pleasurable and palpable feeling. The bases of these dreamlike motifs or kinetic geometric shapes may be induced by the artist being sedated with a hallucinogenic substance. In all, the results were paintings that marked the age of abstraction.

The Sacred Heart 's art

Flemish stain glass windows, est.1882, Church of the Sacred Heart, Trinidad, West Indies

The sexton of the Sacred Heart church in Port of Spain was directed to the founder who laboured thirty years to see the building complete. A brass etched plaque acknowledged Hailas Greenough as the person responsible, est. (1882) and this discovery came about after a brief tour of the church in Port of Spain. She explained that the stain glass windows are a fine example of Flemish work depicting the motifs of the christian prophet. There is also a series of paintings related to the Stations of the Cross. The works on wood still retains its beauty, although they are matted with dirt caused by the city's pollution.


A series of paintings are board, Church of the Sacred Heart, Trinidad, West Indies