The following is a speech read by
National Art Gallery of The Bahamas Chief Curator Holly Bynoe on the evening of
October 16, 2015 as she announced the winners of the Central Bank of The
Bahamas open category competitions.
Good
evening everyone, many thanks to the Central Bank’s curator, Mr. Antonius
Roberts; Head of Administration Mr. Ian Fernander and Governor of the Central
Bank of The Bahamas Wendy Craigg and the board of governors, for the invitation
to participate in the jury this year. Tonight I stand with words of
encouragement and congratulations and in solidarity with my fellow judges, John
Cox and Tessa Whitehead, who have shared their thoughts on the body of amassed
works for the bank’s 32nd annual competition.
For
those who might not have been formally introduced, I am Holly Bynoe, chief curator
at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, a post that I have occupied for
only a few months. Thus far, my time in Nassau has been a unique experience, as
I continue to see the forging of a solid arts community with a strict focus on
infrastructural and institutional support.
Tonight,
I want to extend a special thank you the curatorial assistant Ms. Jodi Minnis
for her professionalism, energies and openness as she guided me through the
history of the Central Bank’s annual competitions, which have seen winners
along the lines of Lavar Munroe, Jackson Petit, Jace McKinney, Jeffrey Meris
and Bernard Petit. These are contemporary pioneers making waves nationally and
internationally going all the way back to stalwarts like John Beadle and
Antonius Roberts.
Here
there is an unusual diffusion of hierarchies and emerging from it a group of
creative activists who remain close to the ground working fervently to ensure
that the current group of practicing visual artists has the means by which to
have work supported. Providing opportunities for mentorship, residencies,
exhibitions and the option to fund further projects and/or assist with
scholarship funds, the Central Bank prize can become the moment of action and
direction in many emerging artists’ lives.
As
many of you know, there are very few moments that allow for this kind of
synthesis and encouragement in our local communities. Tonight I won’t stray
very far from the objectives of this competition, which include the
identification, recognition and encouragement of all aspects of Bahamian visual
culture. But I will point out that with the understanding that most higher
education facilities catering to arts in the region are reaching an attrition
rate upward of 90 percent, and with the inability to professionalize the visual
arts industry as fast as we need it to operate, we find ourselves finding new
and important value in platforms, prizes and exhibitions like the Central Bank
competition.
Programs
like this one function as an act of resistance against cultural ennui. It
raises issues of collective futures by discussing the survival of artists and
the sustainability of local creative communities. More importantly, it is providing
the necessary support, which allows for integration and understanding to occur
naturally through the arts.
We
applaud the efforts of each and every one of you who have participated with
generosity, paying acute attention to the criteria for the call for works and
going above and beyond the call of duty to remark on your objectives, your
political moments, your passions, wonder, inspirations and joys.
This
evening is special. We have graciously asked the central bank’s board to take
into consideration the wealth and level of this year’s submissions. We, the
judges, all had a very difficult time choosing a winner, and we would like to
start with the first of two honorable mentions.
First
up and with congratulations, we would like to highlight the work of Drew
Weech’s “Memento Mori”, a demure and unassuming painting of a still life. This
still life is hard to see; it exposes the difficulty of working with such a
tough figure. The piece showed a level of bravery with the medium that was very
much unexpected. As you struggle to see the image, your mind can wander onto a
plane that absorbs all light. This vanitas points at a time, and the transitory
nature of life as you are left to contemplate and project segments of your
life. The piece is at once sophisticated, surprising and aesthetically very
pleasing to consume.
The
second honorable mention, is awarded to Sonia Farmer’s “Elect Ya Tings”, a participatory project deploying the
function of a polling station which, in effect, questions the role of power and
equanimity within Bahamian culture and pays particular attention to the gender
equality crisis and re-imagines the conduction of a new constitutional
referendum, where we are invited to move into a safe space and really share our
ideas on how women are valued in society.
The
space created in Farmer’s ‘electoral booth’ pays attention at once to the
public-private dilemma that we all face, not only women, but men too are
navigating a more complex and altered sense of relation. There are many
surprising elements connected to the visuals used in Farmer’s creation. Thank you, Sonia, for giving us a moment to
contemplate on our bodies and our collective and individual agency. Throughout
the evening, the audience is asked and reminded to vote, to share and to
continue to instigate a developed discourse around this civil crisis.
And
now for tonight’s greatest honor, we the jury collectively recognize and award
the work “Black Gold, Black Skin” by Edrin “Chris” Symonette and would like to
formally congratulate him on this , which showcases in a powerful way the
poetic marriage of material, form and function. Using and continuing the theme
of the ‘Lucayan revolution’ Symonette crafts and creates a moment for us to
witness the beauty of a forlorn body, a body enslaved, but a body that is in
its rest occupying a certain type of
freedom.
It
is a body with duality and a spirit with double consciousness. Here I am
reminded of double consciousness, a
concept penned by and expanded upon by W.E.B Dubois, where he states:
“It is a peculiar sensation, this
double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at oneself through the eyes
of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in
amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness; two souls, two thoughts,
two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged
strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.”
This
body; this woman, her color – shining – warrior-like, yet her body is sunken a
cavern. Can we project the past onto her, are her battles self-afflicted?
Societal? Is she human? How do you see her? Maybe, perhaps, as the past does,
as wild and animalistic? What kinds of histories does she conjure hanging on
the wall? Why is her traumatized body still so full of presence? How is this
black woman/mother/sister/friend a signifier of our now? Can she only be
connected to a traumatic past?
“Black
Gold, Black Skin” is haunting and a point of projection for various
subjectivities, the embodiment of her flesh, at times decayed, at times
separated from the imagined skeletal framework and yet her strength is
undeniable. As a point of reflection, are we looking at an icon of a time gone
by, are we rather, looking at a subject that is riddled with domestic violence
or perhaps another kind of internal violence that is oftentimes even more
subterranean and as violent and surreptitious?
With
all of these questions, Symonette brings to the fore much needed discourse
around our shared historical moments. He is engaging with key criteria
signified by the Central Bank, creating timely and relevant visual connections
and conversation that are easily reflected in our day-to-day living
experiences.
Congratulations
Chris, Sonia and Drew. We are all very much looking forward to see how you
continue to deal with materials and ideas and how you each continue to grow,
provoke, instigate and work to challenge the status quo and the comfort of
things inside your practice and outside, in the world.
Thank
you again for the opportunity to share and engage with you tonight.
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