The Kardinal makes it Offishall. Caribbean Contemporary Art Show is DOPE!

New ground breaking Caribbean Contemporary art show is blessed by the Kardinal:  by Stephen Weir

Canadian mega rapper, record producer, DJ, and record executive Kardinal Offishall doesn’t consider himself an authority on fine art. But he knows what he likes, and loves the paintings and photographs he just saw at the PAMA public gallery in downtown Brampton. 

“I am not a regular connoisseur of fine visual arts-but these works were my cup of tea and spoke to me on an artistic, social and cultural level,” said Offishall after touring the brand new exhibit when night stirred at sea: Contemporary Caribbean Art. “I felt right at home and understood and had a connection to every single piece.”

Late last week PAMA – the Peel Archives, Museum and Art Gallery – opened an exhibition what could well be a first in Ontario.  Their new show is the first exhibition featuring contemporary Caribbean art to hang in a major public gallery. 

“when night stirred at sea: Contemporary Caribbean Art” is a show comprised of works by ten English Caribbean artists working in Jamaica, Trinidad, Canada, America and England. These are artists who are creating cutting edge creative works that are, in the words of Offishall, “super dope”!

 “I felt right at home and understood and had a connection to every single piece,” posted Offishall on his popular Facebook page.

Toronto based Karen Carter and Greg Manuel curated the exhibition.  Never seen in Canada before, the show actually has its roots in the inaugural CArt (Caribbean Art) Fair that was organized and curated by Ms. Carter earlier this year in Mandeville, Jamaica. 

“To be able to bring some of the artists together for a second time and to a broader international audience at PAMA is wonderful and in keeping with the mandate of CArt to connect Caribbean artists to the broader art world,” said Ms. Carter. “To be able to do so at this particular moment in history adds yet another significant layer to our belief of the important role artists play in our understanding of the human condition.” 

The paintings, fabric art and photographs hanging in the gallery are as contemporary as the headlines in our newspaper. Virus isolation. Community policing.  Powerful portraits of Caribbean men and women. This is something that will strongly resonate with a Caribbean Canadian audience.

The artists featured in this show are all connected to the English Caribbean islands. Their works explore themes of identity, community, colonization, globalization, social justice, activism and climate change. The exhibition provides a small window into the complex beauty and inherent tensions of Caribbean cultural identity that connect this region and the larger Caribbean diaspora to the world.

The show officially opened on Friday and will run well into the New Year.  Because of the corona virus it is currently a virtual exhibition. when night stirred at sea: Contemporary Caribbean Art will be open to the walk-in visitors, probably on a timed basis once PAMA re-opens to the public.  

Kardinal Offishall was one of a special few invited influencers and journalists who donned masks and previewed the art show in ones and twos over three-days.  One Caribbean Television, the Toronto Star, the Brampton Guardian, and many other outlets have covered this first exhibition of Contemporary Caribbean art.

Art lovers who are planning to see this exhibition (once restrictions are relaxed) will have no trouble finding PAMA – just look for the shirtless man standing under a white shroud. Four 10 metre tall banners have been made from the works of Janice Reid (Jamaican/Canadian, Brampton-based) and hang-outside the gallery at the corner of Main and Wellington Street East.

There is no cost to see the exhibition on-line. Access the show art: 

 https://peelregion.ca/pama/caribbean-art/?fbclid=IwAR3TgE0awHGYVAikp80-N-T5mUd79bvsgbN1wmaFeZkawtltCCP8siVSjs4

Featured Artists:

* Krystal Ball (Jamaican/Canadian, Toronto-based)

* Vanley Burke (Jamaican/British, London-based)

* Katrina Coombs (Jamaican)

* Owen V. Gordon (Jamaican/Canadian, Toronto-based)

* Ila Lovelace-Kuhnert (Trinidadian)

* Christina Leslie (Canadian, Toronto-based)

* Miles Regis (Trinidadian/American, Los Angeles-based)

* Janice Reid (Jamaican/Canadian, Brampton-based)

* Storm Saulter (Jamaican)

Downtown Brampton launching art show of contemporary Caribbean Art

 Contemporary Caribbean Art Exhibition to Launch at PAMA in downtown Brampton, On

BRAMPTON, ON (Wednesday, October 23, 2020) Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA) is pleased to partner with the CArt (Caribbean Art) Fair, the Black Artist Network in Dialogue (BAND), and guest curators Karen Carter and Greg Manuel to present the exhibition, when night stirred at sea: Contemporary Caribbean Art opening Oct. 29, first as a virtual exhibition and then on-site once PAMA re-opens to the public. PAMA is inviting the public to a special, virtual launch celebration for the exhibition on Thursday, Oct. 29. Register now to reserve your spot for the event.

Featured Artists:

• Krystal Ball (Jamaican/Canadian, Toronto-based)
• Vanley Burke (Jamaican/British, London-based)
• Katrina Coombs (Jamaican)
• Owen V. Gordon (Jamaican/Canadian, Toronto-based)
• Ila Lovelace-Kuhnert (Trinidadian)
• Christina Leslie (Canadian, Toronto-based)
• Miles Regis (Trinidadian/American, Los Angeles-based)
• Janice Reid (Jamaican/Canadian, Brampton-based)
• Storm Saulter (Jamaican)

This exhibition showcases a selection of artists who were featured in the inaugural CArt (Caribbean Art) Fair in late January and early February 2020 in Mandeville, Jamaica. The Fair seems like another lifetime as a little over a month later the world began to go into isolation facing the uncertainty of a global pandemic.

The rising health crisis made the need for a comprehensive look at Caribbean art seem far less urgent. Then came the rise of the Black Lives Matter global movement, the protests, the conversations about racism, and about how the free labour of indigenous Africans from the transatlantic slave trade was used to build our modern capitalist society. These events shifted the conversations about the role the Caribbean has played in the development of the “new world” making the voice of the artists from this region and the larger diaspora more relevant than ever.

In difficult times, art has been an essential part of human survival. Artists create works that provide everything from a temporary escape to an important interpretive record of the human condition that lasts long past any given challenging time. The artists featured in this exhibition are all connected to the English Caribbean islands. Their works explore themes of identity, community, colonization, globalization, social justice, activism and climate change. The exhibition provides a small window into the complex beauty and inherent tensions of Caribbean cultural identity that connect this region and the larger Caribbean diaspora to the world.

Virtual Programming Highlights

• Thursday, Oct. 29, 7 pm: Exhibition Opening Reception – Register Now
• Thursday, Nov. 26, 7 pm: Art & Book Club in partnership with Brampton Library. This month’s feature book is These Ghosts are Family by Maisy Card - Register Now
• Saturday, Nov. 28, 2 pm: Artist Talk - The Photographers, featuring Vanley Burke, Javier Dayes, Christina Leslie, Janice Reid, and Storm Saulter
• Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021: Artist Talk - Painting and Textiles, featuring Krystal Ball, Katrina Coombs,  Owen V. Gordon and Miles Regis

Quotes

“It is a pleasure to be working with such a wide range of artists with connections to the English Caribbean on this exhibition.  During the inaugural CArt fair in Mandeville, Jamaica, in January of this year, we could never have imagined that only nine months later, we would be opening an exhibition with PAMA in a world even more in need of these artists voices.  

To be able to bring some of the artists together for a second time and to a broader international audience at PAMA is wonderful and in keeping with the mandate of CArt to connect Caribbean artists to the broader art world. To be able to do so at this particular moment in history adds yet another significant layer to our belief of the important role artists play in our understanding of the human condition.” Co-curators Karen Carter and Greg Manuel

“We are thrilled to finally see this showcase come to fruition after a year in the making and to welcome guest curators Karen and Greg to the PAMA family. As a Canadian of Jamaican descent, I felt very passionately that this was an important story to tell, now more than ever. We are so very pleased to include local and international Caribbean artists in the exhibit including Brampton’s own Janice Reid.” Rene Nand, Manager, Community and Cultural Engagement at PAMA

Special thanks to our media partners at One Caribbean TV, Toronto Caribbean News, Sauga 960 AM, New Theory Radio, Brampton Guardian, Caledon Enterprise and Mississauga News.

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  Operated by the Region of Peel, PAMA is located at 9 Wellington Street, East in Brampton. Visit pama.peelregion.ca to learn more.

Media Contact:

Erin Fernandes Marketing Coordinator, PAMA M: 416-312-3425  Erin.fernandes@peelregion.ca

Issued by  Stephen Weir stephen@stephenweir.com