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

Sunday afternoon talk by famous Haida artist / graphic novelist Yahgulanaas

For Immediate Release: Rare Ontario Appearance at PAMA by Artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

  Brampton, ON (August 16, 2019) Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA) is pleased to welcome award-winning, British Columbia-based artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas on Sunday, August 18 from 2 – 3 p.m.to discuss his epic graphic work, RED: A Haida Manga, currently on display in the exhibition For A Social Cause.  This talk is included in the price of general admission. Pre-registration is required.

Image credit: Farah Nosh

About the Artist

From: http://mny.ca/en/biography

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is an award-winning visual contemporary artist, author and professional speaker. His work has been seen in public spaces, museums, galleries and private collections across the globe. Institutional collections include the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum and Vancouver Art Gallery. His large sculptural works are part of the public art collection of the Vancouver International Airport, City of Vancouver, City of Kamloops and University of British Columbia. Yahgulanaas's publications include national bestsellers Flight of the Hummingbird and RED, a Haida Manga. When not writing or producing art, Yahgulanaas pulls from his 20 years of political experience in the Council of the Haida Nation and travels the world speaking to businesses, institutions and communities about social justice, community building, communication and change management. His most recent talks include the American Museum of Natural History and TEDxVancouver.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Canadian b. 1954, RED, 2008, Watercolour, ink on paper, 168 cm x 381 cm, Private collection of Michael and Inna O'Brian. © Michael Nicholl Yahgulanaas, 2019. Brm
His work RED: A Haida Manga on view now at PAMA was first manifested in 2008 as a large-scale, six-tiered band of 18 panels each, across a nearly three-and-a-half-meter-long composite of hand-painted watercolour and ink drawings. The drawings were reproduced in a scripted graphic novel of the same name in 2009.

The work follows the life of an orphaned young boy named Red and his sister Jaada who live in the peaceful village of Kiokaathli on a secluded island in the Pacific Ocean off the West Coast of British Columbia. Their idyllic existence is cut short when a band of raiders attack the village, abduct Jaada and successfully escape without a trace.  Separated from his sister, Red grows up alone to become a leader of his community all the while consumed by rage and vengeance. When he unexpectedly stumbles upon the chance of rescuing Jaada, he will do anything and stop at nothing to bring her back home without thinking about the recourse of his action. In the process Red kills an innocent man and eventually ends his own life.

This action-packed tragedy combines traditional Pacific Northwest Coast Haida imagery and oral narrative with Manga (popular contemporary graphics found in Japanese comics and cartooning) to create a unique hybrid style that has come to define the work of its artist-author.  Yahgulanaas’ distinct brand is an integrated culmination of his studies of the artistic methods of his ancestors and Asian influences including the teaching he received from Chinese brush painter Cai Ben Kwon.  Learn more about this dynamic work on view now at PAMA. 

Issued by Stephen Weir - stephen@stephenweir.com 416-489-5868

on behalf of PAMA

North is Freedom - Pictures by Yuri Dojc - Black History Month in Brampton, Ontario

North is Freedom – Black History Month events in Brampton all month

The Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA) in Brampton and the Ontario Black History Society soft launches this weekend North is Freedom, an evocative new photo exhibition celebrating the descendants of former American slaves who fled to Canada in the years before the American Civil War.

In portraits of 24 descendants of freedom seekers– the great-great-grandchildren of once-enslaved African Americans – Toronto photographer Yuri Dojc explores Canada’s end of the “Underground Railroad,” a clandestine network of "conductors" and “stations” that helped some 30,000 men, women, and children follow the “North Star” to freedom.

The Black freedom seekers settled across Canada but most of them came to places in Ontario, such as Windsor, Chatham, Buxton, the Niagara Peninsula, Owen Sound, Oakville, Mississauga and Toronto.

Future generations remained and North is Freedom tells their stories.

The Heritage Singers, performer Liberty Silver, will be at the formal opening of the exhibition at the downtown Brampton Museum next Sunday February 24^th.. 

Running from 1.30 pm. to 4 pm., this Black History Month event is free to the public.

PAMA is presenting authors, storytellers and performers throughout the long weekend, including the Family Day Holiday on Monday February 15th.

Yuri Dojc

Running from 1.30 pm. to 4 pm., this Black History Month event is free to the public.PAMA is presenting authors, storytellers and performers throughout the long weekend, including the Family Day Holiday on Monday February 15th.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH Coming Events

- Saturday, Feb 16 at 2 pm: join award-winning author Karolyn Smardz Frost on opening day for a talk and book signing. Including in the cost of PAMA admission. Registration is required at pama.peelregion.ca.

- Sunday, Feb 17: enjoy PAMA’s Family Sunday FUNday. Storytelling with Sandra Whiting at 1:30 pm and Family Art and Stories at 3:30 pm. Including in the cost of PAMA admission.

- Monday, Feb. 18 from 10 am - 4pm (free admission event): don’t miss PAMA’s annual Family Day event with lots of great create activities and family storytelling with Diana Brathwaite and Chris Whiteley: Sugar & Gold, Story of Underground Railroad in Canada. Performances at 10:30 a.m. and repeated at 2 pm. 

- Sunday, Feb. 24 from 1:30 - 4 pm (free admission to this event): Winter Exhibitions Reception with guest speakers, performance by the Heritage Singers Canada, Liberty Silver and light refreshments. 

North is Freedom is sponsored by the TD Group and runs until June 30.

North Is Freedom: Sherry and Pamela Houston