The new initiative was conceptualized for international creatives who want to gain experience within a community in a Caribbean setting while producing new work.
EAST YARD CREATIVE RESIDENCY PROGRAM Edition two of the English-speaking Caribbean's premiere fashion film and arts festivsal kisck off.
CARIBBEAN FASHION & ARTS FEATURE FESTIVAL PRESENTS CFAFF 2017 The new creative community hub set to connect and engage the East.
KEVON FODERINGHAM INTRODUCES US TO EAST YARD
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EAST YARD
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A Purpose. A Place. A Publication
CFAFF 2017 FESTIVAL GUIDE INSIDE
Issue 1 I October 2017
FREE COPY
CONTENTS 03
KEVON FODERINGHAM INTRODUCES EAST YARD Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival, Founder and Executive Director delves into the birth of EAST YARD and his vision for the future.
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CFAFF 2017 The annual fashion film and arts festival which celebrates fashion film as a growing trend among fashion designers and an area of fashion communication. EDITOR/PUBLISHER: Kevon Foderingham Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival EAST YARD, 23 Prince Street Arima, Trinidad and Tobago. 868-491-3684 I caribbeanfaff@gmail.com www.caribbeanfaff.com
THE EAST YARD CREATIVE RESIDENCY An international artist residency program providing artists, curators, writers, and academics with the opportunity to create work in Arima,Trinidad.
EAST YARD
www.caribbeanfaff.com/eastyard FB: @eastyardbycafaff IG: @_eastyard EAST YARD is published monthly by Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival. All rights reserved (c) Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival 2017. No part of this magazine shall be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.
EAST YARD IS BORNÂ
Photography: Arc Photography Grooming: Divine Chic Hair and Image Wardrobe and Jewelry: Green Violet by Kevon Foderingham
"THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THAT FEELING THAT IT WAS ALL BIGGER THAN I WAS"
I’ve never believed I was particularly the most talented at any one thing but what I always did believe was that I was here for a purpose. What that purpose was I wasn’t quite sure but I knew I would find it eventually if I worked hard enough at each juncture, something would eventually feel right, something would make sense. The quest for purpose has led me down several paths, in several industries, with several hits and misses. From forays in hospitality, education, public relations, marketing and public health; the common thread in each situation being that I was in some way serving. These jobs were never about ‘ME.’ There has always been that feeling that it was all bigger than I was. Seth Godin says, “You have everything you need to build something bigger than yourself.” This has become my mantra, the motto that drives me daily.
Outdoors at EAST YARD I see myself as being one piece of a bigger puzzle that helps bring the whole thing together. I believe a life without service is a life less lived. For me, if what I do does not make a positive difference in the grand scheme of things, no matter how miniscule…then it is irrelevant. They say that the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. I truly believe I now know why. In 2014 my mother passed away after a truly valiant battle with cancer and this did two things for me. First and foremost, I came face to face with my greatest fear, which was my mother dying and secondly, watching her face death with such grace and her contentment in the fact that she felt she had lived a good life, achieved most of what she set out to do and had impacted positively on so many lives, taught me what grace and true bravery really looked like.
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Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival and V2 Marketing/Promo Studio Space
"IT GAVE ME THE COURAGE TO BEGIN STRUCTURING MY LIFE IN A WAY WHERE EACH DAY I MOVED TOWARD REALIZING MY MISSION" It forced me to look deeper than I ever looked before and to exorcise any remaining demons of self-doubt that still resided in me that may have held me back from taking leaps of faith. It gave me the courage to begin structuring my life in a way where each day I moved toward realizing my mission. In 2015, my good friend, Karen Kennedy and I launched AKIMBO, an independent retail entity and artistic events space, the first of its kind in Arima. A seemingly bold move, as Port-of-Spain maintains the position as host to most local high fashion and fine art offerings. AKIMBO has remained a beautiful concept that has brought together several equally beautiful creatives in one space, leading to the birth of many fantastic ideas. One such idea was Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival (CFAFF). In 2016, a collaboration between AKIMBO and the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival resulted in the screening of Diva: Enemy of the People a fashion documentary shot in St Lucia and directed by, Tony Oldham, a British national. The film documented the return of Parisian transvestite Vincent McDoom, to his St Lucian homeland to stage the island’s inaugural Hot Couture Fashion Show. It was truly exciting to have this fashion film, screened in a fashion space, such as AKIMBO.
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This merger of fashion and film seemed natural to me and so I began researching fashion and film, only to be pleasantly surprised upon finding a genre dedicated to fashion film and international fashion film festivals that honoured the genre. With the English-speaking Caribbean being one of the only regions to not yet have a fashion film festival, it was only fitting that one be created. And so Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival was born. Caribbean Fashion & Arts Feature Festival, is a non-profit organization, incorporated in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in 2016 with the mission to merge fashion, film and art through public film screenings, lectures, exhibitions, fashion shows, concerts and festivals for the general public. With a strong interest in youth development, the organization is mandated to host workshops, mentorship initiatives, educational sessions and seminars related to film-making, fashion and arts for young people aged 15-25, primarily in East Trinidad, interested in careers in the creative sector to assist with skill building, support internship opportunities and build job experience. With the birth of this entity, I finally felt like I was really stepping closer into my purpose.
With ideas flowing and the universe always firmly giving me what I need, when I need it, I stumbled upon an advertisement in the paper with business property for rent, in Arima. Armed with just a feeling that I should go check it out, I did. What I found was unbelievable and before seemed unattainable. This hidden gem on Prince Street, had four remaining retail spaces available for rent and had a large untouched backyard. A veritable blank canvas that could be the basis for a masterpiece. Change sometimes comes very quickly and you just need to hop on the train to destination unknown, trusting that you will arrive where you’re supposed to be. Around this time my brother, Selvon and I were looking for office space for our fledgling marketing and communications agency, V2 Marketing and one of our clients, Jamie Philbert of Art on Purpose was looking for dance studio space. AKIMBO was also in a transitional phase with me stepping out of the partnership and handing over my interests and responsibilities to Karen and her also looking for a new space for AKIMBO.
"EAST YARD WAS NOW BORN! A PURPOSE, A PLACE, A PUBLICATION - A PROJECT MANAGED BY THE CARIBBEAN FASHION AND ARTS FEATURE FESTIVAL" The timing felt perfect; the creative energies were aligned but I hadn't yet figured out what to do with the space. All I knew was that I wanted it. In the inaugural year, the festival, affectionately known as CFAFF, had the honour of being mentioned in Vogue Italia and partnering with other international Fashion Film Festivals originating in Istanbul, South Africa, Canada, Madrid, Medellin—Columbia and Mexico. Several local and international partners are expected to once again come on board in 2017, further cementing our status as an internationally recognized Festival. It was indeed a success. Though successful in year one, I still felt like something was still missing. As an entity Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival was established to do exactly what I felt was my mission, which is to provide a comprehensive platform for other creatives to shine. The organization was always meant to be more than the annual CFAFF.
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The question however was how to make a bigger impact? Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival needed a home. EAST YARD was now born! A Purpose, A Place, A Publication - A project managed by the Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival. Several examples worldwide have shown the profound and wide-ranging impacts that place-based arts initiatives can have on the social, cultural, and economic life of communities, addressing issues such as discrimination, social inequity, or crime. EAST YARD is following this template and has been created to serve as a community hub to connect and engage the local community on a regular and ongoing basis. A physical outdoor, multi-purpose space, EAST YARD is an initiative that will bring together other creative entities such as V2 Marketing, Art on Purpose Dance Studio and Showroom and others to work on programming that can be executed at the space to create new opportunities for the local community by championing creativity in all its forms.
Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival has transformed the disused backyard of the commercial building into a pioneering space. We were also elated to meet Divine Chic Hair and Image, a wonderful salon and creative force in its own right already on the premises. We have welcomed its proprietor, Anna Allen to the fold. With the stars aligned in our favour, the owner of the building, Mrs Walda Waithe and her husband O’Neil are themselves creatives, for this we give thanks. Since then more creative entities have set up shop on the premises. With the launch of this publication in October, just in time for CFAFF 2017, our first international creative in residence would have just completed her one-month stint at the space, working alongside Art on Purpose founder, Jamie Philbert. More than anything else we want EAST YARD to be a true beacon of community spirit, a place for learning and a conduit for making art and culture accessible to all. It would be remiss of me not to say a special thank you to my father, Selvon Sr., who has been a sounding board and whose brilliance and willingness to physically help us get this space ready, is invaluable. The journey is scary, it is a move into uncharted territory but with the support of my family, both creative and blood, I feel like this is what I was meant to do. I feel like there is no way I would let this opportunity to give more, to nurture talent more, to truly create a community, pass me by. I firmly believe this journey is way bigger than me and so I invite you to join me for the ride. -Kevon Foderingham
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Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival Founder and Executive Director, Kevon Foderingham is a creative entrepreneur, regional marketing and communications executive and life strategies coach with over 15 years local and international marketing and public relations experience in the hospitality, fashion, education and non-profit sectors using marketing and communications tools to positively impact the lives of others.
THE EAST YARD CREATIVE RESIDENCY PROGRAMMEÂ
September 2017, Creative in Residence, Alanna Morris Van Tassel
THE EAST YARD CREATIVE RESIDENCY IS AN INTERNATIONAL ARTIST RESIDENCY PROGRAM PROVIDING ARTISTS, CURATORS, WRITERS, AND ACADEMICS WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE WORK IN ARIMA,TRINIDAD. In September Alanna spent a month as the first participant of our EAST YARD Creative Residency. While here she was based at Art on Purpose and commissioned a new solo dance by Art on Purpose founder and choreographer, Jamie Philbert. She also participated in community engagement activities, including a free dance class and community performance at the end of her residency, showcasing what she has been working on Alanna is a professional contemporary dancer, teaching artist, choreographer, and community organizer. She has spent 10 seasons with Minnesota-based dance company TU Dance (Toni Pierce-Sands and Uri sands, Co-Artistic Directors) and has worked professionally with Nathan Trice/RITUALS, Andrea Miller, and Janis Brenner & Dancers.
Alanna, Anna and Jamie during rehearsals
Art on Purpose Dance Studio and Showroom
Outdoors at EAST YARD
During her tenure at TU Dance Alanna danced featured roles by celebrated choreographers, Kyle Abraham, Gioconda Barbuto, Camille A. Brown, Ronald K. Brown, Greggory Dolbashian, Katrin Hall, Francesca Harper, Dwight Rhoden, and Uri Sands. .In 2011, Morris-Van Tassel received a Minnesota SAGE Award for Outstanding Performer and is a recipient of the 2015 McKnight Dance Fellowship. In the summer of 2016, supported by The Jerome Foundation, she traveled to Trinidad to study Afro-Caribbean dance as a part of the New Waves! Festival in Port of Spain. .Alanna continues to actively engage community in the Twin Cities by producing her own work and collaborating with many arts and educational programs and individuals. She is currently developing a solo dance concert to premiere in Minneapolis in Spring 2018. Alanna holds a BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School. We congratulate Alanna on the work she has put in over the past month and it was pleasure hosting her. We can't wait to see what she does next! The EAST YARD Creative Residency is an international artist residency program providing artists, curators, writers, and academics with the opportunity to create work in Arima,Trinidad. For more information visit www.caribbeanfaff.com/creative-residencies
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CFAFF 2017, OCTOBER 12-14 One of our biggest events for the year is our annual fashion film and arts festival, CFAFF which celebrates fashion film as a growing trend among fashion designers and an area of fashion communication. The budding genre of fashion film is gaining momentum internationally as traditional advertising and fashion shows are becoming more expensive to produce and branded digital content is fast becoming the solution, while also pushing smaller labels and talent into the limelight, allowing them to share their stories with consumers in theatres, online and on their mobile devices. With the English-speaking Caribbean being one of the only regions that did not yet have a Fashion Film Festival of its own, CFAFF’s arrival in November 2016 was timely. Set to take place annually and this year exclusively at our new home, EAST YARD, the multifaceted festival will screen and honour fashion related films from the region and beyond. Last year we were honored to be featured in Vogue Italia http://www.vogue.it/en/news/voguearts/2016/11/23/caribbean-fashion-and-arts-feature-festival/ and to partner with six different international fashion film festival counterparts and this year, with much excitement we have already solidified partnership with Fashion Film Fest Istanbul http://www.fashionfilmistanbul.com/ to screen Turkish Fashion Films at our festival and Caribbean films screened at their festival in November. We have also secured partnership with SHOWstudio an award-winning fashion website, founded and directed by Nick Knight, that has consistently pushed the boundaries of communicating fashion online http://showstudio.com/ Many of the top international fashion films have already been submitted as non competitive entrants in this year's edition. Leaving the door open for Caribbean fashion films to shine. We want to take this opportunity to invite you to join us for three days of screenings, visual art exhibitions, panel discussions, an artisan market, workshops and social events. Until then, check out images from last year's inaugural CFAFF.
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CFAFF FESTIVAL GUIDE 2017 Thursday, October 12th 9:00AM -12:00 NOON Secondary Schools Open House hosted by COAD -Flore et faune des Caraïbes sauvages Art Exhibition Opening curated by Tandem (Barbados) -Screening of River Blue (95 mins) (Canada) -Sustainable Fashion Discussion lead by Trinidad and Tobago Bridge Initiative (30 mins) 7:00PM -10:00PM CFAFF 2017 Opening Night Cocktail Reception by Invitation -Flore et faune des Caraïbes sauvages Art Exhibition curated by Tandem (Barbados) (Ongoing) -Screening of Caribbean Official Selections (30 mins) -Screening of The Revolution of the Fairytale & Q & A (60 mins) (St Lucia) Friday, October 13th 6:00PM - 10:00PM Cocktails and Convos hosted by Adornami Caribbean Tickets $100.00 (Complimentary Cocktails & Canapes) -Flore et faune des Caraïbes sauvages Art Exhibition curated by Tandem (Barbados) (Ongoing) -International Fashion Film Screening (76 mins) (Europe, Mexico, USA, Japan) -Fashion Film Fest Istanbul 2017 World Tour Special Screening (30 mins) -Panel Discussion lead by Adornami Caribbean (30 mins) Saturday, October 14th 9:00AM – 4:00PM EAST YARD Market Free to the General Public -Flore et faune des Caraïbes sauvages Art Exhibition curated by Tandem (Barbados) (Ongoing) -Caribbean Artisan Market with local fashion, art, food and craft on sale (All day) -Pallet Furniture Making Workshop lead by Trinidad and Tobago Bridge Initiative (10:00am - 11:00am) -Official Selection Screening from the Caribbean (11:30am - 12:00pm) -Screening of River Blue (Canada) (12:00pm - 1:35pm) -"FILM-ed by REconnecteD" Special Screening from South Africa (1:40pm - 2:00pm) -Sustainable Fashion Workshop lead by Trinidad and Tobago Bridge Initiative (2:00pm - 3:00pm) -The Art of Change, change management for creatives talk lead by Art on Purpose (3:00pm - 4:00pm) 7:00PM -Until Closing Award Ceremony and Urban Gala After Party -Flore et faune des Caraïbes sauvages Art Exhibition curated by Tandem (Barbados) (Ongoing) -Distribution of awards -Costume gala after party hosted by V2 Promo (Prizes for best dressed)
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