A purpose. A place. A publication.
ISSUE 05 JUNE 2018
Art On
PURPOSE
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DANCE
FASHION
EDUCATION
DanceSana
a fusion of dance and yoga SATURDAYS @ 11 AM $80/session EAST YARD
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EDITOR’S NOTE
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A little look into what we’ve been up to since the last issue.
iHUBTT
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A look at Innovation Hub Limited in Sangre Grande, born with a vision to connect individuals and businesses in a way that is modern, technologically- driven, collaborative and of course, creative.
ILKI PLACE
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Introducing Ilki Place, a new venture at EAST YARD, owned by W’s Uniforms and curated by Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival to offer a new local and regionally driven artisan gift shop that provides an additional retail outlet for the many talented makers in our community.
EDITOR/PUBLISHER: Kevon Foderingham ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Leah Laing Ilki Place and East Yard photos taken by Leah Laing Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival EAST YARD, 27 Prince Street Arima, Trinidad and Tobago. 868-491-3684 I caribbeanfaff@gmail.com @caribbeanfaff EAST YARD www.caribbeanfaff.com/east-yard FB: @eastyardbycfaff IG: @_eastyard EAST YARD is published monthly by Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival. All rights reserved (c) Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival 2018. No part of this magazine shall be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.
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EDITOR’S NOTE Hello June! And so we’re at the midway point. Half of 2018 has gone by in the blink of an eye. EAST YARD has been moving at a pace, with several happenings in the last month. We have since set up onsite accommodation for our visiting international artists in residence, redesigned our indoor space and are set to launch Ilki Place, a new local and regionally driven artisan gift shop to provide a retail outlet for the many talented makers in our community. As our CFAFF ILLUSTRATE, Arts Impact Initiative continues to dive deeper into visual arts and social good, we are honoured to have been invited to have our participants manage the visual arts booth at the IFit WORLD Chaguaramas Adventure Day in commemoration of International Day of Yoga and hosted by the Chaguaramas Development Authority and our long time partners, Trinidad and Tobago Bridge Initiative. What a blessing and opportunity for our young participants to get to engage with the general public in a forum like this. On our cover we have the dynamic and visionary, Marlon Skerrette, Founder of Sangre Grande based, Innovation Hub Limited, a pioneering enterprise first started as a company optimizing business 1
& marketing services but quickly evolving to be a premier hub not only for seeking business advice but also a well-appointed co-working space for daily use and events geared toward the thinking connoisseur, creative mind and knowledge seeker. We hope you enjoy this edition of EY Magazine!
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iHUBTT The East is alive and bursting with independent business, creative enterprise and creative spaces. Innovation Hub Ltd (iHUB) fits into all of these categories. Opened in February 2017, iHUB operates in Sangre Grande and is quickly being recognized for its commitment to nurturing small businesses. We caught up with Founder, Marlon Skerrette to learn more about this exciting venture. EY: How did iHUB start? Marlon: Many years ago just after I finished my degree in Business Management, I wanted to then utilize it. I always a knack for making processes run more efficiently. I decided to connect with a few businesses to see if they would be interested in services that aided in streamlining their business practices and they were responsive. I began consulting for both smaller and larger businesses. After a while doing this something became evident that bothered me deeply. The way some companies focused solely on the bottom line and as a result did not put as much emphasis on their human capital, the people at the core of every business. It made me think about myself and consulting in general and how some things no longer matched my personal code of ethics. 3
I decided to venture into my own fullfledged venture and step away from consulting. I wanted to create something that would be a revolution in the way that an organization should be set up and how employees should be treated. Thus, iHUB was born. EY: What is on offer at iHUB? Marlon: We are first and foremost a hub for business and creativity. We see creativity as the process of uncovering the ways to do things. We take products, services and ideas into the future together, that’s our ethos. We have evolved as per the needs of our audience. We started with services like digital marketing and business registration to being a hub for entrepreneurs. Small businesses have used spaces like living rooms, cafes and libraries as their base of operations but the time comes when that doesn’t cut it anymore. iHUB evolved into a co-working space equipped with a meeting room creative meeting area and all the technological amenities needed to take their idea further. EY: How has the response been? Marlon: The response has been fantastic. We are trying to create value and people have been receptive to the facilities, especially where we are in Sangre Grande which does not necessarily have many of these facilities. Quite a number of groups have been utilizing the space. We are still
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in the early stages but as new ideas and needs arise, we will continue to adapt our offering. It’s all about innovation.
We will be announcing a new venture on opening night of the exhibition. We have something up our sleeve. So to speak LOL.
EY: We are excited about the upcoming EY: What would you do differently if given iLike Art Exhibition later this week. Do you the opportunity? think there is a connection between art and enterprise? Marlon: I think it took me a while to understand that you need to allow things Marlon: When you look at businesses like to happen organically instead of always tech companies and similar industries as a trying to aggressively and forcefully make it whole, innovation is at the forefront. In T&T happen. I am not saying to be too relaxed we have so many ideas but I don’t think but you have to let the environment also enough emphasis is placed on creatively guide the process and allow things to go realizing them. This is where hubs like ours where they are going. come into play, as practitioners from several fields can connect, be in a space together EY: What would you tell 18-year-old and feed off of each other. Marlon? The arts have an important part to play in the entire system. The arts can help bolster great ideas and spur on creativity across all sectors. This leads into the idea to host our first art exhibition. Some people did not at first see the connection as we are more known for traditional business but we see the link and the importance. Also this is fantastic for Sangre Grande as I don’t think that our town has seen an exhibition of this scale. So it is important. EY: What’s next for iHUB? Marlon: I am always excited to see things unfold. Being an innovative organisation, we are continuously looking for ways to grow the hub and its services. 5
Marlon: I would tell him try not to step on as many toes even in times when you think you are doing the right thing. I’d tell him to be more diplomatic and open to other opinions. I would tell him to be aware of people and how they are and take time to understand them and yourself better. Introspection as well as observation is important. I would tell Marlon to know and be aware that we all operate differently and by understanding human behaviour will give him the tools necessary for him to know how to give and receive more. ILike Art Exhibition opens at iHUB on Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 6pm. Cover and pg 4 images taken by Nuts Photography.
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ILKI PLACE Ilki Place, is a new venture at EAST YARD, owned by W’s Uniforms and curated by Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival to offer a new local and regionally driven artisan gift shop that provides an additional retail outlet for the many talented makers in our community. The quirky name is an amalgamation of the first and middle names of the owner of W’s and feels perfect for the eclectic space we are creating. Envisioned to be a one stop shop for handmade trinkets, jewellery, fashion, gourmet food items, organic life-style products and home décor pieces, the shop is the first phase of a larger plan to incorporate additional offerings geared toward attracting more local and international tourism to the Borough of Arima. For the month of June, Ilki’s has been hosting a series of pre-launch events as we get prepared for a grand opening on June 30th, which will also feature the work of local visual artist Marilyn Hunte. With plans to make every trip to Ilki Place an experience, we commissioned artist in residence and muralist, Gary Martin to create an original mural for the entrance to the shop that captures the natural flora 7
and fauna around the Yard as well as incorporating depictions of items available inside.
Already becoming a talking point and capturing the eyes of passers-by, the mural is indeed beautiful and we thank Gary for continuing to bless the space with his art. As part of the collaboration, Ilki Place now opens into the CFAFF/EAST YARD indoor space to create one large multipurpose space, to offer a richer cultural experience to our eastern family. We invite you visit the YARD, experience Ilki Place and continue to support local and regional. You are cordially invited to the grand opening of Ilki Place on Saturday, June 30th at 6pm. 8
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