EAST YARD A purpose. A place. A publication
ISSUE 04 MAY 2018
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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.
ART ON PURPOSE
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We sat down with dancer Jamie Philbert and got her thoughts on returning to Trinidad and her plans for Art on Purpose.
CFAFF ILLUSTRATE
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An insight on our CFAFF Illustrate program and how it aims to end gender-based violence in Trinidad and Tobago.
EDITOR/PUBLISHER: Kevon Foderingham ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Leah Laing All pictures taken by Mario Sargeant. 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 It has been another whirlwind couple of months at EAST YARD, but we’re not complaining. We want to congratulate last issue’s cover star, Gerry Williams and his team, on pulling off another fantastic NEW FIRE Festival, which took place last month at the Ortinola Estate in St Joseph. In April, longstanding monthly open mic concert series, Songshine moved to EAST YARD and we welcome its founder Gillian Moore with open arms. The Yard has been abuzz with activity with the arrival of local artists in residence, Kevin Vincent and Gary Mart who have both transformed space with stunning murals. Kevin and his stunning mural was recently the cover story on Guardian’s REC Magazine. For this we are thankful and we continue to be proud of the work these two rising stars are doing. Art in all its manifestations seems to be taking over our space, as visual artist AJ Rogers has also launched a twice monthly human figure series aptly entitled, UNCLAD. Perfect for beginners and also accomplished artist looking for opportunities to practice capturing the human form. On our cover is Jamie Philbert of Art on Purpose, one of the founding entities of 1
EAST YARD. As her curatorial debut, Jamie is this month launching the bi-monthly OUTTA HAND exhibition series that uses art of various disciplines to tackle issues like the uplifting of women. Finally, we are into month three of CFAFF ILLUSTRATE – Arts Impact Initiative to End Violence, a project by our parent organization Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival. The rapid progression of these young participants and we are happy to share with you some of what these budding creators have been up to. So settle in, put your feet up and enjoy a bite of what the east has to offer.
ART ON PURPOSE Jamie Philbert is a first and foremost a dancer, a free spirit and an overall creator. She says that she lives between two to three worlds at a time. Her love of family resonates as she describes herself as not just a creative but also the daughter of Dennis and Veronica Philbert and a full time aunty to her nieces and nephews. As owner of the Art on Purpose Dance Studio, Jamie is one of the founding entities of EAST YARD and we are thrilled to share with you the vision of this ever evolving, spirit-filled, creative healer who
has some wonderful things in store for Arima, starting this month. EY: Your family migrated to the United States several years ago and as a result you spent 25 years of your life away from Trinidad. Why did you return? Jamie: I wanted a better quality of life. Also Trinidad has always felt like home, even though I was away for so long. My father was ‘Trini to the Bone’ and he always reminded us of where we came from and that we always had a home here. When he passed away I felt that the time was right to return. I felt like there was nothing left to stay in America for. I wanted to grieve in peace. EY: You’ve been back home for three years now, have you found what you were looking for? Jamie: I have found quality of life without a doubt and huge glimpses of that peace that I continue to seek. For me, it’s about not having to worry about paying a NYC rent. My parents worked hard and were able to maintain our family home here. It’s about days when I may not have lots of money to buy everything I want to cook, but being able to get something from a tree or telling a neighbour I’m coming for a plate of food. Also the weather, Trinidad is not cold! If I feel sad, I can go to the beach and let the ocean drown my tears. Though I’ve spent most of my life abroad, Trinidad feels like home. EY: Do you miss NYC? 2
Jamie: Of course I do at times. I especially miss my family and dear friends, I also truly miss the diversity of international foods, that are so readily available and accessible. If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m a girl about my belly LOL. EY: You’re an accomplished dancer and choreographer, a fashion and jewellery maker and also write and perform poetry and music. What else is there left to do on this creative journey? Jamie: Seeing my creative destiny through to the end, in what every direction it takes me. Having my own dance studio was always a dream and I was able to do that in that happened last year. Out of this, I recently founded the Art on Purpose Dance Ensemble, which is a youth dance company. I feel like this will take a lot of mu focus and energy moving forward. Through this I want to give young people a chance to perform locally and abroad. I feel like I am now more ready to connect with more people, especially children who are in a space where they need a breakthrough in their own creative journeys. EY: Having been a professional performer for 23 years is definitely an accomplishment. Are you now giving performing a backseat to focus on the dance company? Jamie: I will always be a performer and when the need to perform calls, I answer. However, my focus is now more on providing this platform for others who need it more than I do. So the need to perform is not even there when I am providing the platform. 3
EY: You singled out children as the group you are most interested in working with. Why specifically children? Jamie: I believe that children and also we sometimes forget elders, are the ones who are closer to God. The children are the future and the elders are the repositories of the knowledge that needs to be passed down. In a lot of my work I try to include an intergenerational element, for example
my weekly parent and toddler dance class. I believe it’s not just about making amazing young creatives but making amazing people using arts and culture as the medium. Children are the cultural inheritors and if we don’t guide them, it will be problematic for the planet. I feel it is my responsibility to help pass on this knowledge. EY: The underlying trend in everything you do seems to incorporate art, culture and a passing on of knowledge. So in a nutshell what is Art on Purpose? Jamie: Art on Purpose is my dream, my vision and my hopes manifested into a physical space. It is the place where I can educate and heal through art forms like dance, fashion and visual art. Art on Purpose seeks to educate, inform and inspire. EY: So what is next for Art on Purpose? Jamie: As I mentioned, the youth dance company aspect of Art on Purpose is a major focus right now. It’s about building and growing that. Very soon I also want to launch the Art on Purpose Radical Dance Festival, which I’ll tell you more about another time. This month, I’m also venturing into somewhat new territory and adding creative curation to our offerings, using this medium to introduce various forms of art, while tackling pressing social issues. The first of which is the uplifting of women.
on the treatment of the female body and identity in Trinidad and Tobago, which has become out of control. I want it to addresses the role of women in our society and what/who constitutes a woman getting “outta hand”. It looks at the forms of sexism, harassment, and assault the female body in Trinidad and Tobago undertakes daily and how to encourage and facilitate a healthy dialogue about these forms of discrimination. My goal from the get-go was for this to be a truly multi-disciplinary exhibition, so I’ve hand selected a group of performers, namely, poet Crissy Gail-Edwards, Uncovered singer Daniel Griffith, my Art on Purpose Dance Ensemble and a sound installation by Roger Bonair all of which will interpret one of Sarah’s pieces.
On May 12th we debut the first of the OUTTA HAND series, which will be my curatorial debut featuring the work of visual artist Sarah Burrows, which will be on display Not just an evening of performance and and for sale. The exhibition places focus
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appreciation of the arts, but the event culminates in a panel discussion with an exciting line-up, which includes, Sharon Mottley, Marina Hilaire-Bartlett, Walda Waithe, Dr Kevin Browne and Folade Mutota. The evening encourages the audience to interact and reflect on gender roles, representation and visibility as reflected in public and personal interactions. The overall goal of this ongoing project is to empower and celebrate the lives and uplifting women all over the world beginning right here in Trinidad and Tobago and a new exhibition will be curated every two months featuring other artists. OUTTA HAND calls for the recognition that without brilliantly strong, beautiful, powerful women, there can be no brilliantly strong, beautiful, powerful people. EY: Wow! Very exciting and very meaningful. We are very proud of you and the work you are embarking on. Do you have any closing words for our readers? Jamie: Thanks you for taking time to interview me. Really, I just want to be a light bearer of purposeful art in T&T.
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OUTTA HAND May 12th, 2016 6 pm - 10 pm Admission: Free RSVP to artonpurposett@gmail.com 746-9632 Venue: Art on Purpose Dance Studio, EAST YARD, 27 Prince Street Arima.
CFAFF ILLUSTRATE
jewellery and graduate of the Caribbean Academy of Fashion Design; Melissa Matthews, visual artist, entrepreneur and graduate of Howard University’s fine art program and
A small project, with big aspirations. CFAFF ILLUSTRATE – Arts Impact to End Violence started off with the idea to utilize the medium of visual arts to address violence against women and girls in Trinidad and Tobago and in particular Arima and environs, where our organization is situated. With the support of Texas based, Indrani’s Light Foundation, PSI-Caribbean, Conceptual Original Artistic Designs (COAD), Agitate Media, Bene Caribe, Trinidad and Tobago Bridge Initiative, Bead Café and The Property Vault the initiative got off the ground. The spirit of community runs throughout the project and support has also come from private individuals like, Asha Ceoline and Michael Pierre. Recent collaborators Mario Sargeant Creative and XAX Flix have also jumped on to help us capture and document the project through photography and videography. From the beginning the roll out of the initiative seemed organic as we quickly filled the 10 or so spaces we needed to begin. The commitment of the participants must be applauded as they have agreed to give up their Saturday mornings for the duration of the six-month period. For three Saturdays per month, participants are immersed in intense training in the visual arts from working creatives and artists, Candace Francis, a talented mixed media 6
Elizabeth Jeremie, fashion and jewellery designer and also graduate of the Caribbean Academy of Fashion and Design, achieving the honour of being awarded top student. Our Executive Director, Kevon Foderingham also works with the group, exposing them to the history of art and also to creative entrepreneurship as a whole. On the other Saturday of the month, the participants are joined by Michele MatthewsMorancie a practicing consultant, entrepreneur and certified facilitator in gender-based violence prevention training through the Population Services International-Caribbean (PSI-C) Make It Stop Youth Empowerment Program, which provided the template for this aspect of the initiative. Dr Alicia Martin, sociologist, educator and youth counsellor is also on hand during these sessions for psychosocial support.
It has been a wonderful journey and we have arrived at the half way point. Our participants are diverse in age, backgrounds and talents and together they are creating some very strong visual work under the guidance of their arts facilitators and building true community and gaining knowledge from the tools provided by the youth empowerment 7
module of the initiative. Thus far, our participants, who range in ages from 14 to 36, have been exposed to a history of visual art in the Caribbean and internationally, an intro to drawing and have just started work in creating mixed media pieces. They have embarked on creating a community mural on a wall at our EAST YARD space and also the opportunity to spend a day at this year’s NEW FIRE Festival where they participated in the various cultural and ecological activities offered. In the upcoming months they will visit the beautiful village of Brasso Seco, using the opportunity to be inspired by the scenic surroundings while also becoming engaged with youth in the area. They have also recently been invited to facilitate arts activities for the public on World Yoga Day in June in Chaguaramas. It is only up from here and we are eager to see what these brilliant young talents come up with at the end of the program where they will be asked to utilize the medium of visual art
to help paint a picture of a society that is free of violence against women and girls. CFAFF ILLUSTRATE - Arts Impact Initiative to End Violence is a six-month intense program for youth that works to reveal the power of expression to uplift and transform through the use of visual arts. This program offers guided facilitation employing principles of communication, connection and transformation through the use of visual arts while holding a safe and non-judgmental space for youth to freely express their creativity and share experiences. The sessions utilize guided visual art projects, bridging a powerful connection
between both left and right brain cognition and will include facilitation from local professional guest artists and international artists in residence at EAST YARD to offer further inspiration and connection with members of the local art community working together to produce a group visual art exhibition chronicling their lives, ideas for change and ending violence in their lifetimes. The exhibition will be held in during our annual CFAFF ‘For Common’ Fashion Film and Street Art Festival in October with proceeds being remitted to the project. Visual Arts and Creative Entrepreneurship Modules: -Intro to Visual Arts & History of Art -Intro to Drawing (Landscapes) -Mixed Media Explored -Intro to Painting -Creative Entrepreneurship & Internship Gender Based Violence Prevention Modules: - Gender and Gender Norms - Values and Defining Positive Self - Communication and Communicating Emotions and Boundaries - Sex, Sexuality, Sexual Health and relationships - Understanding Gender-based Violence and Intimate Partner Violence - Power in Preventing GBV
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