New Barbadian artists at CaFa

For ten years and counting, Barbados’s Caribbean Fine Art Fair (CaFa) has celebrated the region’s visual artists and their role in the international art scene. The fair — which runs this year from 10 to 24 March, virtually and in-person — showcases individual artists and small thematic exhibits by art galleries. One 2021 highlight is a nontraditional exhibit curated by Zoe Osborne of Mahogany Culture Collective, featuring seven up-and-coming Barbadian artists — Brandon K. Best, Alex Gibson, Housing Area, Sydney McConney, Akilah Watts, Chris Rocket, and John Alleyne — at the Exchange Centre Gallery in Bridgetown. Diaspora Dialogue, a CaFa signature exhibit, is also scheduled, including a virtual panel. Look out for work by Dominica’s Earl D. Etienne and Puerto Rican Diogenes Ballester, alongside global diaspora artists from Africa and the United States, and exhibits from US-based galleries Calabar and Ebony Art. For more information about the CaFA programme and participating artists, visit cafafair.com

Among the emerging artists featured at CaFa 2021 is Barbadian Akilah Watts, who works in media including drawing, painting, and sculpture. her most recent works touch on issues of race and culture, as well as ideas of belonging and beauty

Top: Just a Roll and Set (2020, acrylic, 24 x 24 inches)

Below: Fresh to Death (2020, acrylic, 24 x 24 inches)