The organizers of the Caribbean Fine Art Fair (CaFA Fair) are ensuring the current pandemic does not bring the annual arts showcase to a halt. From March 10 to 24, the work of over 70 prolific visual artists from the Caribbean and the Diaspora will be on display in a virtual gallery at Caribbean.Global for the first time. During the same period, seven emerging Barbadian artists will take center stage at the Central Bank of Barbados’ Exchange Interactive Centre in an exhibit titled “Non-Traditional”. Members of the public can view by appointment the works of John Alleyne, Brandon K. Best, Alex Gibson, Housing Area, Sydney McConney, Chris Rocket, and Akilah Watts. The art in this exhibit will also be highlighted on the Caribbean.Global website.
Simultaneously, the New York-based Calabar Gallery, Ebony Art Gallery, and nine individual Diaspora artists will be showcased in “Diaspora Dialogue VIII”, an exhibit featuring artists from Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, the USA, and Zambia. The countries represented by participants in the 11th Annual CaFA Fair include Barbados, the Bahamas, Dominica, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US Virgin Islands.
“This year, patrons will have full online access to artwork in a range of media. We will engage everyone with video content and enhance the exhibitions with virtual panels and presentations,” says Anderson Pilgrim, Executive Director of the CaFA Fair.
The events kick off on March 12 at 8:00 p.m. with the digital launch of the “Non-Traditional” exhibit, which is curated by Zoe Osbourne of Mahogany Culture. This will be followed by live discussions on March 13 and 14 at 2:00 p.m. with Osbourne and the participating artists. On March 20 at 2:00 p.m., interdisciplinary artist and anthropologist Alexis Alleyne-Caputo and Occhi’s David Emmanuel Noel, an interdisciplinary artist/curator, will also lead a discussion with guests on the topic “Art in a Post-Digital COVID World”. On March 24 at 5:00 p.m. CaFA Fair 2021 comes to a close with a live event.
All the events can be accessed free of cost, online at www.cafafair.com and www.Caribbean.global. The itinerary for this year’s Bridgetown International Arts Festival, which is slated for March 19 to 21, can also be found at www.cafafair.com.
CaFA Fair is one of the largest annual art exhibitions in the Caribbean and this year’s virtual fair is crafted to satisfy the needs of artists and art lovers alike. For more information, please email info@cafafair.com.
Features images
- B Musah Swallah, Ghana – Red Hat
- Cher Antoinette, Barbados – Oh Gurrll, Pleasse!!, acrylic on canvas
- Diogenes Ballester, Puerto Rico – Keeper of Genes, 2007
- Akilah Watts -Say CheeZee
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