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Debora Vitulano covers Sparkling Islands: Another Postcard of the Caribbean, for Lampoon Magazine (051923).

Sparkling Islands: Another Postcard of the Caribbean is a collective exhibition born from the initiative of Caryl Ivrisse Crochemar, founder of the Espace d’art contemporain 14N61W, an art gallery located in Fort-de-France, on the island of Martinique.

«Last year at 1-54 New York edition we discussed about doing a focus on artists of African descent, whether they were based in the United States, in the Caribbean or elsewhere, in order to strengthen their tides with the African diaspora in the art scene, because they still seemed to be worlds apart, even though they are actually linked. This is not something that comes naturally for both communities, but the integration of our gallery in 1-54 for so many years aroused the interest of many Caribbean artists towards the fair».  

When thinking about the Caribbean, most people – whether they have ever visited the archipelago or not – picture sunny beaches and crystal-clear waters. Sparkling Islands: Another Postcard of the Caribbean does not wish to contradict such image, but to expand it: «There is also the historical part, the broken history of the Caribbean in general, the pre-Columbian history, the proto-colonial history, the post-colonial history and the present development».

In such a variety of themes there was «a multitude of possible messages», but the curators preferred to conceive the exhibition in the «simplest way possible, as a series of snapshots, just like the postcards you send to your friends from a holiday vacation». Still, these postcards tell a different story from the mainstream narration of the Caribbean archipelago: «We attract the visitors’ attention towards something that they would probably pass by if they went to the Caribbean. It is 2023 and we are at a crossroads of many things in culture, identity, gender, and we need to experience this diversity as creatively as we can».

The artworks featured in the exhibition neither follow any particular red thread nor aim to offer an overall insight of Caribbean art and culture: «This would have been impossible; the exhibition is just an open door to a much vaster environment. The Caribbean is neither compact nor homogeneous. Due to its history, which we may call “a discontinuous continuity”, the archipelago is a melting pot. It is not to be forgotten that the Caribbean were the first point of entry into America for the West, both Europe and Africa. So, when you pull one thread, you just end up pulling many, such as identity, diversity, cultural mixing, colonialism, post-colonialism, future. In the end, the only possible red thread is the public, who will be able to take all the information received from the exhibition in the direction they choose».

Adler Guerrier was born in Haiti, but now works in Miami. He uses the form of collage – which he regards as a democratizing technique – to subvert space and time in constructions of race, ethnicity, class and culture.

The complete article.