December 11, 2024 • 47 mins
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Art speaks volumes about history and resilience. Join us as we chart the artistic evolution of the Cayman Islands with Maia Muttoo, Education Manager at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands. With her fascinating pan-Caribbean roots, Maia offers a unique perspective on how storytelling, history, and art intertwine to shape the Caribbean narrative. Our journey takes us to the heart of the Cayman Islands, where the spirit of creativity thrives amid challenging environments. Discover the remarkable craftsmanship and ingenuity of Caymanians, from the iconic Cayman Catboat's maritime legacy to the meticulous art of thatch basketry. This episode highlights the traditional skills that have been passed down through generations, revealing a blend of survival and artistry that remains integral to Caymanian identity.
Artistic expression in the Cayman Islands continues to evolve, fueled by a dynamic blend of traditional crafts and contemporary influences. Whether you're captivated by the evocative seafaring heritage captured by Simon Tatum or the intuitive dream-inspired art of Miss Lassie, this episode invites you to experience the Cayman Islands' rich artistic landscape and the cultural connections that inspire it.
Maia Muttoo is a cultural professional interested in the role of arts-based programming, storytelling and events in education, public outreach, and the enlivening of community. She is the Education Manager at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands (NGCI) where her work supports community engagement with NGCI’s visual art collections, exhibitions and initiatives through the development, implementation and evaluation of public programmes and resources. Muttoo holds a MA with distinction in Cultural and Creative Industries from King’s College, London, and a BA (Hons) in History from the University of Toronto. She has participated in the Museums Association of the Caribbean’s annual conference since 2022, and has been involved in a range of cultural projects locally and regionally through her work with both public and private organisations as a writer, educator, and events/programmes coordinator. Muttoo was an exhibiting artist in the 3rd Cayman Islands Biennial, Conversations with the Past in the Present Tense, and is the recipient of a Heritage Cross Award (Mid-Career) at the Cayman National Cultural Foundation’s 2023 National Arts and Culture Awards.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Strictly Facts, a guide to Caribbean
history and culture hosted by me, alexandria Miller.
Strictly Facts teaches thehistory, politics and activism
of the Caribbean and connectsthese themes to contemporary
music and popular culture.
Welcome back to another episodeof Strictly Facts, a guide to
(00:25):
Caribbean history and culture.
Of the many topics I haveplanned to discuss for the
upcoming year, one of them isCaribbean art, and I mean that
really in a way that's focal.
You know, we definitely talkabout Caribbean art when it
comes to our Strictly Factssound segment art when it comes
(00:46):
to our Strictly Facts Soundsegment.
But I really want to integrate,talking about these discussions
of our culture and art and howit's really been integral to our
evolution, to our expression.
And so, at the end of the yearapproaching, I thought I'd give
you a little bit of a teaser andwhat some of those
conversations will look like forthe end of the year, with an
early glimpse of what to expectand maybe help you be on the
lookout for some Caribbean artfor 2025.
(01:08):
And so helping me today iscultural professional and
education manager at theNational Gallery of the Cayman
Islands, maya Matu, who, muchlike us here at Strictly Facts,
is interested in art-basedprogramming, storytelling and
events in education, publicoutreach and the enlivening of
community.
It's truly a pleasure to haveyou, maya, but before we get
(01:31):
started talking about the artand art history of the Cayman
Islands, why don't you let ourlisteners know a little bit more
about yourself, your connectionto the Caribbean and what
inspired your interest in thevisual performance and art
history of the Cayman Islands?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Sure, so first of all , thank you again for having me.
It's really a pleasure to behere chatting with you today.
So I'm actually notgenerationally Caymanian.
I grew up on Grand Cayman andof course I call these islands
home, but my mother is halfJamaican and half Bajan.
My dad is Guyanese and both ofmy parents are call these
islands home, but my mother ishalf Jamaican and half Bajan.
My dad is Guyanese and both ofmy parents are cultural and arts
(02:10):
professionals.
So that's quite broad, but Ithink they were quite firmly
rooted in the performing arts,in the theater.
My mother is an actress and asinger and a cultural manager
and my dad is a director and aset designer and a cultural
critic.
They actually met at theJamaica School of Drama at the
Manly College when they wereboth teaching there, and so I
think the love for culture andthe interest in the study of
(02:32):
culture was really at the heartof the family that I grew up in.
I mean, the house was likestacked with books of cultural
theory and you know my parentssang us folk songs to sleep and
when I was as sick as a child,you know we'd curl up in the
alcoves of the theater where myparents worked and everybody who
came to Boxing Day parties wereartists or cultural
practitioners of some kind.
(02:53):
So I like to think that goinginto this field wasn't a
coincidence.
In 2021, as I think we all doat some point in our lives I got
really interested in sort ofdeep diving into my ancestry and
through all of these, you know,questions with family members
and digging through thesewebsites and going through
photos, I found that so many ofmy family members were
(03:16):
performers of some kind, so theywere classical pianists or they
were calypsonians or they werecatechists, and I think maybe
some of my inclination towardsthe arts is really just deeply
intrinsic and kind ofunavoidable in a way.
Um, in 2004, when I was 13 yearsold, the cayman islands, um,
were devastated by what remainsone of the worst hurricanes in
(03:39):
the country's history, hurricaneivan and after the storm I went
to toronto and canada for theremainder of my secondary
schooling as a boarding studentand there I was living with
girls from all over the world,so my closest friends were from
Hong Kong and Nigeria and Egyptand Pakistan and Jamaica.
So I had the privilege quiteyoung to be engaging with a
(03:59):
variety of cultures andexperiences and perspectives and
, like I've said, I think I hada latent interest in history and
culture, but it wasn't untilhigh school that I really
viscerally felt myself sort oforganizing that in my brain and
recognizing that sort of pulland just being so enraptured by,
(04:21):
you know, these classicalhistory classes and thinking
about these narratives and thecharacter and the plot.
And I think for me the key wordis really story, because my
interest in history comes frommy interest in stories and
storytelling and theatricaltraditions and that's such a
Caribbean thing I think.
You know all of our culturesare really built on these
(04:43):
foundations of oral traditionand any historian also knows
that the facts of history arelike a script, right, I mean
words on a page are embodied andenlivened and spoken into life
by and meaning by the actors whoread them.
You know the specificity of howthey choose to navigate or
verbalize a scene, how thedirectors of that script see the
(05:06):
scene, you know the angles thatthey choose to look from, how
they read between the lines andwhat they choose to focus on as
the themes of their particularproduction.
So the facts of history, kind ofseen and spoken from different
perspectives and differentvoices, really change meaning
and I'm really fascinated bythat.
I'm fascinated by personal andcollective meaning and memory
(05:28):
that people extract from history.
So for me, it was really duringmy undergraduate studies in
history at the University ofToronto that I started to zone
in more on pre-Columbian historyand early contact in North
America as areas of myparticular interest, america as
areas of my particular interest.
And then, after graduating andreturning to Cayman in 2012,
(05:54):
aging myself, I started workingat the Cayman Islands National
Museum and looking morespecifically at the history and
culture of the Cayman Islands,which, of course, I had always
been living and surrounded bybut was now approaching from, I
suppose, more of a kind ofhistoriographical perspective.
So, yes, that's a little bitabout my background and how I've
come to do the work that I donow.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Thank you so much for sharing that.
I was really moved to hear yousay what you said about
storytelling and even thinkingof me founding the podcast.
Oral storytelling was a biginfluence in that.
Right, as you said, we havesuch a vibrant oral storytelling
culture that spans across theregion truly, and, of course,
the diaspora, and one that Ithink we know of and I'm not
(06:37):
sure to what extent we all, like, appreciate it as much as you
know, you put it into words,words.
So I really thank you forsharing that and, you know,
joining with me to talk aboutstorytelling and oral history
through the work of art andperformance as well.
Right, I definitely want us tojump into our conversation about
(06:58):
Cayman Islands and its arthistory from definitely like a
chronological perspective.
First and foremost, I am alwayssort of, you know, bothered by
where histories tend to start,right, which usually is, oh,
christopher Columbus, sort ofyou know they start with that,
that colonial Inquisition typeperiod.
(07:20):
But you know, in coming tounderstand Cayman Islands and
the art that has evolved fromthe islands itself, you know
what sort of the scene, what wasthe stage of the earliest forms
of art that took place in theCayman Islands and what do we
know about it today and you knowthe influences and different
things like that, yeah, so theCayman Islands are a very
(07:44):
interesting example in terms ofthe Caribbean, because we don't
actually have any physicalevidence of people having
permanently settled here beforethe first sightings of the
islands by the Spanish.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
You know this rich creative tradition that you see
coming out of the rest of theCaribbean, but definitely the
Cayman Islands did have, youknow, a large creative output
when we think about the middleof the 19th century onwards,
before this sort of formalizedart, education and industry came
(08:20):
into play.
So the Cayman Islands forlisteners who don't know much
about the islands are anarchipelago of three really tiny
, relatively isolated islands.
The three islands total justover 100 square miles.
Grand Cayman is the largest, at76 square miles, cayman Brack,
the middle, at 14 square miles,and the Little Cayman at 10
(08:40):
miles.
The Cayman Islands could beconsidered a decently harsh
living environment.
So there are these pervasivemangrove swamps, you know,
there's a lot of these jaggedlimestone cliff rock.
There's a lack of really viablefresh water sources, and the
size and geography of the CaymanIslands kind of precluded them
(09:01):
from being able to sustain thesort of long-term, substantial
agricultural output that youwould see in other places in the
Caribbean, and so the people ofthe Cayman Islands really had
to become incrediblyenvironmentally aware and really
learn to manipulate theresources that they had
available to them, bothterrestrially and in the
(09:21):
surrounding ocean.
Most Caymanians had to beincredibly varied in terms of
their technical skill set.
So one individual could plant,could construct a house from the
ground up, could ship off tothe Bay Islands as a turtle
ranger, know when to cut thetops of that trees to use in
rope, brew medicinal teas fromendemic plants, make rugs out of
(09:43):
scrap fabric.
So everybody had these reallyvaried skill sets and, even
though people may not yet havehad the luxury to make art for
art's sake, these were peoplewho were constantly engaged in
the act of making, of creation.
You spoke with Dr Crawford inone of your earlier episodes of
this podcast about howCaymanians really largely turned
(10:06):
to the sea as a feasible sourceof income during this time, and
part of that thriving maritimetrade was a booming boat
building industry, and soCaymanian craftsmen built all
manner of seagoing vessels.
I mean schooners to smallersailboats, and I think the best
known example, a really goodexample of Cayman maritime
(10:27):
engineering, is the CaymanCatboat, and the Catboat's
design is attributed to a Caymanbracker named Daniel Jervis.
1905 is the year that werecognize as being the first, at
least the first exact examplethat we have.
So you can kind of imagine likea almost a canoe-like sailboat
with sort of wider curving sides, typically painted in this soft
(10:50):
sort of blue.
That's almost like, you know,the sky on a clear day, or sort
of a robin's egg blue might be agood way to describe it.
And these boats were builtprimarily using the popnut tree
which grow, with these beautifulnatural curves that sort of
lend themselves really well toshaping the boat.
And they have a cat rigged sail, so a single mast set forward
(11:12):
on the boat, which is where weget the name cat boat from,
although there are othercolloquial stories about, you
know, jervis finding kittensunder the boat one morning.
And the cat boat is oftenreferred to as the first pickup
truck.
So they were used to transportboth people and cargo.
So, for example, if you wereliving in the eastern districts
(11:33):
and you wanted an easier way tocome over to Georgetown than,
you know, tromping through thebush to get there, you might
catch a ride with someone on acat boat and sail around the
island to get there.
Construction materials werebrought in these boats bread,
kind, you know, things likebreadfruit and cassava from
farming plots.
Deceased loved ones weretransported back to their
families in cat boats and ofcourse they were used to support
(11:56):
the thriving turtle fisherywhich sustained the economy at
the time.
They were designed to mitigatecapsizing, so you could kind of
ply your fishing tray withouttoo much threat from that as
well, and as I understand itfrom my conversations with elder
cat boat experts within thecommunity, the construction of
cat boats was a really intuitiveprocess.
So there was certainlytechnique.
(12:18):
The length is four times thewidth, then the depth is three
quarters the width.
But these boats were builtusing a rule of thumb.
So, for example, if you hadmoney and you wanted to
commission a capital and youwent to a builder, that builder
would have to go into the bush,look for the available material,
find the right tree, the rightpiece of wood that he liked for
the stern, whatever it was, andthen you might get a length of
(12:42):
boat that was a little bitlonger, shorter than what you
initially requested, just basedon the creative liberty and the
available resource that thatbuilder was using.
So the creative ingenuity, Ithink, in the design of these
boats, though they were builtfor a utilitarian purpose.
I think really points to anexisting tradition of making
(13:02):
within the community.
I think really points to anexisting tradition of making
within the communityTerrestrially.
A really iconic symbol of Caymanis the national tree, the
endemic silver thatch palm,which is an incredibly sturdy
and salt resistant type ofthatch.
It was used to craft practicalobjects that supported domestic
and agricultural and maritimework and that included roofs for
(13:23):
buildings.
You can see examples of that inother parts of the world as
well, not with the endemicsilver thatch palm, which is
only found in Grand Cayman, butwith other forms of thatch.
It was used for building, formaking hats, for ground baskets,
which are large round basketswith these sort of long straps
that were used to carry heavyground provisions so again,
those really starchy fruits andvegetables or to back sand,
(13:48):
which was basically shovelingsand from the beach into these
baskets and then using it tocreate these lovely sand yards
that are again really iconic toCayman.
Things like mats, fans, broomsand then, of course, rope, and
that rope was widely used in themaritime trades and exported to
Jamaica and Central America aswell.
So traditional thatch basketryeven though it was started for
(14:12):
survival and subsistence, it's agreat example of fine
craftsmanship.
This was an art that was largelymastered and practiced by women
and children.
The attention to detail thatwent into the production of
these objects was trulyawe-inspiring.
I mean from the cutting of thetops.
The tops are the unopened sortof top spiky leaves of that tree
(14:35):
, and these were cut at specifictimes of the moon cycle to
maximize longevity.
You know the painstaking dryingout of this material, the
stripping of the fibers intoindividual strings that would
then be twisted to make up astrand, and then the laying of
those strands into fathoms ofrope using a rope cart.
And each district of GrandCayman and Little Cayman, cayman
(14:56):
Brac, had specific ways oftwisting their strands and each
artisan had their own individualstyle.
So even you know, within thiscommon utilitarian practice,
there were moments ofindividualized creative
expression.
So, as I alluded to before,there were also a number of
craft forms for the domesticsphere.
So things like rag rugging,which is, you know, these
(15:17):
colorful straps of cloth thatwere attached to a lattice frame
to make rugs quilting, crochet,painting, the sheets, where
these intricate patterns werecut into burial shrouds that
were then laid over deceasedbodies and we were talking a
little bit about theintangibility of culture, things
like oral traditions, right,the pinking of the sheets is a
(15:40):
tradition that you know.
We see a lot of loss with thatbecause many of those examples
of the shrouds are now buriedand it wasn't a tradition that
you know has been able to becarried on the way that maybe we
would have liked it to right.
So there was constant makingwithin this community, even if
there wasn't a formalized sortof you know art industry per se.
(16:02):
In 1891, there was actually adisplay of Caymanian traditional
craft that was included in theJamaica exhibition.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
So really speaking to the quality of that early
period of craft work, I'm reallygrateful for you sort of, you
know, cementing us in thathistorical framework for a
couple reasons.
One, of course, you broughtforth Dr Crawford's episode
where she shared about the, youknow, turtle seafarers from
(16:31):
Cayman Islands and really, youknow, helped us to ground our
understandings of theirinitiatives, not just from a
perspective of, oh you know,there were these men who you
know were turtle hunters, right,but they helped to shape like
international policies andconsumerisms on like a massive
(16:51):
scale, right, and additionally,with that point, also helping us
to understand that there isvariety in what we consider art.
Right.
We are obviously in this what'sthe best way to put it?
We're in a world today where,you know, things like sculptures
and, you know, paintings arewhat immediately come to mind
when we think of art, but reallyhelping us to understand that
you know paintings are whatimmediately come to mind when we
think of art, but reallyhelping us to understand that,
(17:14):
you know, it's especiallyimportant for us to consider
that things like the crafts,things like the spooners and cat
boats, right, are definitelyelements of our art, especially
when you take into considerationthe different aspects of
imperialism and colonialism andhow they have shaped our
creations and ability to create,right.
(17:37):
And so you know, you brought usdefinitely up to you know very
much more so, closer to the 20thcentury, in terms of Cayman
Islands, and I think you know,in my sense, being able to
understand the shift.
You know, in my sense, beingable to understand the shift
from you know what you werepreviously talking about in
terms of, you know, cayman's artbeing a lot more craft oriented
(18:00):
and engineering oriented, basedoff what was happening at the
time, to really understandingthat these turtle men, as Dr
Crawford called them, you knowhelp to then, you know, catapult
Cayman Islands in a differentavenue through their ability to
bring wealth to the islands,right.
And so now we get to see thebeginnings of, you know what
(18:22):
this formal is known as theSouthwell years, right, are
really integral to this period.
And so how did you know, thistime in the 20th century, really
lay the groundwork, or you know, the early pioneers of this
moment for the visual artcommunity, and you know what was
(18:46):
this period like, how did theygo about establishing this
community and what were the sortof criticisms or public
response?
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yeah, so, as you mentioned, the Southwell years
and in the years following thatin the mid 20th century, cayman
was changing a lot.
So there was a lot of thisrapid affluence, as you
mentioned, rapid social andeconomic development with a lot
of substantial foreigninvestment, land development,
land sale, this increasing movetowards banking and financial
(19:19):
services, and with that cameincreased immigration from the
UK and Canada, the US andJamaica.
So you had people coming intoCayman from all over the world
now and settling permanently andthis also brought people who
were artists.
So while we had this existing,you know, vibrant craft
tradition and vibrant buildingtradition, you had people who
(19:41):
were more formally I guess,quote unquote formally trained
as visual artists that werecoming into the country and
starting to work here andstarting to share that love for
the visual arts.
So one of those people was EdOliver and his wife, barbara
Oliver.
They arrived in Cayman in thelate 60s and Ed Oliver was a
(20:03):
technically immaculatefigurative artist.
He was someone who had beenworking in the American
industrial design industry andin advertising and he started
teaching in 1969 in Cayman.
He was working as a manager onone of the local newspapers and
then started holding art classesin 1969.
And he continued doing thatwith his wife Barbara, for over
(20:24):
30 years and in the 60s and 70sthe Oliver's Art Venture Store
and the art talent competitionthat they started were really
kind of the sum total of artopportunities for people in
Cayman.
So there still weren't really alot of opportunities for
someone who was interested inpursuing a professional art
career, or even interested indisplaying something that they
(20:47):
were working on, to do that inCayman at that point.
So I guess, just for regionalcontext in terms of this history
, in the late 60s you had a lotof these independence movements
that were happening within theCaribbean.
So for example, you haveJamaican independence,
trinidadian independence,barbadian independence and in
(21:09):
1973, you have CARICOM form,which is sort of providing a
forum for the Caribbean to havemore significant global voice,
and you also have, I think, fromthe artist's perspective, the
influence of these American andBritish modernists.
So you have these sort ofnational movements and then you
also have these modernist voicesthat are really interested in
(21:32):
these forms of expressionism.
Right Now in Cayman the firstsort of truly significant solo
exhibition by a Caymanian artistwas in 1974 at the Royal Palms
Hotel and that was Bendel Hydes,who has become one of the, if
not the largest name associatedwith contemporary Caymanian art,
(21:54):
and I'll talk a little bit moreabout him as we go on.
In 1978, bendel Hydes, alongsideJeff Creswell, frank McField
and Anita Ebanks, started the InCompany, which would later
become the National TheatreCompany and then the Cayman
National Cultural Foundation.
At the same time, in themid-70s, you had a group of
(22:14):
artists who had, you know,started painting informally
together.
They mounted an exhibition atthe Holiday Inn Hotel in 1976
and then they formalized into agroup called the Visual Arts
Society, and the Visual ArtsSociety actually still operates
today.
They were the island's firstsort of official arts
organization, and that includedartists such as Margaret Barwick
, who is, I think, most wellknown for her watercolor
(22:38):
landscape paintings, and CharlesLong, who was known as sort of
the chronicler of our times, andhe has this iconic, very flat
style of painting which depictsthese sort of everyday scenes
from around the island in verycolorful way.
So VAS was holding these annualart fairs.
The education opportunitiesthrough that organization were
(23:00):
increasing.
But in 1981 Margaret Barwicksort of led a group of artists
to Cara Festa, cara Festa 4 inBarbados and this is the
Caribbean Festival of the Artsand that was really an
opportunity, a large opportunityfor Caymanian artists to
showcase regionally, to makemore regional connections and
also to start exploringdifferent modes and mediums of
(23:25):
expression.
At the time most Caymanian artwas centered in these sort of
watercolor and oil realismpaintings.
So there wasn't a lot ofexploration in terms of style at
the time.
So in the 80s and 90s you startto see this change.
So more opportunities startcoming and we kind of get more
(23:49):
organizations growing that arehelping to push forward the
types of art that individualsare making in Cayman.
So, for example, in 1982, youhave the National Children's
Festival of the Arts start,which helps to encourage young
people to find different formsof expression, and that wasn't
just visual arts, that was alsospeech, it was drama, it was
(24:11):
music.
In 1984, you have, as Imentioned before, the founding
of the Cayman National CulturalFoundation In 1996, you have a
group come together called theNative Sons, and the Native Sons
were really stylisticallydifferent in terms of their
approach to art but they wereall unified by this idea of
painting from a Caymanianperspective.
(24:34):
So many of the visual artssociety artists, for example,
you know, painted thesebeautiful pastoral scenes of
traditional Caymanian cottages,for example.
But the Native sons reallywanted to paint.
You know, they said from withinthat cottage.
So what was the actual culturalexperience like for people who
(24:54):
were Caymanian?
What was that experience like?
So that was really their goal.
And then, in 1997, you have thefounding of the National
Gallery of the Cayman Islands.
So these organizations werestarting to be built.
That created a foundation and aframework for a larger industry
to start blooming.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Thank you for, you know, painting that timeline for
us, I think, especially, itputs a lot of things together
having to understand that.
You know, as you mentioned,right, a lot of the islands are
going through their politicalyou know, obviously shifts in
their political environments atthe time, hoping to gain
independence or eventuallygaining independence, and that
(25:38):
you know for a very.
There was a episode we did awhile back now, a very brief one
on the Cayman Islands and howthe Cayman Islands was part of
the colony of Jamaica at thetime, right.
And so I think, you know, yougiving us that background of all
of the different factors thatcame into not only the defining
(25:58):
moment of Cayman Islands comingto be, and, you know, wanting to
obviously adopt its ownpolitical and national and sort
of, you know, reflective of whothe people are there, but also
still understanding that, basedoff their own political identity
, they were also maintaining,you know, connections to British
(26:20):
colonialism, right.
One thing that I find reallyspecial about the end of your
conversation there was your talkabout the native sons, right,
and how there's always that sortof like weird hierarchy thing
when it comes to art, right,there are the people who are the
, you know, mozarts and thosepeople right, but there are also
(26:42):
, of course, a sect of peoplewho are trying to really um,
narrate and communicate andexpress change in a way that,
more so, is accessible andtouches the masses.
And so you know how do you feel, like artists, like the native
sons, um, and you know anyothers who you want to name,
(27:04):
really helped to, you know,change, the what, what the
understanding of of thatmovement was and or had been up
to that time, just because youknow they were varying from the
sort of standard paintingpractices of the time right and
moving towards a place wherethey were becoming more socially
(27:24):
conscious.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
And I think you know the pervasive style of realism
painting.
Part of it, I think, was, youknow, founded in a genuine
desire to paint the beauty ofthe landscape, right To
represent, you know, thisgorgeous place that surrounds us
.
Part of it was also commercialas well, so you know, the things
that were selling at that timewere commercial images of the
beautiful landscape.
So there's both elements ofthat.
I think that was more centeredin a perspective of maybe
(28:06):
subject is the right word for itor object, whereas when the
Native Sons came about, theywere more interested in broader
experience, so they wereexperimenting a little bit more
in terms of the type of mediumsthat they were using.
One example would be NasariaSuku-Chillette.
She has done a lot of paintingwork as well, but she's also a
(28:28):
mixed media artist.
So she does a lot of paintingwork as well, but she's also a
mixed media artist, so she doesa lot of collage work, where she
plays with incorporating, youknow, even traditional craft
materials into paintings.
So you might have somethingthat is an oil or acrylic based
painting with crochet embeddedinto that.
You might have, you know, a bedthat is made out of plantain
(28:50):
trash what they call plantaintrash in Cayman, which is the
dried leaves of the plantaintree.
You might also have a type ofquilt made out of plantain trash
that is then embroidered into.
So she's playing with.
You know, contemporary versionsof these traditional techniques
and materials.
Of these traditional techniquesand materials, you have people
(29:10):
like Randy Shillette who ismeshing global traditions.
So he was looking at thishistory of Christian
spirituality that exists inCayman but then meshing that
with his Rastafarian beliefs aswell.
So he has an artwork that isactually painted on the roof of
(29:32):
a traditional cottage orstylized to look like the roof
of a traditional cottage, thatplays off of the painting the
Creation of Adam that's on theroof of the Sistine Chapel.
But instead of these sort ofEuropean figures he's done
African figures instead and he'sused these West African masks
and sort of symbology of thosecultures and religions and sort
(29:55):
of meshing these two traditionstogether to explore Cayman's
African traditions, which Ithink was something that the
Native Sons really brought tothe forefront more than artists
had Before, that they werereally interested in exploring
all of the different parts ofCayman's identity that had maybe
been hidden in previous years.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
It's really cool to hear and, I think, one that I'm
really interested in and justcoming to understand the
different ways and differentthings we uphold when it comes
to art.
You know, like thinking aboutquilts, right, that, I think,
was a beautiful, beautifuliteration of you know, a
different way to for us tounderstand our art and also a
(30:36):
way for us to bring our pasthistories into the present and
future as well.
I definitely do want us tospend a bit of time in our
episode today talking about yourwork at the National Gallery of
the Cayman Islands, justbecause I've had a few museum
people on the show by this point.
But I really think you knowyour work as the education
(30:59):
manager is remarkable in beingable to share this history in a
way that's really accessible toeverybody, whether that's, you
know, locals or visitors, etc.
And so how do you feel likeyour work helps us to expand the
awareness of this historyacross the Cayman Islands?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah.
So I guess my work is reallyabout creating opportunities for
everyone to be able to haveintimate personal experiences
with work of many differenttypes of mediums and styles.
I think you know, sometimesmuseums get a bit of a bad rap
(31:40):
for being these very exclusiveplaces that only, you know, the
one percent are allowed to gointo and they feel a little bit.
You know static and white walland you know they can be very
intimidating spaces to go intothat not everybody feels are for
them boundaries to the accessof art and the conversations
around art and the, you knowexpressive opportunities that
(32:12):
art can offer for people and thewellness opportunities that art
can offer for people.
So you know, our educationdepartment at the National
Gallery is really aboutinclusion and accessibility and
ensuring that the gallery spaceis a space where anybody in the
community can walk in and feelthat there is a place for them
to see themselves in the work,engage with the work, ask
(32:36):
questions, start dialogues andconversations, learn new things,
contribute new things, becauseof course we also don't want to
be so deep in our ownintellectualism that we forget
that the real knowledge existsin the community.
I think you know sometimes weplan these programs and then
(32:57):
sometimes they happen veryorganically, which is wonderful,
because then it is coming trulyfrom the needs and interests of
the community around us.
I think a good example of thatrecently has been I mentioned
the artist Nasaria Sikushelet.
She had a solo show at theNational Gallery in 2021.
And she is a multidisciplinaryartist.
(33:19):
So in addition to her visualart practice, she's also an
educator and she's also a poet,and we really wanted to
incorporate the poetry elementinto the program of events that
went alongside the show, and sowe hosted this open mic poetry
night.
And I want to credit Parcel 110, who is another creative space
(33:41):
that formerly existed in Cayman,who were also doing open mic
nights, and I had been to a fewof them and was aware of them,
and so we created this open micnight.
And I had been to a few of themand was aware of them, and so
we created this open mic nightspecifically for that exhibition
.
But it went so well.
I mean, it was so well receivedand people really, really loved
it and felt like there was thisspace and a platform for them to
(34:04):
express ideas about the loss oftraditional architecture, about
the loss of cultural traditions, about, you know, these
anxieties and fears that peoplewere having that they didn't
feel they had the platformnecessarily to verbalize all of
the time.
Now, that didn't necessarilyhave to do with, you know, a
specific painting, but whenyou're in a space of creation
(34:28):
and expression, but when you'rein a space of creation and
expression, you know you're in asafe place where you feel that
you are able to express thosethings, you have that platform
to release any of that anxietythat is sort of sitting on your,
on your chest, I think.
So that was so well receivedthat it started to become a
regular occurrence.
And you know, now we do theseopen mics, I think once an
(34:54):
exhibition, and so it's decentlyinfrequent I mean it's every
three to four months.
And so you know, we have a corecrew of people that come every
single time.
Every time we have new faces.
We have, you know, evenvisitors to the island that come
to these events and that's agreat opportunity for them to
explore Kamaian culture andhistory and heritage through
attending those events as well.
So that's been a really magical, I think, example of one of our
(35:19):
programs.
We also have a flagship programcalled Walker's Art Club, which
is an inclusive afterschoolprogram very kindly sponsored by
walkers for many, many yearsnow.
And um, that program is aboutnine different class units, from
age five through to 17, wherestudents get to learn technical
art skills but also just makefriends and be in a great
(35:40):
creative place and learn allthese different mediums.
Learn about Caymanian artists,you know, grow up in a way in
Cayman where they can believethat you know the pursuit of a
professional career in Cayman,where they can believe that you
know the pursuit of aprofessional career in the
creative industries is possiblefor them.
It's a free program, which isvery lucky, you know, again,
breaking those barriers ofaccessibility.
(36:00):
We hope it's open to studentsof all abilities.
So there are children who areneurodivergent, who are in that
space and everybody'sinteracting with each other,
which I think is reallyimportant in terms of ensuring
that our full community isrepresented in any of the
programming that we do.
So that's kind of a snapshot, Iguess, of two of the programs
(36:22):
that we do, but you know theunderlying current, again, is
about accessibility andinclusion, even if it's just
hosting a yoga class on thegrounds of the gallery, which
you know people may think hasnothing to do with art, but is
about facilitating communityspace.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Yeah, definitely, and I think that's what art is
about, right, as you're you werealluding to.
It's not just about elaboratepaintings or sculptures, all the
time at least right, but it'scommunity, it's expression and
communing with one another right.
It's not an isolationistactivity, necessarily, or it
(37:01):
doesn't have to be.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
I also think that you know arthas the ability to teach about
everything, right, right, so wehave teachers that come in and
want to do school tours and, inaddition to a general history or
culture tour, I mean you canteach math through the arts,
right?
Curators have to do a lot ofmath in their practice.
You know you have to measure.
(37:24):
This wall is 14 feet long and Ineed to fit, you know, this many
paintings on the wall.
It needs to be this much spacebetween the paintings, and so
you're doing math as you'redoing these curatorial practices
, right, so we can teach thatthrough visits to the gallery.
We can teach, you know,environmental science through
artworks that explore coralbleaching or explore mangrove
(37:44):
ecosystems.
So there's so many differentconversations that you can have
through the visual arts.
Of course, we talked a littlebit about Cayman's, even the
turtle fishing history, evenpolitical history.
You can teach through the arts.
Walk through the doors and havean experience with any piece of
(38:14):
artwork in that room, whetherit's an abstract painting,
whether it's a figurativepainting, whether it's, you know
, an installation work that usesmaterials that they use in
their everyday life.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
I think that we have met our goal, so beautiful, and
I think something again that Ithink just personally resonates
with my own mission and vision.
So I'm glad our listeners getto you know, learn a bit more
about the National Gallery'smission and vision and how it's
also connecting with thecommunity.
Having you on the show.
(38:48):
You've definitely done abrilliant job of sharing so many
different works with us, and soI've been taking notes
feverishly.
We'll add them to our StrictlyFacts syllabus.
But you know I have to ask,since you're here, what is one
of your favorite examples of,you know, cayman Islands art?
Maybe even even I know Iusually ask this in a roundabout
(39:11):
way, but if you have maybe afavorite artist work that you
think best exemplifies theisland and is really reflective
of the rich traditions we'vediscussed today, I'm gonna cheat
a little bit because I'm gonnagive you a couple, totally fine.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
It's so difficult to answer that question, um, with
just one or two examples.
So, um, I think uh, in nospecific order I think the work
of leonard dilbert, who is acaymanian poet I really admire
and respect.
I think, um, his work reallyexplores some of those anxieties
(39:47):
in terms of the shifting tidesof Cayman, the shifting social
and economic development,critiques on mindset, sometimes
critiques on perspectives ofseeing Cayman, and he's just
also a really fabulous writerand his imagery is incredible.
(40:07):
So I would definitely recommendhis work.
A great contemporary artist ofa young Caymanian who is really
making waves in the fashionindustry right now is Jawara
Alyen.
If you are in the fashion worldor in the pop cultural world,
you'll probably have heard hisname.
He's been dressing Rihannarecently and many other sort of
(40:28):
big name celebrities.
But he's a Jamaican Caymaniandesigner who is really
interested in the sort ofunderground of Cayman.
So moving beyond the sort oftourist gaze of these white sand
beaches and looking at, youknow, the reality of life sort
of within this, the urbanenvironment of Cayman, and then
(40:52):
integrating that into garmentshe's really inspired by, you
know, even things like pirateiconography, um, but also you
know the sort of graffiticulture as well, and he's using
draping and this idea of likecircularity in fashion, so
reusing materials to create thegarments that that he's he's
(41:14):
creating.
So definitely Duara Alyan'swork I would suggest looking
into.
Um.
I also really love Simon Tatum,who's another young Caymanian
artist.
Um, there is an artwork of hisin the national collection where
you see this, this young man,and he's sort of he's standing
in a in low water and he's sortof bent over looking into a
(41:38):
water glass which is essentiallylike a, a box, a wooden box,
and then in the bottom there issort of a glass where you can
look into the ocean and behindhim is a turtle crawl and a
turtle crawl is a sort of waterpen where turtles were kept,
sort of keep them alive andfresh, before they were taken
off to be slaughtered or sold orwhatever it was.
(41:58):
But that piece is actually aself portrait where this is a
young Caymanian artist whohasn't had the physical,
visceral experience that hisforefathers or his ancestors may
have had, and so he's almostpainted himself into this
experience of what it would belike to be a Caymanian seafarer
(42:20):
at that time.
So I really appreciate thatsort of intersection of
generations that's happeningwithin that artwork.
Definitely the work of Gladwyn KBush, better known as Miss
Lassie, who is a Caymanianintuitive artist.
The term intuitive artist hasbeen contested a little bit, but
she is a self-taught artist whopainted based on these dreams
(42:42):
and visions that she had.
She painted, you know, floor toceiling, on her walls, on her
doors and windows, on glass,basically on any surface that
she could really get her handson, and it was very much, I
think, a compulsion for her toexpress herself in this way, and
she actually started when shewas 62.
So I think she's a greatexample of there's never a right
(43:04):
time or a wrong time to startan art practice.
And I also recommend SwankyKitchen Band, who is a
contemporary example oftraditional Caymanian music
kitchen music, so really basedin drum and fiddle and guitar.
So I would definitely check outSwanky Kitchen Band.
Their music is, I believe, onSpotify and YouTube and all of
(43:25):
the usual places where you canfind your music.
So yeah, swanky Kitchen Band,great example of um, a modern
take on traditional musicwonderful.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
I again I've taken my notes, so I'll definitely add
them to our strictly factsyllabus for our listeners
wanting to check out more aboutthe artists, their works and
music.
Um, and you know, just get alittle bit of a different
perspective of what you may haveunderstood to be cayman Islands
and the island's art history.
I also want to uphold in manyways, as you've noted, today in
(43:57):
our conversation there aredifferent of your must visit
places to see in terms of, youknow, for somebody to get a
really great understanding ofwhat Cayman Islands art looks
like from a variety ofperspectives.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
So I think the Cayman Islands National Museum for
sure.
They have a large collection ofthe visual arts.
They actually were the firstformal institution in Cayman to
start collecting art, so I wouldcertainly visit them.
Their museum is also inside ahistoric building I believe it's
the oldest standing originalbuilding in Georgetown so I
(44:42):
would certainly go and checkthem out.
I would also recommend doingCayman Art Week, which typically
happens during the summer everyyear.
If you live in Cayman or if youhappen to be in Cay happens
during the summer every year.
If you live in Cayman or if youhappen to be in Cayman during
the summer, do check the dateson that.
That's a really great commercialopportunity for Caymanian
artists and Cayman-based artiststo sell their work, and that's
(45:04):
every single medium that you canpossibly imagine.
So there are media projects.
There is, you know, kind oftraditional painting, there's
sculpture work, there'sperformance based work, so
that's a really good one interms of getting a breadth of
different styles in.
At the same time, I wouldabsolutely recommend trying to
(45:27):
spend time with traditionalcraft artisans.
I know that that's probablyeasier said than done because I
think sometimes we'll have ahard time finding them, but
certainly contact the CaymanNational Cultural Foundation or
the National Gallery of theCayman Islands we can recommend
names of people to get in touchwith, but I think that
(45:50):
traditional craft is such afoundation of Cayman's creative
practice.
It would be a shame to notexperience that if you were
looking into the arts of theCayman Islands.
So those, I think, would be thethree primary places that I
would suggest would suggest,beautiful.
Speaker 1 (46:08):
I've never been, so I would love to visit especially.
You know the many connectionsbetween Cayman Islands and
Jamaica as well.
So, yeah, I hope not only willI be adding these to my list of
to-do things and to go and tovisit places, but I hope our
listeners do as well.
And so with that, maya, Ireally thank you for you know
(46:29):
showing and sharing so much ofyour brilliance and expertise
and wisdom, and even personalexperience as well, with us on
the show today To our listeners.
This was, you know, a roundaboutway of me jumping into our
discussion of Caribbean art invarious ways that I've planned
for the next year, so I hope youenjoyed it.
If there are any specificaspects of you know art and
(46:53):
artist work that you'd like meto pivot into talking more about
in the upcoming year, do let meknow.
I'm always available via DM.
You know Instagram, all thethings, so feel free to find me
somewhere online and let me knowyour thoughts.
But again, maya, thank you somuch for joining us.
I will link everything in ourshow notes and as well on our
(47:15):
website.
Until next time, little more.
Thanks for tuning in toStrictly Facts.
Visit strictlyfactspodcastcomfor more information from each
episode.
Follow us at Strictly Facts Podon Instagram and Facebook and
at Strictly Facts PD on Twitter.
Welcome to Strictly Facts, a guide to Caribbean
history and culture hosted by me, alexandria Miller.
Strictly Facts teaches thehistory, politics and activism
of the Caribbean and connectsthese themes to contemporary
music and popular culture.
Welcome back to another episodeof Strictly Facts, a guide to
(00:25):
Caribbean history and culture.
Of the many topics I haveplanned to discuss for the
upcoming year, one of them isCaribbean art, and I mean that
really in a way that's focal.
You know, we definitely talkabout Caribbean art when it
comes to our Strictly Factssound segment art when it comes
(00:46):
to our Strictly Facts Soundsegment.
But I really want to integrate,talking about these discussions
of our culture and art and howit's really been integral to our
evolution, to our expression.
And so, at the end of the yearapproaching, I thought I'd give
you a little bit of a teaser andwhat some of those
conversations will look like forthe end of the year, with an
early glimpse of what to expectand maybe help you be on the
lookout for some Caribbean artfor 2025.
(01:08):
And so helping me today iscultural professional and
education manager at theNational Gallery of the Cayman
Islands, maya Matu, who, muchlike us here at Strictly Facts,
is interested in art-basedprogramming, storytelling and
events in education, publicoutreach and the enlivening of
community.
It's truly a pleasure to haveyou, maya, but before we get
(01:31):
started talking about the artand art history of the Cayman
Islands, why don't you let ourlisteners know a little bit more
about yourself, your connectionto the Caribbean and what
inspired your interest in thevisual performance and art
history of the Cayman Islands?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Sure, so first of all , thank you again for having me.
It's really a pleasure to behere chatting with you today.
So I'm actually notgenerationally Caymanian.
I grew up on Grand Cayman andof course I call these islands
home, but my mother is halfJamaican and half Bajan.
My dad is Guyanese and both ofmy parents are call these
islands home, but my mother ishalf Jamaican and half Bajan.
My dad is Guyanese and both ofmy parents are cultural and arts
(02:10):
professionals.
So that's quite broad, but Ithink they were quite firmly
rooted in the performing arts,in the theater.
My mother is an actress and asinger and a cultural manager
and my dad is a director and aset designer and a cultural
critic.
They actually met at theJamaica School of Drama at the
Manly College when they wereboth teaching there, and so I
think the love for culture andthe interest in the study of
(02:32):
culture was really at the heartof the family that I grew up in.
I mean, the house was likestacked with books of cultural
theory and you know my parentssang us folk songs to sleep and
when I was as sick as a child,you know we'd curl up in the
alcoves of the theater where myparents worked and everybody who
came to Boxing Day parties wereartists or cultural
practitioners of some kind.
(02:53):
So I like to think that goinginto this field wasn't a
coincidence.
In 2021, as I think we all doat some point in our lives I got
really interested in sort ofdeep diving into my ancestry and
through all of these, you know,questions with family members
and digging through thesewebsites and going through
photos, I found that so many ofmy family members were
(03:16):
performers of some kind, so theywere classical pianists or they
were calypsonians or they werecatechists, and I think maybe
some of my inclination towardsthe arts is really just deeply
intrinsic and kind ofunavoidable in a way.
Um, in 2004, when I was 13 yearsold, the cayman islands, um,
were devastated by what remainsone of the worst hurricanes in
(03:39):
the country's history, hurricaneivan and after the storm I went
to toronto and canada for theremainder of my secondary
schooling as a boarding studentand there I was living with
girls from all over the world,so my closest friends were from
Hong Kong and Nigeria and Egyptand Pakistan and Jamaica.
So I had the privilege quiteyoung to be engaging with a
(03:59):
variety of cultures andexperiences and perspectives and
, like I've said, I think I hada latent interest in history and
culture, but it wasn't untilhigh school that I really
viscerally felt myself sort oforganizing that in my brain and
recognizing that sort of pulland just being so enraptured by,
(04:21):
you know, these classicalhistory classes and thinking
about these narratives and thecharacter and the plot.
And I think for me the key wordis really story, because my
interest in history comes frommy interest in stories and
storytelling and theatricaltraditions and that's such a
Caribbean thing I think.
You know all of our culturesare really built on these
(04:43):
foundations of oral traditionand any historian also knows
that the facts of history arelike a script, right, I mean
words on a page are embodied andenlivened and spoken into life
by and meaning by the actors whoread them.
You know the specificity of howthey choose to navigate or
verbalize a scene, how thedirectors of that script see the
(05:06):
scene, you know the angles thatthey choose to look from, how
they read between the lines andwhat they choose to focus on as
the themes of their particularproduction.
So the facts of history, kind ofseen and spoken from different
perspectives and differentvoices, really change meaning
and I'm really fascinated bythat.
I'm fascinated by personal andcollective meaning and memory
(05:28):
that people extract from history.
So for me, it was really duringmy undergraduate studies in
history at the University ofToronto that I started to zone
in more on pre-Columbian historyand early contact in North
America as areas of myparticular interest, america as
areas of my particular interest.
And then, after graduating andreturning to Cayman in 2012,
(05:54):
aging myself, I started workingat the Cayman Islands National
Museum and looking morespecifically at the history and
culture of the Cayman Islands,which, of course, I had always
been living and surrounded bybut was now approaching from, I
suppose, more of a kind ofhistoriographical perspective.
So, yes, that's a little bitabout my background and how I've
come to do the work that I donow.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Thank you so much for sharing that.
I was really moved to hear yousay what you said about
storytelling and even thinkingof me founding the podcast.
Oral storytelling was a biginfluence in that.
Right, as you said, we havesuch a vibrant oral storytelling
culture that spans across theregion truly, and, of course,
the diaspora, and one that Ithink we know of and I'm not
(06:37):
sure to what extent we all, like, appreciate it as much as you
know, you put it into words,words.
So I really thank you forsharing that and, you know,
joining with me to talk aboutstorytelling and oral history
through the work of art andperformance as well.
Right, I definitely want us tojump into our conversation about
(06:58):
Cayman Islands and its arthistory from definitely like a
chronological perspective.
First and foremost, I am alwayssort of, you know, bothered by
where histories tend to start,right, which usually is, oh,
christopher Columbus, sort ofyou know they start with that,
that colonial Inquisition typeperiod.
(07:20):
But you know, in coming tounderstand Cayman Islands and
the art that has evolved fromthe islands itself, you know
what sort of the scene, what wasthe stage of the earliest forms
of art that took place in theCayman Islands and what do we
know about it today and you knowthe influences and different
things like that, yeah, so theCayman Islands are a very
(07:44):
interesting example in terms ofthe Caribbean, because we don't
actually have any physicalevidence of people having
permanently settled here beforethe first sightings of the
islands by the Spanish.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
You know this rich creative tradition that you see
coming out of the rest of theCaribbean, but definitely the
Cayman Islands did have, youknow, a large creative output
when we think about the middleof the 19th century onwards,
before this sort of formalizedart, education and industry came
(08:20):
into play.
So the Cayman Islands forlisteners who don't know much
about the islands are anarchipelago of three really tiny
, relatively isolated islands.
The three islands total justover 100 square miles.
Grand Cayman is the largest, at76 square miles, cayman Brack,
the middle, at 14 square miles,and the Little Cayman at 10
(08:40):
miles.
The Cayman Islands could beconsidered a decently harsh
living environment.
So there are these pervasivemangrove swamps, you know,
there's a lot of these jaggedlimestone cliff rock.
There's a lack of really viablefresh water sources, and the
size and geography of the CaymanIslands kind of precluded them
(09:01):
from being able to sustain thesort of long-term, substantial
agricultural output that youwould see in other places in the
Caribbean, and so the people ofthe Cayman Islands really had
to become incrediblyenvironmentally aware and really
learn to manipulate theresources that they had
available to them, bothterrestrially and in the
(09:21):
surrounding ocean.
Most Caymanians had to beincredibly varied in terms of
their technical skill set.
So one individual could plant,could construct a house from the
ground up, could ship off tothe Bay Islands as a turtle
ranger, know when to cut thetops of that trees to use in
rope, brew medicinal teas fromendemic plants, make rugs out of
(09:43):
scrap fabric.
So everybody had these reallyvaried skill sets and, even
though people may not yet havehad the luxury to make art for
art's sake, these were peoplewho were constantly engaged in
the act of making, of creation.
You spoke with Dr Crawford inone of your earlier episodes of
this podcast about howCaymanians really largely turned
(10:06):
to the sea as a feasible sourceof income during this time, and
part of that thriving maritimetrade was a booming boat
building industry, and soCaymanian craftsmen built all
manner of seagoing vessels.
I mean schooners to smallersailboats, and I think the best
known example, a really goodexample of Cayman maritime
(10:27):
engineering, is the CaymanCatboat, and the Catboat's
design is attributed to a Caymanbracker named Daniel Jervis.
1905 is the year that werecognize as being the first, at
least the first exact examplethat we have.
So you can kind of imagine likea almost a canoe-like sailboat
with sort of wider curving sides, typically painted in this soft
(10:50):
sort of blue.
That's almost like, you know,the sky on a clear day, or sort
of a robin's egg blue might be agood way to describe it.
And these boats were builtprimarily using the popnut tree
which grow, with these beautifulnatural curves that sort of
lend themselves really well toshaping the boat.
And they have a cat rigged sail, so a single mast set forward
(11:12):
on the boat, which is where weget the name cat boat from,
although there are othercolloquial stories about, you
know, jervis finding kittensunder the boat one morning.
And the cat boat is oftenreferred to as the first pickup
truck.
So they were used to transportboth people and cargo.
So, for example, if you wereliving in the eastern districts
(11:33):
and you wanted an easier way tocome over to Georgetown than,
you know, tromping through thebush to get there, you might
catch a ride with someone on acat boat and sail around the
island to get there.
Construction materials werebrought in these boats bread,
kind, you know, things likebreadfruit and cassava from
farming plots.
Deceased loved ones weretransported back to their
families in cat boats and ofcourse they were used to support
(11:56):
the thriving turtle fisherywhich sustained the economy at
the time.
They were designed to mitigatecapsizing, so you could kind of
ply your fishing tray withouttoo much threat from that as
well, and as I understand itfrom my conversations with elder
cat boat experts within thecommunity, the construction of
cat boats was a really intuitiveprocess.
So there was certainlytechnique.
(12:18):
The length is four times thewidth, then the depth is three
quarters the width.
But these boats were builtusing a rule of thumb.
So, for example, if you hadmoney and you wanted to
commission a capital and youwent to a builder, that builder
would have to go into the bush,look for the available material,
find the right tree, the rightpiece of wood that he liked for
the stern, whatever it was, andthen you might get a length of
(12:42):
boat that was a little bitlonger, shorter than what you
initially requested, just basedon the creative liberty and the
available resource that thatbuilder was using.
So the creative ingenuity, Ithink, in the design of these
boats, though they were builtfor a utilitarian purpose.
I think really points to anexisting tradition of making
(13:02):
within the community.
I think really points to anexisting tradition of making
within the communityTerrestrially.
A really iconic symbol of Caymanis the national tree, the
endemic silver thatch palm,which is an incredibly sturdy
and salt resistant type ofthatch.
It was used to craft practicalobjects that supported domestic
and agricultural and maritimework and that included roofs for
(13:23):
buildings.
You can see examples of that inother parts of the world as
well, not with the endemicsilver thatch palm, which is
only found in Grand Cayman, butwith other forms of thatch.
It was used for building, formaking hats, for ground baskets,
which are large round basketswith these sort of long straps
that were used to carry heavyground provisions so again,
those really starchy fruits andvegetables or to back sand,
(13:48):
which was basically shovelingsand from the beach into these
baskets and then using it tocreate these lovely sand yards
that are again really iconic toCayman.
Things like mats, fans, broomsand then, of course, rope, and
that rope was widely used in themaritime trades and exported to
Jamaica and Central America aswell.
So traditional thatch basketryeven though it was started for
(14:12):
survival and subsistence, it's agreat example of fine
craftsmanship.
This was an art that was largelymastered and practiced by women
and children.
The attention to detail thatwent into the production of
these objects was trulyawe-inspiring.
I mean from the cutting of thetops.
The tops are the unopened sortof top spiky leaves of that tree
(14:35):
, and these were cut at specifictimes of the moon cycle to
maximize longevity.
You know the painstaking dryingout of this material, the
stripping of the fibers intoindividual strings that would
then be twisted to make up astrand, and then the laying of
those strands into fathoms ofrope using a rope cart.
And each district of GrandCayman and Little Cayman, cayman
(14:56):
Brac, had specific ways oftwisting their strands and each
artisan had their own individualstyle.
So even you know, within thiscommon utilitarian practice,
there were moments ofindividualized creative
expression.
So, as I alluded to before,there were also a number of
craft forms for the domesticsphere.
So things like rag rugging,which is, you know, these
(15:17):
colorful straps of cloth thatwere attached to a lattice frame
to make rugs quilting, crochet,painting, the sheets, where
these intricate patterns werecut into burial shrouds that
were then laid over deceasedbodies and we were talking a
little bit about theintangibility of culture, things
like oral traditions, right,the pinking of the sheets is a
(15:40):
tradition that you know.
We see a lot of loss with thatbecause many of those examples
of the shrouds are now buriedand it wasn't a tradition that
you know has been able to becarried on the way that maybe we
would have liked it to right.
So there was constant makingwithin this community, even if
there wasn't a formalized sortof you know art industry per se.
(16:02):
In 1891, there was actually adisplay of Caymanian traditional
craft that was included in theJamaica exhibition.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
So really speaking to the quality of that early
period of craft work, I'm reallygrateful for you sort of, you
know, cementing us in thathistorical framework for a
couple reasons.
One, of course, you broughtforth Dr Crawford's episode
where she shared about the, youknow, turtle seafarers from
(16:31):
Cayman Islands and really, youknow, helped us to ground our
understandings of theirinitiatives, not just from a
perspective of, oh you know,there were these men who you
know were turtle hunters, right,but they helped to shape like
international policies andconsumerisms on like a massive
(16:51):
scale, right, and additionally,with that point, also helping us
to understand that there isvariety in what we consider art.
Right.
We are obviously in this what'sthe best way to put it?
We're in a world today where,you know, things like sculptures
and, you know, paintings arewhat immediately come to mind
when we think of art, but reallyhelping us to understand that
you know paintings are whatimmediately come to mind when we
think of art, but reallyhelping us to understand that,
(17:14):
you know, it's especiallyimportant for us to consider
that things like the crafts,things like the spooners and cat
boats, right, are definitelyelements of our art, especially
when you take into considerationthe different aspects of
imperialism and colonialism andhow they have shaped our
creations and ability to create,right.
(17:37):
And so you know, you brought usdefinitely up to you know very
much more so, closer to the 20thcentury, in terms of Cayman
Islands, and I think you know,in my sense, being able to
understand the shift.
You know, in my sense, beingable to understand the shift
from you know what you werepreviously talking about in
terms of, you know, cayman's artbeing a lot more craft oriented
(18:00):
and engineering oriented, basedoff what was happening at the
time, to really understandingthat these turtle men, as Dr
Crawford called them, you knowhelp to then, you know, catapult
Cayman Islands in a differentavenue through their ability to
bring wealth to the islands,right.
And so now we get to see thebeginnings of, you know what
(18:22):
this formal is known as theSouthwell years, right, are
really integral to this period.
And so how did you know, thistime in the 20th century, really
lay the groundwork, or you know, the early pioneers of this
moment for the visual artcommunity, and you know what was
(18:46):
this period like, how did theygo about establishing this
community and what were the sortof criticisms or public
response?
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yeah, so, as you mentioned, the Southwell years
and in the years following thatin the mid 20th century, cayman
was changing a lot.
So there was a lot of thisrapid affluence, as you
mentioned, rapid social andeconomic development with a lot
of substantial foreigninvestment, land development,
land sale, this increasing movetowards banking and financial
(19:19):
services, and with that cameincreased immigration from the
UK and Canada, the US andJamaica.
So you had people coming intoCayman from all over the world
now and settling permanently andthis also brought people who
were artists.
So while we had this existing,you know, vibrant craft
tradition and vibrant buildingtradition, you had people who
(19:41):
were more formally I guess,quote unquote formally trained
as visual artists that werecoming into the country and
starting to work here andstarting to share that love for
the visual arts.
So one of those people was EdOliver and his wife, barbara
Oliver.
They arrived in Cayman in thelate 60s and Ed Oliver was a
(20:03):
technically immaculatefigurative artist.
He was someone who had beenworking in the American
industrial design industry andin advertising and he started
teaching in 1969 in Cayman.
He was working as a manager onone of the local newspapers and
then started holding art classesin 1969.
And he continued doing thatwith his wife Barbara, for over
(20:24):
30 years and in the 60s and 70sthe Oliver's Art Venture Store
and the art talent competitionthat they started were really
kind of the sum total of artopportunities for people in
Cayman.
So there still weren't really alot of opportunities for
someone who was interested inpursuing a professional art
career, or even interested indisplaying something that they
(20:47):
were working on, to do that inCayman at that point.
So I guess, just for regionalcontext in terms of this history
, in the late 60s you had a lotof these independence movements
that were happening within theCaribbean.
So for example, you haveJamaican independence,
trinidadian independence,barbadian independence and in
(21:09):
1973, you have CARICOM form,which is sort of providing a
forum for the Caribbean to havemore significant global voice,
and you also have, I think, fromthe artist's perspective, the
influence of these American andBritish modernists.
So you have these sort ofnational movements and then you
also have these modernist voicesthat are really interested in
(21:32):
these forms of expressionism.
Right Now in Cayman the firstsort of truly significant solo
exhibition by a Caymanian artistwas in 1974 at the Royal Palms
Hotel and that was Bendel Hydes,who has become one of the, if
not the largest name associatedwith contemporary Caymanian art,
(21:54):
and I'll talk a little bit moreabout him as we go on.
In 1978, bendel Hydes, alongsideJeff Creswell, frank McField
and Anita Ebanks, started the InCompany, which would later
become the National TheatreCompany and then the Cayman
National Cultural Foundation.
At the same time, in themid-70s, you had a group of
(22:14):
artists who had, you know,started painting informally
together.
They mounted an exhibition atthe Holiday Inn Hotel in 1976
and then they formalized into agroup called the Visual Arts
Society, and the Visual ArtsSociety actually still operates
today.
They were the island's firstsort of official arts
organization, and that includedartists such as Margaret Barwick
, who is, I think, most wellknown for her watercolor
(22:38):
landscape paintings, and CharlesLong, who was known as sort of
the chronicler of our times, andhe has this iconic, very flat
style of painting which depictsthese sort of everyday scenes
from around the island in verycolorful way.
So VAS was holding these annualart fairs.
The education opportunitiesthrough that organization were
(23:00):
increasing.
But in 1981 Margaret Barwicksort of led a group of artists
to Cara Festa, cara Festa 4 inBarbados and this is the
Caribbean Festival of the Artsand that was really an
opportunity, a large opportunityfor Caymanian artists to
showcase regionally, to makemore regional connections and
also to start exploringdifferent modes and mediums of
(23:25):
expression.
At the time most Caymanian artwas centered in these sort of
watercolor and oil realismpaintings.
So there wasn't a lot ofexploration in terms of style at
the time.
So in the 80s and 90s you startto see this change.
So more opportunities startcoming and we kind of get more
(23:49):
organizations growing that arehelping to push forward the
types of art that individualsare making in Cayman.
So, for example, in 1982, youhave the National Children's
Festival of the Arts start,which helps to encourage young
people to find different formsof expression, and that wasn't
just visual arts, that was alsospeech, it was drama, it was
(24:11):
music.
In 1984, you have, as Imentioned before, the founding
of the Cayman National CulturalFoundation In 1996, you have a
group come together called theNative Sons, and the Native Sons
were really stylisticallydifferent in terms of their
approach to art but they wereall unified by this idea of
painting from a Caymanianperspective.
(24:34):
So many of the visual artssociety artists, for example,
you know, painted thesebeautiful pastoral scenes of
traditional Caymanian cottages,for example.
But the Native sons reallywanted to paint.
You know, they said from withinthat cottage.
So what was the actual culturalexperience like for people who
(24:54):
were Caymanian?
What was that experience like?
So that was really their goal.
And then, in 1997, you have thefounding of the National
Gallery of the Cayman Islands.
So these organizations werestarting to be built.
That created a foundation and aframework for a larger industry
to start blooming.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Thank you for, you know, painting that timeline for
us, I think, especially, itputs a lot of things together
having to understand that.
You know, as you mentioned,right, a lot of the islands are
going through their politicalyou know, obviously shifts in
their political environments atthe time, hoping to gain
independence or eventuallygaining independence, and that
(25:38):
you know for a very.
There was a episode we did awhile back now, a very brief one
on the Cayman Islands and howthe Cayman Islands was part of
the colony of Jamaica at thetime, right.
And so I think, you know, yougiving us that background of all
of the different factors thatcame into not only the defining
(25:58):
moment of Cayman Islands comingto be, and, you know, wanting to
obviously adopt its ownpolitical and national and sort
of, you know, reflective of whothe people are there, but also
still understanding that, basedoff their own political identity
, they were also maintaining,you know, connections to British
(26:20):
colonialism, right.
One thing that I find reallyspecial about the end of your
conversation there was your talkabout the native sons, right,
and how there's always that sortof like weird hierarchy thing
when it comes to art, right,there are the people who are the
, you know, mozarts and thosepeople right, but there are also
(26:42):
, of course, a sect of peoplewho are trying to really um,
narrate and communicate andexpress change in a way that,
more so, is accessible andtouches the masses.
And so you know how do you feel, like artists, like the native
sons, um, and you know anyothers who you want to name,
(27:04):
really helped to, you know,change, the what, what the
understanding of of thatmovement was and or had been up
to that time, just because youknow they were varying from the
sort of standard paintingpractices of the time right and
moving towards a place wherethey were becoming more socially
(27:24):
conscious.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
And I think you know the pervasive style of realism
painting.
Part of it, I think, was, youknow, founded in a genuine
desire to paint the beauty ofthe landscape, right To
represent, you know, thisgorgeous place that surrounds us
.
Part of it was also commercialas well, so you know, the things
that were selling at that timewere commercial images of the
beautiful landscape.
So there's both elements ofthat.
I think that was more centeredin a perspective of maybe
(28:06):
subject is the right word for itor object, whereas when the
Native Sons came about, theywere more interested in broader
experience, so they wereexperimenting a little bit more
in terms of the type of mediumsthat they were using.
One example would be NasariaSuku-Chillette.
She has done a lot of paintingwork as well, but she's also a
(28:28):
mixed media artist.
So she does a lot of paintingwork as well, but she's also a
mixed media artist, so she doesa lot of collage work, where she
plays with incorporating, youknow, even traditional craft
materials into paintings.
So you might have somethingthat is an oil or acrylic based
painting with crochet embeddedinto that.
You might have, you know, a bedthat is made out of plantain
(28:50):
trash what they call plantaintrash in Cayman, which is the
dried leaves of the plantaintree.
You might also have a type ofquilt made out of plantain trash
that is then embroidered into.
So she's playing with.
You know, contemporary versionsof these traditional techniques
and materials.
Of these traditional techniquesand materials, you have people
(29:10):
like Randy Shillette who ismeshing global traditions.
So he was looking at thishistory of Christian
spirituality that exists inCayman but then meshing that
with his Rastafarian beliefs aswell.
So he has an artwork that isactually painted on the roof of
(29:32):
a traditional cottage orstylized to look like the roof
of a traditional cottage, thatplays off of the painting the
Creation of Adam that's on theroof of the Sistine Chapel.
But instead of these sort ofEuropean figures he's done
African figures instead and he'sused these West African masks
and sort of symbology of thosecultures and religions and sort
(29:55):
of meshing these two traditionstogether to explore Cayman's
African traditions, which Ithink was something that the
Native Sons really brought tothe forefront more than artists
had Before, that they werereally interested in exploring
all of the different parts ofCayman's identity that had maybe
been hidden in previous years.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
It's really cool to hear and, I think, one that I'm
really interested in and justcoming to understand the
different ways and differentthings we uphold when it comes
to art.
You know, like thinking aboutquilts, right, that, I think,
was a beautiful, beautifuliteration of you know, a
different way to for us tounderstand our art and also a
(30:36):
way for us to bring our pasthistories into the present and
future as well.
I definitely do want us tospend a bit of time in our
episode today talking about yourwork at the National Gallery of
the Cayman Islands, justbecause I've had a few museum
people on the show by this point.
But I really think you knowyour work as the education
(30:59):
manager is remarkable in beingable to share this history in a
way that's really accessible toeverybody, whether that's, you
know, locals or visitors, etc.
And so how do you feel likeyour work helps us to expand the
awareness of this historyacross the Cayman Islands?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah.
So I guess my work is reallyabout creating opportunities for
everyone to be able to haveintimate personal experiences
with work of many differenttypes of mediums and styles.
I think you know, sometimesmuseums get a bit of a bad rap
(31:40):
for being these very exclusiveplaces that only, you know, the
one percent are allowed to gointo and they feel a little bit.
You know static and white walland you know they can be very
intimidating spaces to go intothat not everybody feels are for
them boundaries to the accessof art and the conversations
around art and the, you knowexpressive opportunities that
(32:12):
art can offer for people and thewellness opportunities that art
can offer for people.
So you know, our educationdepartment at the National
Gallery is really aboutinclusion and accessibility and
ensuring that the gallery spaceis a space where anybody in the
community can walk in and feelthat there is a place for them
to see themselves in the work,engage with the work, ask
(32:36):
questions, start dialogues andconversations, learn new things,
contribute new things, becauseof course we also don't want to
be so deep in our ownintellectualism that we forget
that the real knowledge existsin the community.
I think you know sometimes weplan these programs and then
(32:57):
sometimes they happen veryorganically, which is wonderful,
because then it is coming trulyfrom the needs and interests of
the community around us.
I think a good example of thatrecently has been I mentioned
the artist Nasaria Sikushelet.
She had a solo show at theNational Gallery in 2021.
And she is a multidisciplinaryartist.
(33:19):
So in addition to her visualart practice, she's also an
educator and she's also a poet,and we really wanted to
incorporate the poetry elementinto the program of events that
went alongside the show, and sowe hosted this open mic poetry
night.
And I want to credit Parcel 110, who is another creative space
(33:41):
that formerly existed in Cayman,who were also doing open mic
nights, and I had been to a fewof them and was aware of them,
and so we created this open micnight.
And I had been to a few of themand was aware of them, and so
we created this open mic nightspecifically for that exhibition
.
But it went so well.
I mean, it was so well receivedand people really, really loved
it and felt like there was thisspace and a platform for them to
(34:04):
express ideas about the loss oftraditional architecture, about
the loss of cultural traditions, about, you know, these
anxieties and fears that peoplewere having that they didn't
feel they had the platformnecessarily to verbalize all of
the time.
Now, that didn't necessarilyhave to do with, you know, a
specific painting, but whenyou're in a space of creation
(34:28):
and expression, but when you'rein a space of creation and
expression, you know you're in asafe place where you feel that
you are able to express thosethings, you have that platform
to release any of that anxietythat is sort of sitting on your,
on your chest, I think.
So that was so well receivedthat it started to become a
regular occurrence.
And you know, now we do theseopen mics, I think once an
(34:54):
exhibition, and so it's decentlyinfrequent I mean it's every
three to four months.
And so you know, we have a corecrew of people that come every
single time.
Every time we have new faces.
We have, you know, evenvisitors to the island that come
to these events and that's agreat opportunity for them to
explore Kamaian culture andhistory and heritage through
attending those events as well.
So that's been a really magical, I think, example of one of our
(35:19):
programs.
We also have a flagship programcalled Walker's Art Club, which
is an inclusive afterschoolprogram very kindly sponsored by
walkers for many, many yearsnow.
And um, that program is aboutnine different class units, from
age five through to 17, wherestudents get to learn technical
art skills but also just makefriends and be in a great
(35:40):
creative place and learn allthese different mediums.
Learn about Caymanian artists,you know, grow up in a way in
Cayman where they can believethat you know the pursuit of a
professional career in Cayman,where they can believe that you
know the pursuit of aprofessional career in the
creative industries is possiblefor them.
It's a free program, which isvery lucky, you know, again,
breaking those barriers ofaccessibility.
(36:00):
We hope it's open to studentsof all abilities.
So there are children who areneurodivergent, who are in that
space and everybody'sinteracting with each other,
which I think is reallyimportant in terms of ensuring
that our full community isrepresented in any of the
programming that we do.
So that's kind of a snapshot, Iguess, of two of the programs
(36:22):
that we do, but you know theunderlying current, again, is
about accessibility andinclusion, even if it's just
hosting a yoga class on thegrounds of the gallery, which
you know people may think hasnothing to do with art, but is
about facilitating communityspace.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Yeah, definitely, and I think that's what art is
about, right, as you're you werealluding to.
It's not just about elaboratepaintings or sculptures, all the
time at least right, but it'scommunity, it's expression and
communing with one another right.
It's not an isolationistactivity, necessarily, or it
(37:01):
doesn't have to be.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
I also think that you know arthas the ability to teach about
everything, right, right, so wehave teachers that come in and
want to do school tours and, inaddition to a general history or
culture tour, I mean you canteach math through the arts,
right?
Curators have to do a lot ofmath in their practice.
You know you have to measure.
(37:24):
This wall is 14 feet long and Ineed to fit, you know, this many
paintings on the wall.
It needs to be this much spacebetween the paintings, and so
you're doing math as you'redoing these curatorial practices
, right, so we can teach thatthrough visits to the gallery.
We can teach, you know,environmental science through
artworks that explore coralbleaching or explore mangrove
(37:44):
ecosystems.
So there's so many differentconversations that you can have
through the visual arts.
Of course, we talked a littlebit about Cayman's, even the
turtle fishing history, evenpolitical history.
You can teach through the arts.
Walk through the doors and havean experience with any piece of
(38:14):
artwork in that room, whetherit's an abstract painting,
whether it's a figurativepainting, whether it's, you know
, an installation work that usesmaterials that they use in
their everyday life.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
I think that we have met our goal, so beautiful, and
I think something again that Ithink just personally resonates
with my own mission and vision.
So I'm glad our listeners getto you know, learn a bit more
about the National Gallery'smission and vision and how it's
also connecting with thecommunity.
Having you on the show.
(38:48):
You've definitely done abrilliant job of sharing so many
different works with us, and soI've been taking notes
feverishly.
We'll add them to our StrictlyFacts syllabus.
But you know I have to ask,since you're here, what is one
of your favorite examples of,you know, cayman Islands art?
Maybe even even I know Iusually ask this in a roundabout
(39:11):
way, but if you have maybe afavorite artist work that you
think best exemplifies theisland and is really reflective
of the rich traditions we'vediscussed today, I'm gonna cheat
a little bit because I'm gonnagive you a couple, totally fine.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
It's so difficult to answer that question, um, with
just one or two examples.
So, um, I think uh, in nospecific order I think the work
of leonard dilbert, who is acaymanian poet I really admire
and respect.
I think, um, his work reallyexplores some of those anxieties
(39:47):
in terms of the shifting tidesof Cayman, the shifting social
and economic development,critiques on mindset, sometimes
critiques on perspectives ofseeing Cayman, and he's just
also a really fabulous writerand his imagery is incredible.
(40:07):
So I would definitely recommendhis work.
A great contemporary artist ofa young Caymanian who is really
making waves in the fashionindustry right now is Jawara
Alyen.
If you are in the fashion worldor in the pop cultural world,
you'll probably have heard hisname.
He's been dressing Rihannarecently and many other sort of
(40:28):
big name celebrities.
But he's a Jamaican Caymaniandesigner who is really
interested in the sort ofunderground of Cayman.
So moving beyond the sort oftourist gaze of these white sand
beaches and looking at, youknow, the reality of life sort
of within this, the urbanenvironment of Cayman, and then
(40:52):
integrating that into garmentshe's really inspired by, you
know, even things like pirateiconography, um, but also you
know the sort of graffiticulture as well, and he's using
draping and this idea of likecircularity in fashion, so
reusing materials to create thegarments that that he's he's
(41:14):
creating.
So definitely Duara Alyan'swork I would suggest looking
into.
Um.
I also really love Simon Tatum,who's another young Caymanian
artist.
Um, there is an artwork of hisin the national collection where
you see this, this young man,and he's sort of he's standing
in a in low water and he's sortof bent over looking into a
(41:38):
water glass which is essentiallylike a, a box, a wooden box,
and then in the bottom there issort of a glass where you can
look into the ocean and behindhim is a turtle crawl and a
turtle crawl is a sort of waterpen where turtles were kept,
sort of keep them alive andfresh, before they were taken
off to be slaughtered or sold orwhatever it was.
(41:58):
But that piece is actually aself portrait where this is a
young Caymanian artist whohasn't had the physical,
visceral experience that hisforefathers or his ancestors may
have had, and so he's almostpainted himself into this
experience of what it would belike to be a Caymanian seafarer
(42:20):
at that time.
So I really appreciate thatsort of intersection of
generations that's happeningwithin that artwork.
Definitely the work of Gladwyn KBush, better known as Miss
Lassie, who is a Caymanianintuitive artist.
The term intuitive artist hasbeen contested a little bit, but
she is a self-taught artist whopainted based on these dreams
(42:42):
and visions that she had.
She painted, you know, floor toceiling, on her walls, on her
doors and windows, on glass,basically on any surface that
she could really get her handson, and it was very much, I
think, a compulsion for her toexpress herself in this way, and
she actually started when shewas 62.
So I think she's a greatexample of there's never a right
(43:04):
time or a wrong time to startan art practice.
And I also recommend SwankyKitchen Band, who is a
contemporary example oftraditional Caymanian music
kitchen music, so really basedin drum and fiddle and guitar.
So I would definitely check outSwanky Kitchen Band.
Their music is, I believe, onSpotify and YouTube and all of
(43:25):
the usual places where you canfind your music.
So yeah, swanky Kitchen Band,great example of um, a modern
take on traditional musicwonderful.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
I again I've taken my notes, so I'll definitely add
them to our strictly factsyllabus for our listeners
wanting to check out more aboutthe artists, their works and
music.
Um, and you know, just get alittle bit of a different
perspective of what you may haveunderstood to be cayman Islands
and the island's art history.
I also want to uphold in manyways, as you've noted, today in
(43:57):
our conversation there aredifferent of your must visit
places to see in terms of, youknow, for somebody to get a
really great understanding ofwhat Cayman Islands art looks
like from a variety ofperspectives.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
So I think the Cayman Islands National Museum for
sure.
They have a large collection ofthe visual arts.
They actually were the firstformal institution in Cayman to
start collecting art, so I wouldcertainly visit them.
Their museum is also inside ahistoric building I believe it's
the oldest standing originalbuilding in Georgetown so I
(44:42):
would certainly go and checkthem out.
I would also recommend doingCayman Art Week, which typically
happens during the summer everyyear.
If you live in Cayman or if youhappen to be in Cay happens
during the summer every year.
If you live in Cayman or if youhappen to be in Cayman during
the summer, do check the dateson that.
That's a really great commercialopportunity for Caymanian
artists and Cayman-based artiststo sell their work, and that's
(45:04):
every single medium that you canpossibly imagine.
So there are media projects.
There is, you know, kind oftraditional painting, there's
sculpture work, there'sperformance based work, so
that's a really good one interms of getting a breadth of
different styles in.
At the same time, I wouldabsolutely recommend trying to
(45:27):
spend time with traditionalcraft artisans.
I know that that's probablyeasier said than done because I
think sometimes we'll have ahard time finding them, but
certainly contact the CaymanNational Cultural Foundation or
the National Gallery of theCayman Islands we can recommend
names of people to get in touchwith, but I think that
(45:50):
traditional craft is such afoundation of Cayman's creative
practice.
It would be a shame to notexperience that if you were
looking into the arts of theCayman Islands.
So those, I think, would be thethree primary places that I
would suggest would suggest,beautiful.
Speaker 1 (46:08):
I've never been, so I would love to visit especially.
You know the many connectionsbetween Cayman Islands and
Jamaica as well.
So, yeah, I hope not only willI be adding these to my list of
to-do things and to go and tovisit places, but I hope our
listeners do as well.
And so with that, maya, Ireally thank you for you know
(46:29):
showing and sharing so much ofyour brilliance and expertise
and wisdom, and even personalexperience as well, with us on
the show today To our listeners.
This was, you know, a roundaboutway of me jumping into our
discussion of Caribbean art invarious ways that I've planned
for the next year, so I hope youenjoyed it.
If there are any specificaspects of you know art and
(46:53):
artist work that you'd like meto pivot into talking more about
in the upcoming year, do let meknow.
I'm always available via DM.
You know Instagram, all thethings, so feel free to find me
somewhere online and let me knowyour thoughts.
But again, maya, thank you somuch for joining us.
I will link everything in ourshow notes and as well on our
(47:15):
website.
Until next time, little more.
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