WOMEN’S WORK 2: The “I” Of Venus opened to a very large and appreciative audience at the Gallery of Caribbean Art in Queen Street, Speightstown, St Peter, last Sunday evening.
The second annual art exhibition showcases the work of 12 talented female artists: Heidi Berger, Alison Chapman-Andrews, Joyce Daniel, Rosemary Parkinson, Martina Pilé, Ann Rudder, Corrie Scott, Heather-Dawn Scott, Lilian Sten-Nicholson, Ichia Tiyi, Darla Trotman and Tracey Williams.
Speaking at the gallery opening leader of the Barbados Labour Party opposition Mia Mottley in applauding the women called on them to let their work bring a sense of comfort to Barbados at a time when there seems to be some uncertainty among its people.
She described visual art as more reflective in what it causes people to feel but even more it is critically important because without reflection courage and conscience cannot be summoned.
Admittedly in awe of many of the pieces displayed, Mottley said that there were many stories still to be told through the eyes of the artistes. These stories, she said, can be used to chart a new direction for Barbadian relations.
“Barbados is at a stage where our artistes and our people must speak and they must speak because what is at stake is a way of life – a way of life that gives us the ease of movement . . . and the ease of feeling.
“It is not the story of Government and it is not the story only told by historians in books but it is a perspective of how people in different backgrounds with different values and different religions can live in a space that is tightly defined and forces us to be able to navigate our way with each other in circumstances where it is not about academic intelligence but it is about human and emotional intelligence and spirituality.”
The exhibition runs every day until April 9. (SDB Media)
