Vincentian duo to release magazine

Vincentians Holly Bynoe, a visual artist and Nadia Huggins, a digital photographer, will soon release the inaugural issue of ARC Magazine.{{more}}

This is a collection of works by contemporary artists practising in the Caribbean and its Diaspora. However, the magazine will unveil a host of engaging features, interviews and portfolios in its upcoming issues. The publication is a quarterly, independent, visual arts magazine, made possible by the subscription and support of its readers.

It will feature artists from Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominica, Haiti and Jamaica, who represent a variety of media, including photography, film and video, painting, graphic illustration, mixed media, performance and poetry.

The magazine presents an imaginative body of curatorial work, which exhibits the trajectory and the motion of artists who practice within a contemporary space.

Bynoe, in a statement, notes that within their collective networks, she and Huggins thought it necessary to make “the common man” aware of possibilities of art, its evolution, trends and ‘personalities’.

“We also feel the need to provide a forum that celebrates creativity, its determination, dialogue and pleasure. It is our ambition to inspire and give voice to a new generation of independent, do-it-yourself and emerging artists, who remain fearless in their struggle with the fractions and whole of their varied cultures. ARC gives license to artists who are negotiating their own space and place, by offering a neutral ground that accommodates dialogue,” she stated.

ARC frames its content in sections: SPOTLIGHT highlights emerging artists; 24 FPS presents a survey of established and experimental filmmakers; THE GRADIENT offers conversation between artists; and COLLECTIONS showcases the portfolios of three artists.

For the first issue, Bynoe and Huggins have gathered works from a collection of artists.

Jamaican photographer Radcliffe Roye’s photographic serials are broken down into parts and readers will be introduced to his vivid and confrontational documentary style.

Andil Gosine pays homage to Lorraine O’Grady’s first foray into moving images, while discussing her importance as a model of feminism.

Katherine Atkinson’s introduction to Headphunk – a spoken-word collection-is included in the magazine, featuring the creative fire that rages in St. Lucia – from a group of veteran poets. Their conversations and interactions allow for specific focus to be placed on the role of collective energy in creating a free space for exploration and experimentation.

Paradise Omeros, Isaac Julien’s video installation, adapts Walcott’s Omeros: it is an exploration of the creolite – of the politics and the culture of our differing Caribbean personas.

The magazine will also include the works of Mariamma Kambon. Kambon’s fragmented and constructed series Castle of My Skin is confrontational, as she takes apart iconic imagery linked to the days of slavery.

Ishion Hutchinson’s poetry is also featured in the magazine.

“With this collection and philosophy in mind, ARC demonstrates the rich and dynamic undercurrents of the current generation of contemporary Caribbean artists and their dialogue with a global experience,” Bynoe continued.