Abstract Updated Sept 26 2015

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Adman, Andre Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica [email protected] Using the arts to enhance learning the Jamaican classroom Given the challenges we have in education, the arts provide an excellent platform for student learning and achievement. Therefore, an arts driven approach should be at the forefront of all discussions that pertain to student development. The intrinsic value of the arts is not being ignored. ‘Music for music sake.’ However, the benefit that the arts offer as a driver or a supporter of learning in general should not go unnoticed. The concept of using the arts to enrich the learning environment is not a novel notion. For decades, many countries have tapped into the power of the arts to transform the learning experience but we don’t see enough of it in Caribbean. Possibly, too many educators are lacking in education in the arts and as such they are unable to adequately meet the learning needs of the students and/or deliver an integrated lesson using the same. In this presentation, we will explore some of the content and concepts in the early childhood curriculum. Original songs that have been composed based on the content will be used to provide a stimulus for learning activities in the classroom. The songs from the catalyst from which content will be explored and learning activities facilitated. Educators and practitioners are encouraged to learn the material and utilize them in their own practice. Further, the presenter seeks to highlight through demonstration, the many ways in which the arts can be used for introductory, intra and post lesson activities. Alexander Jacelle Founder of Arts Insight Trinidad & Tobago [email protected] A Voice through Art: An Art based intervention strategy to highlight the issues of women affected by domestic violence. This Art Based Intervention through a Qualitative Case study design will present in an oral presentation the artwork of three women affected by domestic violence. These women used the Visual Arts to voice and address their inner issues. The paper will present the process of using Art Based intervention and its application as a tool that not only empowers women affected by violence, but as an alternative to solving many social issues and other problems within our Caribbean Diaspora. www.emcartsconference .org
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Women continually suffer their trauma in silence withholding from confiding in anyone because of fear and shame. There is little research documented to address the important issues survivors face. There is need for educators and researchers to see art not only as an aesthetic tool but as an alternative avenue to problem solving relevant social issues. Looking at the philosophies and perspectives of Pablo Freire and Elliot Eisner this strategy will highlight the potential need to facilitate creativity and art based research initiatives. This paper will examine various modes of oppression and as such provide various avenues toward developing transformative discourse and engendering change through communal creative action. As an educator and researcher it is my opportunity to present to the academic community alternative avenues to new possibilities of discourse and research. It highlights the lack of investigative approaches to research to examining a variety of issues as well as the use of various modes of expression by oppressed communities. In essence this paper while new in its concept has been part of our cultural landscape and practice for decades. Keywords: Art Based intervention, intimate partner violence, voice, issues Allen, Rachael, Waithe Neil Students Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica Knock Knock Bang Bang Knock Knock Bang Bang (KKBB) is a concept first created and written by Neil Waithe as a stage play in 2012. However, as the piece evolved, so did the writer’s research, vision and scope. The content has been greatly influenced from personal accounts, verbal, and written, from past and present students across the region. Currently it is in the process of being adapted for screen. The plot essentially features the unconventional living arrangement of four females in one room and four males in another, from different countries, social backgrounds and artistic disciplines sharing 2 beds because of a “mix up” by the land lady. Essentially the piece focusses primarily on how we as humans sharing a society with others, adapt to situations and more importantly focuses on the relevance of that reality within our immediate scope here at Edna and college similar to. www.emcartsconference .org
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It is set at a fictional Visual and Performing Arts school in Jamaica, and the characters hail from countries across the region as well as North America. The issues and motifs tackled are infidelity, alcoholism, sexism, nationalism, artistic appreciation. It reaches out to both a growing and a grown demographic. It is easily relatable because everyone has been to school on some level, and have been faced with the challenge of cohabitating with others. Although several structures are already in place to make this project a reality, they are at the moment no creative limitations on said project. Mr. Waithe has taken on the consultation of Edna Manley Dramatist and aspiring Director Rachael Allen as well as several others across the disciplines. Miss Allen along with writers and practitioners from different countries will serve as contributing writers to the project. This will maintain the authenticity of it being a regionally collaborative work. Mr. Waithe and Ms. Allen if granted permission to proceed will work to develop a Promotional Performance Preview 10-­‐15 minutes in length to be debuted at the upcoming Rex Nettleford conference in October. The preview will consist of two major components: a Performance Preview/Dramatic excerpt, followed by a brief discussion about the process of developing the work further. Like the word “love”, “quality” is a word that when translated to any language connotes one clear meaning. The aim is to simply produce quality work that will be loved universally while highlighting our human and social similarities amongst all of the divisional differences. Barnes, Verona Jamaica [email protected] Integrated Curriculum: A Cannon for Catapulting the Arts from the PeRIMeter to Centre Stage in Early Childhood and Primary Classrooms A review of the timetable of an early childhood and/or primary school teacher in Jamaica will reveal that he/she is charged with the responsibility to teach from anthropology to zoology; this include the so-­‐called core curricular subjects – Mathematics, English, Science, Social Studies and Religious Education; and the aesthetic/arts subjects – Visual Arts, Music, Drama, Movements/Dance and Physical Education. A survey of current trends in early childhood and elementary/primary education will reveal that there is a renaissance in classrooms globally. Although this renaissance might vary in title from place to place; the characteristics of what is being practiced can be identified as attempts at being integrative. Teachers are endeavoring to create holistic learning experience that should allow students to make connection with what they are learning thus resulting in what is called an integrated curriculum. www.emcartsconference .org
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From my position as a teacher educator in my country Jamaica, I have been privileged to access learning environments in which early childhood and primary school teachers are expected to be implementing an integrated curriculum. From observation, I have come to the conclusion that some teachers are experiencing challenges executing an integrated curriculum with success. Most are unable to create the environment(s) that allow the learners to make the connection between the different subjects they are being taught; the connections between what is been learned in school and their out of school lived experiences. As an art educator, a trained-­‐experienced primary school teacher, a researcher and a reflective practitioner I recognise the need for an intervention to empower these struggling teachers. As a result, I have conducted archeological digs, archival search and a phenomenological study to identify/establish best practices where arts education plays a pivotal role in the implementation of integrated curriculum. What is referred to as arts integrated curriculum in early childhood and elementary/primary classrooms. Barratt, Kai University of Technology Jamaica [email protected] Where all dem woman does come from daaddyy? An Examination of Social Media Representations of the Female Masquerader in the Jamaica Carnival Those who do not attend the actual parade often view Jamaica Carnival on various Facebook pages. Through the process of deciding the subject of the photo, framing, and selection, photographers who operate Facebook pages are positioned to dictate how female masqueraders are represented on the social media platform. In this sense, they construct a hegemonic ideal of what female masqueraders in the Jamaica Carnival should look like which does not necessarily represent Jamaican women. This research paper examines the images of female masqueraders in the Jamaica Carnival who are photographed and presented on various photographers’ Facebook pages. It seeks to identify the typical features of the female masqueraders who are presented and what meanings these bring to the cultural context of the Jamaica Carnival. www.emcartsconference .org
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Brown-­‐Johnson, Coretta Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica coretta.brown-­‐[email protected] The use of the Arts in treating children with Exceptionalities & Diabetes Having been involved primarily with children who have had to cope with the effects of diabetes as a medical challenge over the past few years, and in partnership with the Diabetes Association of Jamaica, it has been made clear that the psychological challenges after diagnosis, if not managed effectively, can seriously impede adequate and efficient management, as well as impact the client/patient behaviourally and socially in a way that renders them dysfunctional. Children with exceptionalities Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD], Attention Deficit Disorder [ADD], Conduct Disorder [CD], Autism and other labelled conditions also face severe challenges of integration after diagnoses; the Arts provides a respite for communication, intervention and healing. The Arts namely dance, music, drama and visual art applied consistently as a method with Psychological tools embedded within the application of treatment facilitates a process which impacts the client in a way that has seen tremendous success over a three year period. This method also mimics Cultural Therapy with its goal to provide healing through the use of culture, however, the use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy separates the avenues and impacts the outcomes. CBT and the Arts create a marriage that is formidable in treating health issues. With Jamaica being in transition as it relates to Psychological treatment and Behavioural Therapies there is already evidence that this method works and can create avenues for the expressive therapies to develop beyond mere tangible expression. Research (Gladding, 2011; Malchiodi, 2005; Vernon, 2002, 2009) has confirmed that traditional counseling interventions, which rely primarily on a verbal/auditory modality are ineffective, for the most part, with younger clients. Rather, there is increasing support for incorporating creative or expressive arts interventions such as music, movement, writing, literature, drama, play and games into the counseling process. It more than possible in Jamaica and the Caribbean, it’s happening! Now! www.emcartsconference .org
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Burke, Suzanne, Franco Hazel, George Marvin, Quamina Camille, Octave Anthea, Tull Joanne University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus Trinidad & Tobago [email protected] [email protected] Culturing Development: An Evidence Based Framework for Policy Development of the Caribbean Creative Ecology This paper draws from a recently concluded cultural mapping exercise of Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural sector. Through an examination of the report findings, the paper seeks to show how the site of policy can be strategically deployed to foster connections inside of the cultural sector as well as enable convergence with other sectors. The presentation identifies some critical actions that can assist in converting the region’s much touted creative energy into a more dynamic source of development. Ms. Octave’s paper examines a traditional cultural practice in St. Lucia, namely LaWoz and LaMagwit Flower Festivals. The paper compares the two festivals and constructs a framework that identifies the various mechanisms that have facilitated and/or thwarted their relevance within the contemporary St. Lucian cultural landscape. PhD Student UWI, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago and Lecturer EMCVPA Franco, Hazel Choreography -­‐ Revealing Relationships of Fear, Hope and Love The paper examines the role of the choreographer as one who interweaves certain aspects of human life, social relations and emotions through communication with dancer and self, dancer and audience. The paper will test this idea by analyzing two choreographic works “REMINISCING HAITI” and “THE JOURNEY”, by well-­‐
known choreographer Andre Largen. Lecturer (Dance) University of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago Ms. Camille Quamina and Mr. Marvin George) ‘In Search of the Third Actor -­‐ Amidst Community, the Contemporary, and the Classic’, responds to the fact that there is no comprehensive body of writing dedicated to the study of Caribbean acting. Acting, like theatre, cannot escape the historical circumstances that invariably impact it. As such, this paper seeks to fill a lacuna in the literature and analyses the dialogue created through practice between the director and the actor. It uses two processes: one from a devised work and the other from a Greek classic. In both cases the idea of a Caribbean aesthetic is privileged. The paper hopes to contribute to the emerging discourse on acting praxis in the English speaking Caribbean, and in so doing examines the implications for actor training institutions in the region. Ms. Camille Quamina and Mr. Marvin George, Lecturers, EMCVPA www.emcartsconference .org
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Dr. Suzanne Burke paper is entitled “Culturing Development: An Evidence Based Framework for Policy Development of the Caribbean Creative Ecology”. This paper draws from a recently concluded cultural mapping exercise of Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural sector. Through an examination of the report findings, the paper seeks to show how the site of policy can be strategically deployed to foster connections inside of the cultural sector as well as enable convergence with other sectors. The presentation identifies some critical actions that can assist in converting the region’s much touted creative energy into a more dynamic source of development. Lecturer in Cultural Studies, UWI, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago Campbell, Carol Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica [email protected] Is there a Caribbean Aesthetic in Jewellery Design? It has been a long held view that the Caribbean Aesthetic, generally, is a very narrow bridge, over shallow waters. Much of this stems from a lack of documentation. This lecture chronicles the history of jewellery and ornament in the Jamaican and Caribbean context, and will show the depth and breadth of creative possibilities, and manifestations. There have been specific choices and materials used in jewellery, and ornament, certain visual references, and cultural assimilations, that unmistakably declare who we are. And as we continue to find our own voice and expand our vocabulary, new exciting developments are inevitable, and are even now taking shape in the landscape of what is called “Caribbean”. This presentation will be very visual and sensory, with images and associated music. “A people without a knowledge of its history, is like a tree without roots.” Marcus Mosiah Garvey www.emcartsconference .org
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Clarke, Robert Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica robert.clarke @emc.edu.jm Voice & Speech Workshop Many persons strive to be able to comfortable present the spoken word, speeches, citations and even improvised commentary before a live audience. Whether it be through electronic media or in the uncontained open space there is of fear, apprehension and often times resistance by even the most educated or informed of individuals. More often than not this is due to a consistent level of embarrassment or insecurity. Although the common view is that persons will not know what to say, the more popular though somewhat subconscious fear is that they may make vocal mistakes whether by way of the tone and power of their nervous sounding voice or through the inability to produce the words required with sufficient fluency and clarity. These factors are surely what is needed to sound duly informed and competent within the given subject matter. Alleviating these fears are more often than not aided by one’s confidence in how he or she may sound when facing an audience. Developing such confidence more often than not is aided by substantiating the knowledge and understanding of what good vocal competence requires. A workshop or series of sessions in identifying the tools needed to manipulate these skills is often enough substance to give individuals a sense of pride in what they may be able to accomplish when making a vocal presentation. It is with this in mind that proposing to expose individuals to practical exercises in improving vocal and speaking competence may be a valuable resource for heightening awareness and confidence when speaking before any audience. Clunis, Sarah Xavier University Louisiana, USA [email protected] Through the Looking Glass: Albert Chong’s Great Escape Jamaican artist Albert Chong creates work at a cosmological crossroads. His aged family photos juxtaposed with collected objects of dried flowers, broken shards, bones, shells and old letters are drawn from a myriad of ancestral traditions including African and Chinese. It has been acknowledged in previous scholarship that Chong’s work brings us to a borderland of culture, ethnicity and state but it is the liminal spiritual space of the African crossroads that I see his work occupying – a space of memory and longing but one that can best be understood through the critical framework of the sacred pedagogies of Yoruba and Congo cosmology. Chong’s photographs, installations, and thrones of his ancestors are all meticulously decorated with his personal iconography. They are the documentation of a sacred ritual process and are always dependent on www.emcartsconference .org
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the relationship between disparate elements: the living and the dead, the meaningful object collaged, the intercultural family dynamic, and the momentary transformation of the viewer. In this paper I examine the way that Chong employs specifically African metaphysical systems to constitute or remember experiences in order to provide meaning to his existence and his understanding of self. Chong’s use of an African cosmological framework as well as specific shamanic rituals, transformed through the diasporic experience, produces personalized sacred spaces that speak of a spiritual dialogue and an engagement with memory that inevitably shapes subjectivity. His work answers a poignant question about the survival and transformation of ritual artistic traditions throughout the African Diaspora: How is the sacred interior cultivated and applied as an instrument for survival and how did the migrations of African cosmological systems mirror the spiritual and psychological negotiations of the people of the African Diaspora? Through an analysis of Chong’s work I will argue that because African cosmological systems were historically subordinated to those of the European cosmos they were denied legitimate place in both modernity and post-­‐
modernity’s consciousness and therefore are traditionally not used to assist in the constitution and formation of self or the remapping of specifically African archetypes. Crawford, Sally University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus Trinidad & Tobago [email protected] 1. Moving Beyond History: Examining Changing Values in Global Tap Practice As dances are performed across international borders the values and traditions that formed the creation of dance steps are not always shared with the audience. The omission of such contextual information may not be intentional; demanding touring schedules do not include time for an accompanying historical overview of the steps or new pedagogical approaches eliminate some traditional teaching methods. This raises questions of the impact of globalization on dance forms and how dances are experienced by international audiences. As an example, new perceptions of tap dance in England are forming due to transmitting the dance form without its full historical context. Tap dance is a percussive dance form that originated in the United States and evolved from improvised rhythmic explorations between dancers of African and British descent in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Tap dance was introduced to England in the early twentieth century through performance, film, and a syllabus framework. English audiences and performers were initially exposed to tap choreography and technical demonstrations without witnessing the traditional improvised exchanges between performers. In order to understand the impact of globalization on English tap practice, this paper presents a historical comparison of tap dance practice in the United States and England, supplemented with observations from an ethnographic investigation of two tap dance communities in Manchester and London. The tap dancers in the www.emcartsconference .org
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two dance communities spoke of ‘paying reference to what you know’ in selecting steps for their performance. Without direct exposure to American practitioners, English tap dancers cultivated an alternative embodied knowledge of tap dance. These performers are now incorporating improvisation and experiment with music genres such as hip-­‐hop and dub-­‐step. Through these rhythmic explorations English tap dancers are engaging with new approaches to performing and creating tap steps to reach a global audience. 2. Performance The performance of the UWI Festival Dance Ensemble reflects the conference themes of re-­‐thinking traditional ideologies by providing a presentation that challenges perceptions of traditional dance. In fusing multiple dance styles, the performers share how dance communicates across cultures by exploring physical connections of bodies moving through diverse aesthetics. Curtis, Marvin, Moore, Susan, Martinez Tami, Thompson John Indiana University South Bend, IN, USA Music is a Hobby…Get a Real Job – The Role of the School of the Arts Many students face discouragement from parents and others when wanting to major in some form of the arts in their collegiate careers. Students are told that they will be they will be poor, have no future, and not be able to support a family. They are encouraged to major in business or some other career where they will be guaranteed a great job and a great future and do arts as a hobby. Study of the arts in elementary and high schools are constantly being challenged as being the “frill” areas of study that can be eliminated to help balance budgets. STEM programs (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) are being touted as the solution to the nation’s education system, but are leaving any study of the arts as irrelevant. Many colleges and universities are reducing the number of arts related courses or School of Arts because they are perceived to be expensive while growing athletic programs. Studies now show that the arts play a vital role in the development of children and youth. SAT and ACT Tests scores are shown to be higher for students that study some form of the arts. Arts districts in parts of the United States have helped to revitalize neighborhoods and bring economic stability to areas that were blighted. Schools of the Arts can play a vital role in the development of society, of corporations, and individuals. Teaching skills of communication, teamwork, and creativity are parts of what makes an individual human and a productive part of society. Using the areas of Music, Communication, Theater, and Fine Arts, faculty from the Ernestine M./ Raclin School of the Arts at Indiana University South Bend will explore how their areas of the arts are not a hobby but can lead to real jobs and skills for not only their graduates but for society in general. www.emcartsconference .org
Daley, Paula, Nicole Johnson, Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica [email protected] Creating a Culture of Documentation in Art Education [email protected]
It is of great import now more than ever that there is evidence of the practices surrounding the discipline of Art Education. The need for this type of documentation has become more pronounced in the last five years owing to the increased numbers of trained art educators entering the field. Based on the paradigm shifts occurring within the discipline of education, educators have had to expand their use of technology within the classroom. Resulting from this increase in the use of technology, the inherent weakness regarding documenting has been highlighted as an area that needs to be strengthened. This need is underscored by factors such as: curriculum revisions at the secondary level, which require students to draw from an artistic information base in order to develop ideas which are personally and culturally relevant to guide their Artmaking processes, and; the lack of a written historical data in the field. Daniel, Vesta The Ohio State University USA [email protected] Art as Resistance and Pedagogy Art can serve as a cultural agent for change, memory keeper, meaning maker and place holder. It can assist community members in responding to and participating in phenomena accompanying social-­‐cultural-­‐political activity by serving as liberatory imaging, community ethos, cultural agency and, varying forms of resistance to and/or embrace of change. How can a partnership of educators, community members and students conceptualize and address the relationship between art, education, resistance and change? What is the nature of a change agent and how does art help to construct the definition of resistance as an energizing force? These questions will be contextualized by juxtaposing them with the current social unrest in the United States resulting from violence against black males (primarily) by law enforcement officers. In this context, artists and lay persons are generating images that confront status quo brutality. Some of the images have become iconic through social and traditional media. I maintain, in this presentation, that imaging, that may be difficult, has a long-­‐standing role in promoting social change and thus should be explored by arts educators as a positive pedagogical tool. www.emcartsconference .org
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Delgado de Torres, Lena Ramapo College of New Jersey U.S.A. [email protected] Egúngún in disguise: The Jamaican Nine Night ceremony Nine Night rituals continue to be common features of Afro-­‐Jamaican funerary practices. Although African deities are not worshipped in Jamaica in exactly the same way as they are in the Yorùbá-­‐based Regla de Ocha, Lùkùmi, and Ifá religions of Cuba and North America, certain Nine Night practices are similar to rituals done for Egúngún, or the ancestors, within Regla de Ocha and Lùkùmi. Using original fieldwork from a contemporary Jamaican Nine Night ceremony, interviews with Regla de Ocha and Ifá practitioners in the United States, Rex Nettleford’s and Sylvia Wynter’s research on Jonkonnu, and historical accounts of Nine Nights from the 1950s fieldwork of anthropologists George Eaton Simpson and Edith Clarke, this paper will expand on the similarities between Jamaican funerary/folkloric practices and Egúngún rituals within traditional Yorùbá religion and Regla de Ocha. A second and important theme will be to document the gradual transition in Jamaican society from older folk cultural forms to a new culture that draws deeply on the old forms – the popular music known as Dancehall. This transition is apparent in the syncretism of Nine Night rituals with Dancehall practices. A third theme will trace the shifts of women’s power within the Egúngún societies, in the context of the deity, Ọya, as a template for women in the Dancehall, and a feminist reading of Yorùbá and Jamaican ancestral worship. Dileo, Lisa Literacy Through the Theatre Arts New Jersey, USA [email protected] Teaching Across Cultures: Jail or Jamaica, Strategies that Work As an Italian-­‐American woman teaching mostly African-­‐American men in a U.S. jail, we apparently have little in common. I was raised to become a subservient daughter, wife, and mother; they have (allegedly) dealt in guns, drugs, and gangs. I became educated to work as a teacher and psychologist; they quit school to support themselves with crime. I am responsible to home and family; they father many children whom they don’t support. However, somehow we are able to communicate well enough for them to achieve their high-­‐school diplomas. This “somehow” consists of psychological principles and educational techniques cultivated through teaching as well through my former practices of school psychology and psychotherapy. Utilizing similar techniques, I was able to educate 22 Jamaican teenagers – some former drop-­‐outs -­‐ last spring well enough to enable non-­‐readers to perform scenes from a play onstage at the Institute of Arts and Culture in Mandeville after one month’s time. Despite language, culture, and custom barriers, the same principles and strategies used with inmates worked with these students. In addition, using the promises of performing in costume and presenting their graphic artistry in posters, playbills, photographs, and backdrops before an audience of adults and peers highly motivated these struggling students to learn. As Institute www.emcartsconference .org
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Director Dr. Nolma-­‐Coley Agard was quoted in the June 23, 2014 edition of the Jamaica Gleaner, “an American woman who has worked in theatre and psychology and done work in prisons…’got some non-­‐readers to read within a month and perform onstage.’” I was that woman. I will present a case study on the psycho-­‐educational processes utilized in Jamaica last year, demonstrating how principles were strategized in order to educate resistant students considered reluctant and often unsuccessful learners. The pitfalls and progress will be documented and explained each step of the way in order to demonstrate how academic success is possible with even recalcitrant learners. Current research supporting the efficacy of these techniques will be included. Douglas, Andrea The Children and Youth Dance Theatre of Toronto Canada [email protected] Dance and the Black Child The ideology of the thin ballerina body type started with famous 20th century choreographer George Balanchine, who in his effort to create the perfect body for classical dance, only considered long legs, shorter torsos, long necks and a small head as the aesthetic physic for ballet. The effects of Balanchine’s expectation can still be seen even today and has played a major role in the alienation of many black women in dance. Working Canada has allowed me to explore dance as a performance, a legacy and a pathway to becoming a passionate educator of children and youth. It presented new learning about who is gets the opportunity to study dance or receive formal dance training that would develop their natural talent, and the technical skills their skills to its highest level. During my observation of youths in dance in Toronto, I found that there are about four or five black girls on average taking ballet or other focused dance technique classes in established Dance studios. Black girls do begin ballet classes at the cute age of 3-­‐4 years old but soon shift to other forms of dance such as hip hop and other trendy styles, perceived by them to be more lucrative. Training often gets sideline for a variety of reasons. Dance and the Black Child is a study that explores the thoughts and opinions of a group of young black aspiring dancers between the ages of 5 and 15. It will describe their journey, motivation, successes and challenges, and share the decision of their current dancer status. This paper will look at the link between the effects of early 20th century body expectations, stereotyping, and body type; it will aim at creating new directions for artistic engagement, and a refocus on training for the sustainability of our young black dancers. www.emcartsconference .org
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Facey, Laura Jamaica [email protected] Paddlin’ Spirit The presentation begins: “Today I will be sharing how life can shift and boundaries can change, how I’ve created a foundation for myself so that I no longer feel enslaved but am free from a past that once held me -­‐ how as I let go, I grow spiritually and become stronger. I will show how the work here in this exhibition titled Their Spirits relates to that theme of change and transformation.” In between, Laura’s powerful text, PADDLIN SPIRIT, first presented at the International Slavery Museum, Liverpool, at the launch of Laura’s iArtBook “Radiant Earth” and then in Kingston, Jamaica in 2014. PADDLIN’ SPIRIT sheds light on the harrowing experiences which inform her professional practice and how the transcendent nature of the human spirit enables her and women like her to overcome the victimization of their past. These elements trace the progression of her artistic practice, through her sculptures, installations and prints which draw inspiration from the rich history of her country, the natural materials of her surroundings, and her own personal experiences. The presentation concludes: “I was broken open but now I am transforming. The Paddles are implements about my movement forward. Redemption Song is about our souls being free. The Canoe is significant as a sign of movement of change and of how we can let go in life. The body may be enslaved but our souls are free. The light and the dark are in each of us. War and peace is in each of us. Which will you choose to live from? Your choice will transform the world.” Fullerton, Georgia Cross Culture Consciousness Bridging Expressive Arts Therapy and Global Healing [email protected] | www.justgeorgia.ca | 647.988.2787 Canada ‘Introspectrum’ -­‐ acrylic on canvas (2007) This creative project is based on the understanding that art and life are connected, and are intrinsic to our survival on a global level. Our ability to communicate authentically and build healthy relationships with each other is challenged by the advanced world of technology and an increasing distancing from tactile expression and the human experience. The objective of this project is to examine the relationship between engagement with expressive arts and its impact as a mechanism for healing, communication, authenticity and collective consciousness. As it pertains www.emcartsconference .org
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to cross cultural experiences, is there, through the practice of expressive arts, a way to engage cultures to speak a global language that breaks the limits that exist for communication and overall wellbeing? Constructing a bridge of mutual beliefs and understanding around the arts would help open up the world stage to Jamaican –Canadian artists who have minimal recognition and opportunity in their native country; by organizing exhibitions, community art initiatives, and expressive art therapy workshops. My research explores the benefits of art making and introduces this concept globally to bring forth a universal movement of healing through the arts. Experiencing trauma and loss in 2010, lead me to the study of expressive arts therapy. I discovered a new relationship with self, image, community and the world. Experiential approaches to exploring lineage, ritual and life span urged me to examine my own psychopathology and connecting me to my birthplace of Jamaica and the world. Thus my creative direction, infused with movement, voice, play and imagination, I create in an intuitive abstract expressionist style. My presentations of paintings are expressed in three series: “The Beginners Mind Series”, “The Holding Series” and “The Arthenticity Series”. The developing body of work includes acrylic and mixed media on canvas and wood. Themed around relationship and communication the paintings are reflections of sensations, imagined and real and integrate all modalities of art and art making. Freeland, Gregory California Lutheran University, USA [email protected] Navigating Music through Intersections of Jamaica’s Political and Cultural Crossroads The intersection of music and politics in the Caribbean is one of the most important crossroads in the African diaspora, setting the stage for the fulfillment of the first necessary condition for the effective transmission of knowledge through music: a people eager for nationalistic identifiers, which are vital to cultural and political identification. The intermingling of art and politics in Jamaica has intrigued scholars, writers, and artists, who have viewed this convergence as contentious, harmonious, and exploitive and as a source of collective identity, which are factors that occur sometimes singular, but oftentimes in combination. This paper examines the ways in which this dynamic plays out in Jamaica through examination of music lyrics, political events, and cultural retentions, because music can transmit political and cultural knowledge by, for example, amplifying political differences, cultural consciousness, and unequal economic distribution. The complexities of Jamaican life over time involves interactions among politicians, musicians, and the masses and is a reflection of the everyday political, cultural, and religious life of the people. The epistemological transmission of political and cultural knowledge through music is a primary reason to examine the intersection of music and politics. The fact that music has an epistemological range that transcends state ideologies and the economic and political structures that support them represents a useful way to understand the political state and how culturally people fit into it. www.emcartsconference .org
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Gangelhoff, Christine, Christian Justilien and Paul Shaw The College of The Bahamas The Bahamas [email protected] The 21st Century Musician: Towards a Caribbean Model In recent decades, the world of music has experienced an immense transformation. From the format in which sound is recorded and distributed, to new styles of music emerging, to shifts in record labels and management, the music industry is constantly re-­‐-­‐-­‐defining itself. However, despite these significant changes, the curriculum delivered in most tertiary-­‐-­‐-­‐level institutions has changed very little in several decades. Only in very recent years have a handful of institutions responded to these changes, updating their offerings to better equip students to succeed in the advancing musical world. In a recent interview, Richard Kessler, Dean of the Mannes College of Music in New York City, described his vision of restoring the support and development of the artist to what it was in the pre-­‐-­‐-­‐20th century, a time when most performers could also compose and improvise. Before the shift to specialization in the 20th century, musicians were also businessmen and entrepreneurs. (http://musicschoolcentral.com/one-­‐-­‐-­‐nyc-­‐-­‐-­‐
music-­‐-­‐-­‐school-­‐-­‐-­‐changing-­‐-­‐-­‐future-­‐-­‐-­‐music-­‐-­‐-­‐education/) Interestingly, many musicians in the Caribbean are closer to the pre-­‐-­‐-­‐20th century model and have an unrecognized advantage with their multiple skillsets – they often perform on several instruments, sing, improvise, and serve as their own promoters and agents. This model is also indicative of the Caribbean sensibility, where creativity and entrepreneurship are often a necessity of life and are frequently taken for granted. Using examples from composers from three Caribbean nations (Bahamas, Cuba, and Jamaica), this presentation will demonstrate the versatility and creativity of these composers using live performances as well as recorded examples. Graham, Sheila Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica [email protected] Culture and Productivity in Jamaica: Igniting inspiration, motivation and innovation. “I do not think anybody could seriously quarrel with the notion that in our Jamaican situation there is a large part of our history, for understandable reasons, which ties us into what I call the low intensity work culture, and what we have been trying to confront is to identify some of the specific factors that keep us tied there and to see whether we can move some of those roadblocks.” (Stone, 19971) 1
Carl Stone, “Worker Attitude in Jamaica and Implications for the Role of Culture in Boosting Productivity”, unpublished paper presented at the www.emcartsconference .org
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On the international labour productivity index, Jamaica ranks among the lowest. Over the last 30 years real per capita GDP increased at an average of just one percent per year, making Jamaica one of the slowest growing developing countries in the world2. High among the factors that restrain Jamaica’s economic growth and competitiveness is low worker output and this paper will advance some historical and cultural arguments as why this is so. The constantly, rapidly changing workplace of today requires a work force with the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, be creative, innovative and risk-­‐taking. The left brain, linear, analytical thinking that gave us the Information Age is now giving way to the right brain demands of the Conceptual Age, where empathy, inventiveness and artistry are most in demand. In The Harvard Business Review, 3 Katherine Bell stated that an “MFA is the new MBA!” She reports that: “Businesses are realizing that the only way to differentiate their goods and services in today’s overstocked, materially abundant marketplace is to make their offerings transcendent – physically beautiful and emotionally compelling.” In this paper I will present case studies from a range of countries and contexts which demonstrate the efficacy and growing acceptance of the arts and arts-­‐based strategies for enhancing worker satisfaction, innovation and workplace productivity. Gwynn, Eleanor, Cheryl Stevens, Melanie Dalton, Banner, Imani and Rondejia King North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, North Carolina, USA [email protected] Keeping the African and African American Traditions Alive: Dunham Technique Pushing the Limits Our presentation/panel discussion will include the following: a lecture/demonstration on Katherine Dunham, her life, technique and connection to Jamaica; the connection of Jamaican traditional dance to the Dance Major Program at NCA&T, and the importance of preserving Jamaican traditions. The conference focus, Growing the Arts: Breaking Boundaries is appropriate to the state of the arts in 2015. While it is important to make new waves, seek new ways to express the arts, draw new audiences, it is just as important to look back to the past and embrace our tradition. We have to know our purpose in order to move forward to the future. In spring of 2015, the E. Gwynn Dancers broke out of only presenting dances of Africa and the Caribbean. The purpose was to give a new look to the concert. We showcased Classical East Indian Dance combined with folk forms, hip hop and pop, by Rahul Ponnam calld “Bhangda (Bollywood)”. In “Talkatife”, by Sherone Price, Price blended traditional African dance, jazz and modern and the piece by Dr. Kemal Nance, “Only Dawg Wan Bone”, merged traditional Jamaican dance and vocabulary from the Umfundalai African dance technique created by Dr. Kariamu Welsh. The final work was a nontraditional dancehall piece based in part on the National Consultation on Culture and National Development, Ministry of Information and Culture, 1997. 2
World Bank Jamaica Overview, March 2015. http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/jamaica/overview. 3
Katherine Bell, “The MFA is the New MBA”, Harvard Business Review, February 2008. https://hbr.org/2008/04/the-­‐mfa-­‐is-­‐the-­‐new-­‐mba www.emcartsconference .org
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experiences of a senior dance major, Kristen Salas, who studied dance hall and traditional Jamaican dances in Kingston, Jamaica during the summer of 2014. Miss Salas combined modern, hip hop music and dance, afro Caribbean dance, and Jamaican folk dance. Although, we deviated from the norm for our company, we still embraced the African and African American culture with a dance from Guinea West Africa, “Soboninkun”, choreographed by Sherone Price and “Sweet” a modern/ballet choreographed by Jamie Thompson performed to a Nigerian spiritual. While the new dances broke boundaries, they were all grounded in the traditional dance forms allowing them to embrace the past and the present. Hall, Nadine
Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts
Jamaica [email protected] HEIRLOOMS installation is a reflection on my legacy, heritage and identity. The work depicts a celebration of my life, the influences and my journey as a textile artist and designer. It pays homage to my mother Hazel Veronica Beckett who passed in October 2013, whose life’s work as a dressmaker made an indelible impact on me. As a child, I used to watch my mother sew and I was fascinated by how she would get plain pieces of fabrics one day, and the next, they would be transformed into beautiful garments; I thought this was magical, and I wanted to create magic just like her. This installation celebrates who I am and what I have received as an inheritance -­‐ not as material objects -­‐ but as a legacy enshrined in everything textiles. The work explores the concept of heirlooms as memory, identity and legacy -­‐ which are conveyed through specific signifiers throughout the composition. The overall concept of the space represents a combination of patterns, forms, colours and contrasts, which together create a kind of wonderland – my happy place -­‐ me creating magic. Each element within the installation is endowed with its own symbolic significance, however, collectively they depict my life's story. After my mom’s passing I inherited one of her most prized possessions -­‐ a hand bag -­‐ not much for an inheritance, however, it serves as the only physical possession that still joins me to her and commemorates her memory. The female figures are the guardians and testators of the legacy inherited. The fibre balloons represent the intangible possessions such as memories and experiences; in some instances, all we inherit from our loved ones are treasured memories. The cracked pattern on the flooring represents a common ground -­‐ the fragility of our current existence. The repetition of circular forms reflects the unspoiled continuum of ritual that connects the past to the present, and the present to the future www.emcartsconference .org
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Harris, Michael Sean
Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts
Jamaica [email protected] Folkbeats and Blipspeak: An exploration of Jamaican folk culture against a landscape of electronic music Jamaica: A small Caribbean island, famous for reggae and athletics. However there also exists a vibrant and vast culture of folk songs, rhythms, children's games, sayings, dances and more. Folkbeats and Blipspeak fuses elements of this rich Jamaican folk culture with various electronic music styles and textures to create a new expression of Jamaican music. The output generated will inject even more diversity into the landscape of electronic music while providing a new, modern showcase for the folk music of the island nation. Using melodies and samples of field recordings taken by Dr Olive Lewin in the 1960s, the project seeks to bring the traditional folk music to a new audience. This is achieved using software for recording and sound design as well as editing and manipulating the field recordings. Many of the pieces are a mix of the manipulated field recordings as well as freshly recorded and sequenced material and also sound design using music synthesis techniques such as FM synthesis, and Granular synthesis among others. The pieces are also performed live using the digital audio workstation Ableton Live running on a MacBook Pro as the heart of the operation. Samples and pre recorded elements are launched and triggered win the aid of midi controllers communicating with Ableton-­‐ added to this, various live manipulations of my voice such as midi triggered vocal harmony with the VoiceLive 2 from TC Helicon and live recording and looping of live, effected vocals. Helidore, Shem and Shanell Forsythe School of Dance Graduates Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica The School of Dance will present works coming out of processes integral to a few of our full-­‐time courses (Independent Study, Performance & Repertory 1 and 2). From two of our BFA graduands, Shem Helidore and Shanell Forsythe, we will highlight the fruits of their Independent Study Process. Heliodore’s work, EMANATE investigates masculinity in the context of contemporary dance and Forsythe, in her work SIN-­‐ER-­‐JIE asks questions about the meeting of contemporary and dancehall dance techniques in the embodied dance persona. www.emcartsconference .org
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From Performance & Repertory 1, we will be presenting Neila Ebanks’ Love? Waltzing Around It, a work concerned with issues of gender-­‐based violence and from Performance & Repertory 2 comes Oniel Pryce’s Inner Mappings, a duet interrogating interior and exterior locations of identity. Hill, Phyllis Delta State University, USA [email protected] Hear the Children Cry: A Framework for Activist Art Pedagogy This paper reviews a social justice art education model implemented in a Jamaican school located in an inner city community. Created on the tenets of equity, activism and social literacy, this curriculum model sought to enable young people to develop a critical lens for analyzing inequities and collaborative action strategies to challenge injustice in their schools and communities, using the arts as a vital tool. Specifically the curriculum responded to the question “What are Jamaica’s most pressing social challenges and how can these be addressed through art pedagogy?” Students critically analyzed political and social understandings, attitudes and behaviors related to their social circumstances and created works of art to address these issues. The presentation will emphasize the arts as a mechanism to memorialize, critique and shape society; provide a framework for understanding social justice art education and activist art pedagogy; outline the curriculum model; describe the socio-­‐economic climate in which the curriculum was implemented and the need for such an educational approach; analyze the response of various agencies’ to the curriculum; outline future directions and explore adaptability of this curriculum model to other settings. Hickling, Deborah Ink & Vision Ltd. Jamaica [email protected] Public/Private: Whither the Twain Shall Meet in Contemporary Creative Economy Policy? A Caribbean Perspective; a Jamaican Case Study. Globally, variable attention is being paid to the emerging sectors within the Knowledge Economy. These include the productive, economic activities that are drawn from what the late Professor the Honourable Rex Nettleford called our ‘Creative Imagination’ -­‐ our talent, our heritage, culture, creativity, talent and traditions emerging from the deep recesses of our minds, hearts and spirits; in addition to our innovation from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Out of these, both the contemporary Creative Economy www.emcartsconference .org
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and STEM based industries have emerged. These emerging sub-­‐sectors have, traditionally, been given little prominence within Caribbean economic growth and national development models, despite their potential for accelerating both. In the late 20th and 21st century it has globally been demonstrated that in order to take advantage of the clear and present economic opportunities, and to develop the strategies and programmes to facilitate our creativity, talent and innovation; requires an integrated policy framework and the cooperative efforts of both the Caribbean private and public sectors. Throughout his career, Nettleford consistently made the case for the Caribbean region to take serious stock of our culture, creativity and innovation in advancing economic growth and development agendas. In his book Caribbean Cultural Identity; the foundational blueprint for the development of a culturally specific, public/private partnership approach to cultural and creative industries policy development; Nettleford said, “…it is the job of the entire nation of private individuals and public leaders working together in the process to attain the product." In the context of the variety of historical perceptions, practices and traditions that have historically seen it necessary to separate cultural and creative expressions and activity from government and governance; using Jamaica’s Cultural to CCI policy trajectory as case study; this paper will discuss critically, the efficacy of the public/private approach to CCI policy development in the Caribbean in the context of the Caribbean’s efforts at developing a cultural and creative industries policy framework as a principal driver in economic growth and social development, that has brought the region to its current efforts at formalizing a CARICOM position on CCI’s. Keywords: Creative Economy, STEM Industries, Cultural Industries, Creative Industries, Culturally specific, Developing Countries, public/private policy model, Nettleford, Creative Economy Policy Hutzel, Karen E., Acuff, Joni Boyd and Clarke, Omarthan Ohio State University U.S.A. [email protected] Building International Relationships through the Arts: Voices from Ohio on Experiences in Jamaica Two art education professors and an art education graduate student from The Ohio State University share their differing experiences engaging with Kingston, Jamaica through arts and cultural experiences. Their narratives shed light on the potential for arts and culture to 1) introduce new international experiences to local, authentic culture; 2) challenge tourist-­‐influenced stereotypes of locations, particularly vacation and tropical destinations; and 3) support cultural diplomacy through meaningful and relational international experiences. On a two-­‐week study abroad, the two art educators guided 12 undergraduate and graduate students to Kingston, Jamaica on a study abroad program. Some of the course objectives included: Be exposed www.emcartsconference .org
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to arts practices in schools and colleges in Jamaica by leading arts educators and cultural practitioners; Reflect on their own and others’ cultural identifiers as they relate to arts and cultural practices; and critically analyze Western representation of Caribbean identity, culture and art. The result of this program yielded not only transformative reflections for the art education students, which will be shared by a student during this presentation, but for the professors as well. They will share this narrative, delving into the social and cultural dynamics through engaging in a foreign country, and being challenged with local and differing ideas and ways of being. The presenters will share their interpretations of this experience and how it may feed into their educational and pedagogical frameworks in art education. Ikeche, Ozulumba Eric Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica [email protected] The Fate of Realistic Art in our Technological Age Over the centuries, artists have chosen, attempted and created works of art to mimic or represent nature as forms of aesthetics. The reason behind this representational appeal may derive from innate desire to partake, though in a lesser degree, in the task of creation of reality, as creative beings, and to demonstrate the optimal proficiency and dexterity of the artist to willfully evoke desired emotions on audiences. Then, realistic arts served as measure of wealth as the nobles would sit before an artist for portraiture and immense efforts would be spent to immortalize the greats of an era. The question is, “what will be the fate of realistic art in our contemporary technological age-­‐-­‐ with its flexibility and possibilities?” The focus of this paper is on realism as it pertains to fine art. The paper will explore the fate of realistic art from two perspectives: the aesthetics, and the market perspectives. First, the paper explores whether the contemporary art audience still expresses the same emotionality towards realistic drawings, paintings, and sculptures as did the audiences before the technological age. This exploration into the persona of the contemporary audience becomes imperative due to the evolution and availability of technologies capable of reproducing nature in a more realistic way better than the average artist. Second, perhaps a corollary of the first, the paper examines whether a market exists for realistic art in our contemporary age. Do our contemporary artists have clients for portraiture or for other realistic art expressions? Does our society still commission the artist to immortalize our heroes and heroines? The methodology of enquiry and data collection includes the generation of primary and secondary data through survey and review of existing literatures. www.emcartsconference .org
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Jaco, Ayesha Northeastern Illinois University Jacob Carruthers Center For Inner-­‐City Studies Chicago IL Sankofa: Move Me Soul, Mentoring and Creating Change Teens and young adults will present a 30-­‐minute dance performance entitled: Sankofa including Curtis Suite and Sour, Fela, Ailey Suite and Roll Call. This performance is in tribute to Alvin Ailey, Fela Kuti and Curtis Mayfield and the next generation of young artists. The company will showcase contemporary movement that fuses Modern, Jazz and West African dance styles to honor the music and legacy of Ailey, Kuti and Mayfield. We acknowledge that these artists used their genre of performance to highlight social issues that plagued their respective communities and the world while providing solutions simultaneously. Our presentation will conclude with a new piece choreographed by youth dancers who represent the next generation of artists who use their artistic platform to pose questions that lead to change. John, Arielle and Danielle Lewis Trinidad & Tobago [email protected] Miss Behave An interrogation of the visual privileging of lighter skinned persons within Caribbean Carnival celebrations as they are regarded as more marketable in the sale of Carnival costumes, photos and other such associated paraphernalia. The overwhelming exclusivity of the many Carnival bands in parade with the barrage of VIP, V-­‐
VIP sections, serve to divide persons based on the premise of protecting the "well-­‐behaved" from the "not-­‐so-­‐
well-­‐behaved". This practice that comes with heavy colour and class undertones, runs contrary to the historical defiance that Carnival originates in, and serves quite the irony in how we consider the festival as a time of ‘breaking-­‐away’ from the status quo. This exercise in question-­‐raising, done through performance, will invoke Trinbagonian performance style, ritual, spoken word poetry and music. Jones, Calvin Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School US Virgin Island [email protected] Folk Music Preservation and Perpetuation: School Based Music Folk Groups In 2003, the 25th Legislature of the Virgin Islands passed Bill No. 25-­‐0056, which designates “Quelbe” as the official music of the United States Virgin Islands and requires that it be taught in the public schools. But like most legislation, it was unfunded and the music continued to fade into obscurity. In 2010 I decided to form the www.emcartsconference .org
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“Flambo Combo” at the Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School to diversify the music program and create an avenue for preserving our cultural musical heritage through our students. As in many African based societies, traditions and history are passed down orally. The songs and music of quelbe are packed with stories and historical accounts of events in the development of the Virgin Islands. Many of these songs and events reside in the heads of our culture bearers like Stanley Jacobs and Eldred “Edgie” Christian. In researching and interviewing these individuals I discovered a colleague, Valrica Bryson had started a similar project. Collaboration of these programs has produced very successful students, events, new music, and raised public awareness and excitement. The focus of this demonstration is to show how the masters of the art were able to enlighten and empower students to learn, create, and notate the genre. Finally to show how the students then took the quelbe to the people, especially their peers and received overwhelming acceptance releasing their first CD with traditional and original music. Jones, Laura Lee Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica laura-­‐[email protected] Remembering Moon & I Designs (Ireko Baker and Ritula Frankel) Preconceived notions of the value of the arts and the seemingly lack of viability, sustainability and income generation capacity are in most cases hinged on the fact that very little data is collected that substantiates the value of the arts. In fully realizing the theme for the 2015 conference individuals, participants, artists, designers and the wider society must be made aware of the strides that have been made progressively in post independent Jamaica. Upcoming artist and designer must be made aware of the foundation that has been set by other pioneers and hence chart new paths, overcome challenges and help inform policies that will help to foster the viability and sustainability of the arts. This presentation follows on from the presentation made in 2013 that sought to highlight, document and give credence to those artists and designers who laid foundations in area that we plan to focus on throughout this conference especially in relation to themes that explore the business of art; arts in tourism and economic development; art, well-­‐being and healing; arts and identities. The arts for too many creatives are still a “labour of love.” Passion not profit, is the driving force. To realize real sustainability this trend must change. In 1990 through a project funded by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), facilitated through the Productivity Unit of JAMPRO and with a focus on design led products, textile artists Ireko Baker and Ritula Frankel were among the group of artist / designers who were engaged to help bridge the gap between artists, the use of technology and a charting a new direction in industry (specifically the fashion and gift and craft industry). www.emcartsconference .org
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Ritula and Ireko created textile products that were hand painted on silks, cottons and other fabrics that reflected a strong Caribbean theme. They were instrumental in helping to establish the retail store called Nanny’s Yard at Devon House and their textiles were among several Jamaican collections that were showcased at Prêt-­‐à-­‐Porter in the early to mid-­‐1990s. Ritula passed on earlier this year in Germany however Ireko (now an elder) continues to use his creative expression in the way he knows best as a form of healing and creating well-­‐being, creating identity, and charting business and economic development opportunities. Koywenberg, Silvia, Michèle Kennedy, Joan Spencer-­‐Ernandez and Yewande Lewis-­‐Fokum University of the West Indies, Mona Jamaica [email protected] Reviving the art of speaking English in Jamaica’s primary schools This paper will outline the concerns which led to the development, as a joint initiative of linguists and education specialists at UWI Mona, of a training programme for primary school literacy teachers. It will, further, outline the main content areas of that training programme and its objectives. This initiative comes against the background of Grade Four Literacy Test (G4LT) results which, over the past several years, have improved but very slowly and continue to lag well behind the national goal of 85% mastery on the G4LT. It considers the fact that many G4 children’s written English is characterized by a lack of expressive vocabulary, much variability in the application of rules of English grammar, and a complete avoidance of complex constructions. In effect, this kind of writing indicates a competence level that allows only for “a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters” to use the characterization of a “Basic User” in the reference scale commonly used for second language learners. The tragedy of this finding is that many children will fail to progress beyond that level, and that this will have a profound impact on their overall chances at academic success. At the same time, they are discouraged from expressing themselves in the native language, Jamaican (Creole), in which they possess a broader range of vocabulary, and are able to use rules of grammar and complex grammatical constructions with confidence. Given that oral competence logically precedes written competence, and that the latter cannot progress without the former, we argue that oral competence must be embraced as part of literacy development. We point out that a narrow focus on pronunciation and its expression in “correct” spelling forms stands in the way of the development of confidence in speech, and that emphasis must therefore be placed on vocabulary development and an understanding of the rules of grammar which make English and Jamaican distinctly different. www.emcartsconference .org
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Layne, Michael Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica [email protected] Year 5: Transition Expressions of intent to pursue a career in the visual arts very often unsettle family members friends and peers. Persons from whom sponsorship for such an education is expected or requested may become quite concerned and need to be satisfied that this is a viable career option. The key question "how are you going to eat?" gives way to the more polite " Are there many jobs available in the visual arts?" The prospective student then finds him or herself struggling to give a satisfactory answer. Vague sounding responses are usually given until someone say or suggest "one could always teach and do art on the side". That response somehow soothes but does not put the concern to rest. Throughout the four years of study this scenario will be played out periodically, particularly in the final year. The fact that this issue remains persistent is due in part to the complex nature of the visual arts evidenced by its indefinite and unspecified boundaries. Key to this is perhaps the nature of what is considered as " tangible evidences" of economic viability when compared to the more commonly pursued fields. The eclectic nature of art production and practice suggest that this is not a "problem" that one can "fix". However those who make it their business to train visual artists must also make it their business to enable appropriate responses. It may very well mean that a transitional pathway through year five needs to be given consideration. This pathway could range from specially designed projects at key points throughout the course of study to sponsored one year programmes after graduation. Whatever the chosen option, visual arts students must be able to answer the question with confidence and the relevant institutions of learning must actively engage in a process that will enable them. Layne, Asha Coppin State University U.S.A. [email protected] Community, Racial, and Ethnic Differences and the Subtypes of Intimate Partner Violence: An Application of Social Disorganization Theory The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between community and racial differences and the subtypes of domestic violence. Social disorganization theory was used in this analysis to measure the mediating effects SES, and residential turnover has in domestic violence. Through an analysis of National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) 2010 data, this study focused on one population of domestic violence: violent resistance. Weighted sampling was used in this study to gain theoretical and practical significance in a www.emcartsconference .org
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U.S. probability sample of 831,664 respondents. Results from logistic regression reveal substantial support for the relationships hypothesized in this current study. The results suggest that community differences and race/ethnicity are important predictors for violent resistance. This study noted that domestic violence should be categorized into subtypes to better understand patterns of victimization. The above results support existing literature explaining that domestic violence is not a unitary phenomenon but is multidimensional. This study explains that reducing domestic violence will require state and community based interventions designed to address intimate terrorism and violent resistance respectively. Keywords: community differences, domestic violence, violent resistance, NCVS, and social disorganization. Lee Quee, Susan Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica susan.lee-­‐[email protected] Jack Of All Trades, Master Of Many: Promoting The Changing Role Of The Designer The increasing demand for designers to be a 'jack of all trades' plus work through a never-­‐ending list of responsibilities has led to a call for collaboration across design disciplines. Professional design titles are sounding more like double barrel names, for example designer/illustrator, designer/animator, designer/web developer, designer/marketer and designer/social media specialist. The demand for designers with isolated skills has steadily decreased; instead industry requires designers to be more interdisciplinary in their approach and their product. This unobtrusive intermixing of disciplines has been the current driver responsible for the evolving labour force in the Creative industries. With this growing demand from the creative industry, coupled with the dynamic shift away from designers with isolated skills, how will designers stay relevant? How can designers master being a successful and competent Jack of all trades? As design educators what can we do to ensure student designers are ready for this shift? www.emcartsconference .org
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Leitch, Stephanie University of Porto/WOMANTRA, Trinidad & Tobago [email protected] Indian Mas’: The Revival of Indigenous Memory Indian Mas’ is one of the oldest traditions of Trinidad Carnival. The Red and Black Indian still feature prominently in the parade and competitions of traditional characters and have also largely influenced the mainstream Carnival costumes of ‘pretty mas’. There has however been a marked shift in how band-­‐leaders are conscientiously incorporating indigenous traditions, peoples and messages in their formulations of mas’-­‐ seen in Jouvay Ayiti’s “Aranda Ponhara” trilogy, which supports the call of indigenous peoples’ for reparations and Vulgar Fraction’s Black Indian mas’, which includes the participation of indigenous peoples located outside of Trinidad’s borders and aspects of their ceremony and chanting. This work is part of a wider dialogue with the indigenous community and their allies around the rightful place of indigenous peoples in Trinidadian memory, as well as the contemporary cultural and political landscape. Despite a more recent, formal articulation around Indian mas’ and indigenous identity, there is a longstanding tradition that situates ‘Black Indians’ as the product of miscegenated maroonage, which is essential to our formulations of indigeneity, Blackness and ‘dougla poetics’ or the Spanish ‘panyols’ who affirmed their indigenous identity through playing the ‘Red Indian’. This multimedia presentation will explore these dimensions and their impact on the re-­‐
memorialization of indigenous culture at an important political moment in Trinidad & Tobago’s history. Layne, Glenda-­‐Rose Coordinator / Director for Culture, in the Tobago House of Assembly Trinidad & Tobago [email protected] Arts for Social Transformation Traditionally in the Caribbean elderly persons were part of the extended family ; they were expected to mentor the young family members, and their children cared for them, however with the dawn of Globalization, industrialization and education for all, this pattern have changed many of our elderly are now placed in Homes for the Aged. Another changing phenomenon is the use of social spaces to accommodate the elderly or retirees these social spaces are a positive game changer not only in the Caribbean but all over the world: these activity centres as they are called have increased socializing for retirees and have given the elderly something to look forward to on an on-­‐going basis In recognition that the Arts can be used as a tool for Social Transformation at all levels the department would have encouraged and implemented projects that speaks directly to Art, Wellbeing and Healing; e.g.: Arts for www.emcartsconference .org
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the Aging (AFTA) Program, Arts for Social Transformation, Phenomenal Women in the Arts, and empowerment and enabling the disabled through the arts these projects are reaping great rewards through their success stories; held in spaces such as the Homes for the Aged, the Activity centres, School for the Hearing Impaired, school for persons with disabilities and in communities these programs have creating the impact that they are meant to. The programs are proposed and implemented by the staff of the Division of Community Development and Culture in collaboration with other practitioners and is built on the philosophy that the Arts can Socially Transformed life in a positive manner. My Presentation will be based on this philosophy and will share success stories through the use video demonstrations and power point presentations. Mannathukkaren, Nissim Dalhousie University Canada [email protected] The Arts, Propaganda and Political Emancipation This paper will explore the themes of the arts, propaganda and political emancipation by looking a case study of the communist movement in the Indian state of Kerala. Kerala was the first region of a significant size to democratically elect a communist government. The communist hegemony and the imagination of a new world based on equality was made possible substantially by a popular movement in the arts encompassing literature, poetry, theatre, folk arts, etc. While the arts became propaganda, it also overcame the split that existed between the subaltern/people and the elite/intellectual spheres for centuries. The new aesthetic which was inaugurated not only undermined the feudalistic imagination but also questioned the bourgeois aesthetic which had become dominant since colonial modernity. The culture of expertise and the aestheticist conception of "art for art's sake," with its total separation from the life of the masses and the hermeneutics of everyday communication, broke down. A new world was inaugurated where beauty was sought to be linked with truth and justice. While political emancipation was achieved, there were dissonances as well: intense debates and conflicts about the limits of the politicization of the arts and the political commitment of writers and poets took place. This paper will be based on original archival and field research. www.emcartsconference .org
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Martinez, Cristiano and Keisha Martinez University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad & Tobago [email protected] Music Therapy And Restoration-­‐ The Use Of Music Education And Therapy In Rehabilitation And Reintegration Of Criminal Offenders Board-­‐certified music therapist and restorative practitioner Keisha Martinez will present evidence of the benefits of music and music therapy programmes that have been implemented at five correctional facilities in Trinidad and Tobago. She will be joined by her husband, Cristiano Martinez, a former inmate at the juvenile detention centre, who was himself heavily involved in music programmes, and has been hailed by prison authorities as a "remarkable" success in his journey of rehabilitation and reintegration. The presentation will include a description and research background of neurologic music therapy as an allied health profession, including some supporting scientific principles; a discussion of the differences between music education and therapy; and scientific evidence of the positive use of these programmes in similar facilities worldwide. The presenters will also discuss the goals and objectives of Trinidad’s music programmes, including the music education programme at the Maximum Security Prison and Youth Training Centre; the music degree programme presented in conjunction with a local university; and the music therapy programme presented at several prisons and residential youth homes. Also included will be a brief discussion of restorative practices, and the integration of the arts within this field, including possibilities for the use of art and dance therapy. There will be demonstrations of goal-­‐oriented musical activities used in these programmes, brief presentation of two therapy case studies, and audio-­‐visual presentation of material created by program participants. Mr. Martinez will also speak of his own rehabilitation journey, and in particular, participation in music ensembles and drama competitions during his incarceration. He will also speak of the difficulties of reintegrating into society after youth detention, and the possibilities of using the arts and art therapy to assist other young people attempting this transition process. McIntyre, Amanda Engine Design Studios/WOMANTRA Trinidad & Tobago [email protected] Poster Art as Activism Poster Art is utilized by WOMANTRA and Engine Design Studios as a tool of activism. WOMANTRA is a Caribbean based feminist organization with a focus on woman centred: scholarship, activism and social programs. Engine Design Studios is a Trinidad based provider of products and services in direction and design. The company includes as part of its mission,activism and other projects towards community development. www.emcartsconference .org
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In November 2014 WOMANTRA launched the ‘Silent Silhouettes Poster Campaign’ in recognition of International Day to End Violence Against Women. In April 2015 WOMANTRA collaborated with Engine Design Studios in response to Tatyana Fazlalizadeh’s global poster campaign, ‘Stop Telling Women to Smile;’ an initiative against street harassment. Engine Design Studios is currently planning another poster art activism campaign to be launched in mid-­‐ 2015. As part of the planning process the studio is questioning the effectiveness of poster art in awareness campaigns, with consideration given to factors in the production of the posters such as: the representational politics of: the composition of the teams(class, age, sex, gender and race), the design of the posters(the selected visual elements and the antecedent work in copy), the areas selected for installations, the ways in which mounting teams are organized and mobilized, and the targeted demographics. These considerations are towards developing ways of determining the scope of the campaigns in terms of the amount of persons reached and the effect of the campaign on those persons. We are documenting for presentation our: process, methods of assessment and findings. Methods to be applied in this social experiment include: tests within samples of the targeted demographic before and during the campaign, quantification of online reach by mapping visits to various online sites highlighted on the posters and a review of a series workshops geared towards the targeted demographic. McGilchrist, Olivia Canada ‘Jonkonnu / Gens inconnus’ Materials: 3x 3min. video sequences with sound, oculus rift, headphones, wooden structure Website: www.oliviamcgilchrist.com “You do not stand in one place to watch a masquerade” -­‐-­‐-­‐An Igbo saying 1 A cube-­‐-­‐-­‐shaped pine box with decorative engravings atop a wooden structure houses an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset in which the viewer interacts with a three screen video installation of traditional Jamaica Carnival ‘Jonkonnu’ performers. As the viewer puts on the Rift, she / he enters a 3D space in which the audio-­‐-­‐-­‐visual sequences reveal snippets of the performance from both sides of the mask by proxy of a GoPro head mounted camera worn by the band members. Across the Caribbean, Jonkonnu was a festival created by the enslaved themselves; as a gesture of resistance. Although the more traditional forms are slowly dying, the power of Jonkonnu remains, albeit Jamaica’s current economic hardship. www.emcartsconference .org
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“ The story must be told. There must be no lies” (Trinh T. Minh-­‐-­‐-­‐Ha, Women-­‐-­‐-­‐Native-­‐-­‐-­‐Other) I refer to ‘The Enclave’ (2013); Irish artist Richard Mosse’s 6 screen video installation with sound by Ben Frost. I refer to Jamaican scholar Stuart Hall’s delineation of post-­‐-­‐-­‐colonial identity, which he sees “as a 'production', which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation.” 2 I refer to Barbadian writer Kamau Brathwaite’s ‘tidalectics’; an “alter-­‐-­‐-­‐native historiography to linear models of colonial progress”.3 ‘Jonkonnu / Gens inconnus’ makes a relational notion of ‘otherness’ available, activated through the viewer's interaction with the work. The deconstruction and reconstruction of identities will be suggested but not consumed. “In certain parts of the Americas colonized by the English and built with the labour of Africans and their descendants, the holiday season at the end of the year was once – and in some areas still is – celebrated by parading bands of masqueraders whose danced processions created an ambiguous, highly charged space of their own. These outdoor performances by enslaved Africans amused, mystified, and discomfited the Europeans who observed and wrote about them during the nineteenth century. The loud drumming and singing, “wild” dancing, and “extravagant” costumes topped with horned animal masks and towering headdresses overloaded the senses of these white onlookers, and suggested to them something inscrutably and dangerously African, even when certain European elements could be recognized within the unfamiliar mix. Unlike the pre-­‐-­‐-­‐Lenten Catholic carnivals that were appropriated and refashioned by Africans in several parts of the Americas, this was a festival created by the enslaved themselves. Overtime it was accepted by the ruling whites, who came to view it as a necessary evil – a kind of safety valve through which the simmering tensions on slave plantations could be periodically released and kept from exploding. In certain parts of the Caribbean and Central America, variants of this enigmatic festival are still practiced. Indeed, this Christmas and New Year’s festival, known as Jankunu (John Canoe, Jonkonnu, Junkanoo, John Kuner) has, for some, become a powerful symbol of a surviving African “spirit” in the English-­‐-­‐-­‐
speaking Americas.”4 1 Quote taken from Clifford, J (2002) Histories of the Tribal and the Modern in: Pinder,K (ed) Race-­‐-­‐-­‐ing Art History. Routeledge. London 2
Stuart Hall, 'Cultural Identity and Diaspora' in Rutherford, J. (1990) Identity, Community, Culture, Difference. Laurence and Wishart. London. www.emcartsconference .org
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3
Kenneth Bilby, SURVIVING SECULARIZATION: MASKING THE SPIRIT IN THE JANKUNU (JOHN CANOE) FESTIVALS OF THE CARIBBEAN New West Indian Guide Vol. 84, no. 3-­‐-­‐-­‐4 (2010), pp. 179-­‐-­‐-­‐223 4
Elizabeth DeLoughrey quoted in Llenín-­‐-­‐-­‐Figueroa C.B.(2012), Imagined Islands: A Caribbean Tidalectics. Duke University. McKenzie, Alecia, Marcia Douglas, Loretta Collins-­‐Klobah France, Jamaica and Puerto Rico [email protected] Children And Art: What We Learn From Our Mothers CHILDREN AND ART: WHAT WE LEARN FROM OUR MOTHERS I recently came across this quote: "little girls with dreams become women with vision”. With help, they also become leaders and builders. So how do mothers who are artists pass on their own vision of the world to their daughters and sons? I would like to propose a group exhibition, with literary and critical readings, from mothers and their children who are all artists. The participants would include three artists, with their own work as well as artwork that they’ve done with their daughters. As October is the month in which the United Nations’ International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated, the exhibition would focus on “the importance of investing in and empowering girls” and the role that mothers / artists play in this. Through art, we wish to launch a discussion about the portrayal of girls and women in society and how artists can contribute to the goal of ending discrimination and violence against women. The exhibition would feature artwork that also examines how girls see themselves, what both girls and boys learn from their mothers, and the issue of possible gender bias and its impact on girls’ lives. “Together, we must create a world where violence against women and girls is never tolerated and girls are always empowered to reach their full potential, " UN Secretary-­‐General Ban Ki-­‐moon has said. Artists could have a huge role in helping to create this world, as we intend to show with the exhibition, which will feature writer-­‐artists Marcia Douglas, Loretta Collins-­‐Klobah and Alecia McKenzie. Prof. Douglas will be the presenter in Kingston, and McKenzie and Collins-­‐Klobah will participate via pre-­‐recorded video – for a three-­‐way dialogue between Kingston, Paris and Puerto Rico, all places where the themes have significance. www.emcartsconference .org
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Paris is the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and girls' education has been a priority for the current Director General Irina Bokova, who will be asked to send an official message. Originator / Coordinator: Alecia McKenzie http://aleciamckenzie.wix.com/home Meeks, Amina Blackwood Jamaica [email protected] Growing Pains: The Weeds And The Tears The wearying debate about the value of the arts has been made unnecessarily complex and as potentially Traumatic as what to do with the sugar industry. Sell it? Resuscitate it? Euthanize it? Why is this discussion even relevant in a society in which Theatre Arts is an elective for exit exams from secondary school? Why does it need to be addressed by the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in a conference in the name of the venerable Professor the Hon. Rex Nettleford? This contribution to this debate is by way of raising questions about the type of arts that flourish without boundaries or governmental interference and does not lack of private sector financing. We argue that the kinds of arts that face continued resistance and drought are those that interrogate the status quo and offers antidotes from artistic GMO’s and chikv in a society that resists admitting its illness as a condition for growing its cure. We further argue for the whole education system to overhaul its treatment of the arts in a way which lifts it out of being simply drivers of the curriculum, dressings for the aesthetic value, icing or ice breakers and accord it its rightful place as content in the entire process of revaluing and healing Jamaicans. This process is also about the growing of Jamaican the citizens who are able to locate themselves as teachers, leaders and healers whose mission is to use their art to confront the cultural and spiritual counterparts of chikv and GMO, imported or locally produced, that are injurious to who we are and a threat to what we wish to become. www.emcartsconference .org
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Meikle, Tracian University of Amsterdam Netherlands [email protected] Art and Criminal Sovereignty – Visual Traditions of Power in Inner-­‐City Kingston, Jamaica Criminal authority figures maintain power by garnering support of local populations through different methods, including the provision of public goods and services, protection through violence and extra-­‐legal systems of justice and by forming ties with legitimate actors; or in a more forceful manner through coercion and intimidation with violence. However, there is also an aesthetic dimension in this maintenance of power and legitimation that is not sufficiently explored by scholars who research criminal authority. Conversely, there is also a paucity of research within aesthetic studies on the relationship between these illicit leaders and visual culture. My research seeks to connect these two fields – criminal authorities and aesthetics, through an exploration of the iconization of dons in art present throughout inner-­‐city communities in Kingston, Jamaica. By placing these visual images, especially memorial murals, within and not distinct from other social relationships in the communities that are controlled by dons, one can better understand its impact in the mediation of relationships that help to build the support for donmanship. In a bid to explore these networks, my methodology focuses strongly on in-­‐depth analysis of the different actors within the aesthetic community created by the visual images related to donmanship, but also on the relationships between them, and the wider structure in which these relationships are embedded, using two don-­‐led Kingston inner-­‐city communities as case studies. This leads to an understanding of the relationship of art, as a form of popular culture, to the legitimation of local criminal authorities and the broader shaping of community identity and governance. Meza-­‐Murillo, Lina U.S.A. [email protected] Art Therapy Strategies for Traumatized Children The workshop will introduce a brief overview of art therapy and will explore the benefits of utilizing art therapy with children diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The analysis focuses on an individual case study of a child who was able to use the metaphor of the art to tell her story in a safe and non-­‐
threatening manner. Students will be invited to participate in an experiential exercise which will provide a hands on approach and understanding of art therapy interventions used with this population. Participants will become acquainted with art therapy interventions used with a PTSD child. Participants will be able to take home 3 art therapy directives to use with a traumatized child. Participants will leave the workshop with a broader understanding of the challenges that occur with this population. www.emcartsconference .org
Montague, Leta L. M. Empowered Women of Hope Canada [email protected]
L. M. Empowered Women of Hope, established in 2010, was born out of a need to meet with all women of various backgrounds. The association is made up of a group of women who believe that the woman is a core component of the home. Therefore, it strives to provide continuous and sustainable support to women either in or coming out of difficult situations so they can remain mentally healthy, build their self awareness, add strength to the family, impact their communities, empower and lend their support to other women thereby contributing to everyone’s well being. The association’s purpose is twofold: First, to provide education and sustainable skills to women so they can either enter or re-­‐enter the workforce; and second, to learn, grow and develop through the creative arts to prosper, heal, laugh, feel safe and most of all to hope again. The second component of the association is the youth arm -­‐ L. M. Empowered Youths of Hope Association, provides a 10-­‐month youth development program focused on Mentoring for Change. This program has four components. First, it focuses on young women and girls, who are at-­‐risk to build self-­‐esteem, provide positive social, recreational, and educational activities. Second, it focuses on employment and leadership skills for young women. Third, it focuses on graduating girls giving back to the program by mentoring younger girls in the program and fourth, it encourages active participation in the creative and recreational club activities such as the cultural, music, creative writing, photography, and drama or travel club. Montague, Masani, Canada Building Communities Through The Arts There is a need for a well-­‐rounded ethnographic study on Rastafari in Canada. While there is a plethora of literature on Rastafari there is a severe lack of research that looks at the Rastafarian communities in Canada. I will draw from my thirty-­‐eight years as a Rastafarian activist in Toronto and Jamaica while working on the First International Rastafari Conference held in Toronto in 1982; the Second International Rastafari Conference held in Jamaica in 1983; Voice of Thunder: Dialogue with Nyah Elders held at York University in 1984 and the annual arts and culture Toronto festivals, Rastafest and Sistahfest. The research is designed to not only make a meaningful contribution to Rastafari Pedagogy and Rastology but also to inspire other Rastafarian scholars to take Rastafarian research to a new level. Some of the primary themes and ideas that I will explore are: the growth and development of the Rastafarian community in Toronto and its relationship with the black community; the significant changes in the black and Rastafarian communities in Toronto for the past forty years and building the Rastafarian community in Toronto using community arts practice. Thus, my research question is: How do you build a community through the arts? In exploring the research question I will use my field experience in Jamaica and Toronto to document the evolving Rastafari movement in Toronto. www.emcartsconference .org
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Montoya-­‐Stemann, Elizabeth Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica [email protected] Growing the Speech Arts This presentation forms part of a study of some of the issues related to oral language use when student performers at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, School of Drama, perform a poetical text in Standard Jamaican English (SJE). The presentation is on student performers’ educational background in the sociolinguistic context of Jamaica. This will include a consideration of the primary and secondary schools attended by the students, the National Education Inspectorate school reports, the students’ CXC English grades and the primary and secondary school English language curriculum. These elements will be considered in light of the sociolinguistic context in which the students developed their linguistic competence. From an analysis of educational assessment in Jamaican primary and secondary schools, it was observed that little emphasis is placed on the oral use of SJE. The complex sociolinguistic background present in the school and community environment contributes to a lack of exposure to the oral use of English. This is an important factor that affects the state of their linguistic oral competence in the Standard. This result will be linked to the student performers’ self reported low confidence levels when performing in SJE and the reasons given by them. These findings suggest the need for an intervention to improve oral English language competence in order to advance students’ career prospects in an environment where English is a requirement. Moore, Carla University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica [email protected] Money Pull Up And The Video Light: ‘Gwaanin’ Up’ as Artistry, Resistance and Personhood in the Jamaican Dancehall This paper considers the Jamaican dancehall as a dual site of performance: artistic performances of music and dance, and dramatic performances of the self through costuming and conspicuous consumption of brand name items which are interrogated as acts of personhood within an image driven capitalist tending economy. These performances, this paper suggests, are prompted by the geographies of the dancehall: it’s physical geography which replicates theatre in the round, and the mental geographies or psychoscape of its participants which recall plantation era spirit possession ceremonies in which the enslaved transformed into masked/unmasked versions of themselves through adornment and role play. In this way the dancehall is www.emcartsconference .org
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located within genealogies of spiritual-­‐ artistic sites such as those on the plantation, entertainment-­‐ritual sites such as the Juke Joint, and Caribbean experiential/performance art sites such as Carnival (see: Minshall). It is further suggested that the activities in the dancehall are modified by the presence of video cameras which offer space in a digital memory to persons subject to technologies of black erasure such as incarceration, ghettoization, and death. This digital memory urges new levels of performativity as the versions of the self stored therein can transcend the absolute limit situations of life in the Jamaican inner cities; a transcendence that is impossible for many participants in their lived realities. As such these selves may become the ‘true’ self in places such as the UK, Japan and on Youtube. In this way the Jamaican dancehall space and its accompanying artistic undertakings become sites of resistance, rebellion, cultural preservation and personhood. This paper draws on African performance theory (Hutton, 2007),Dancehall theory (Niaah, 2010, Cooper, 1994), Fashion Theory (Bakare-­‐Yusuf, 2006) and studies of surveillance/geography (Foucault, 1979, McKittrick, 2006). Morejón, Jorge Luis University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad & Tobago [email protected] Dance and Movement as Therapy: Formulating a Comprehensive Rational for Embodied Healing Practices. The formulation of a comprehensive rational for Dance Movement Therapy, DMT, in terms of dance and movement as therapy, is very important in order to understand its aesthetic, physiological, psychological, and cultural impact on the growth of the Arts field. Ultimately, it is in the articulation of a comprehensive approach, inclusive of the above elements, that the DMT practice may find the actual tools with which to overcome the conceptual disparities of the world’s diverse health systems and expand from there. The most progressive health systems are still in the process of accepting and/or reassembling alternative ways of doing psychotherapies utilizing artistically creative processes such as DMT. This paper attempts to put together these elements in order to make sense of the integration of Dance Movement Therapy’s theory and practice as one possible way to explain how DMT can affect the well being of individuals and communities in terms of their understanding of beauty and creativity. To be able to make sense of such proposition, this study starts by analyzing different creative artistic alternatives to be able to find an explanatory thread that can help to illustrate DMT’s health benefits. Important concepts such as play, aesthetic expression, kinesthetic empathy, attunement and cultural resonance trail the way through the main arguments of the paper. Consequently, this study gives clear ideas as to how to gradually facilitate a creative process that could eventually allow clients to develop a sense of belonging to a specific space and time as they recognize the self in dance. While mirroring the dancing metaphors inherent to their own communities and culture, clients and therapists may be able to convey through their own experience the importance of the Arts, specifically dance and movement, in the development of new scientifically proven therapeutic and rehabilitative treatments. www.emcartsconference .org
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National Gallery of Jamaica Jamaica [email protected]
Young Talent 2015 The National Gallery of Jamaica is pleased to present Young Talent 2015, an exhibition which features ten artists living in and from Jamaica and under forty years old, namely: Greg Bailey, Alicia Brown, Katrina Coombs, Di-­‐Andre Caprice Davis, Monique Gilpin, Domanie Hong, Howard Myrie, Richard Nattoo, Avagay Osborne, and Cosmo Whyte. The exhibition will open on Sunday, August 30, 2015 and will be on view at the National Gallery until November 14, 2015. To support what is presently an exceptionally energetic and innovative contemporary art scene in Jamaica, the National Gallery now intends to present Young Talent exhibitions every two years, in the years alternating with the Jamaica Biennial. For the present exhibition, Young Talent 2015, the National Gallery opened the selection process with a call for submissions and entries were received from thirty-­‐five artists, from which ten were selected. While most of the selected artists already have an exhibition record, Howard Myrie, Avagay Osborne, and Domanie Hong have just graduated from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, which continues to be the main engine for development and innovation in Jamaican art. Some of the artists in this exhibition will participate in an Artist Talk. Ostiana, Jermain Curacao [email protected] The Black Decolonial Immaculate, Riding Art for Real Caribbean People's Power Dancing to hypocrisy riddims ridiculing prime ministers, politicians but at the same time protecting bank CEOs, economic, financial elite and colonial overseas geo-­‐political governance from critical analysis mirrors the policing of opinions and actions that are constructed to keep Caribbean capitalism intact and thriving. The black working class survivalist mode hinders the momentum to rise up against the structural underdevelopment of the creolized power hierarchies. Reversing the societal genocide, art must serve as the black labor class counter-­‐power, questioning, criticizing, actively engaging in unsilencing the intellectual, academic, political and monetary spheres. Art scenarios mapping the status quo squads, sliding away from starvation wages through popular political education strengthens the liberation hustle to build fortitude and bring forth systematic change within the Caribbean communities. Art from a humanitarian approach disrupts whiteness, regional economic violence and replaces the financial University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad regimes with economic justice frame works and www.emcartsconference .org
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communal accountability mechanisms to redistribute the wealth. Creating spaces of art where socio-­‐political self determination can flourish and foster real people power are the angles of attention from a mind state experienced in Curaçao. Jermain Ostiana is a working class member of Curaçao utilizing art, writings, poetry, social media and every day life struggles to invoke new black decolonial liberation futures in the Caribbean. Owens, Julian Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA [email protected] Musics Energy: The Message in the Music Youth spend a significant amount of time on the Internet, often more than seven and half hours a day, engaged in social media and accessing digital music multimedia. Consequently, they are impacted by popular culture and peer pressure with documented effects on health and educational attainment. Interventions that mitigate negative influences of popular youth music multimedia (PYMM) could have significant personal and public health benefits. Furthermore, harnessing the learning opportunities associated with use of popular media could have positive effects on education. The purpose of this presentation is to present findings from an action research study which focused on high-­‐risk adolescents growing up in the digital entertainment age attending an after-­‐school program serving students at the intersection of race and poverty. The purpose of the study was to determine key stakeholders’ perceptions of an arts-­‐integrated curriculum called MusicsEnergy: The Message in the Music [ME-­‐MIM] and to assess the implementation implications of this proposed approach to teaching and learning. ME-­‐MIM consists of seven modules implemented over 24 sessions, using PYMM as the content to teach a variety of skills including promoting healthy choices, reducing problem behaviors and increasing student’s engagement in learning. Semi-­‐structured interviews and focus groups provided the data collection and data were triangulated with artifacts from the school and the program; member checks were performed. The constant comparative method was employed to explore emerging and recurring themes. Data analysis revealed that ME:MIM was acceptable to some stakeholders (mostly administrators, students, parents), conditionally acceptable to some stakeholders (mostly staff and teachers), and not acceptable or feasible to one stakeholder (an English Language Arts teacher). All participants voiced interest in further exploring how ME-­‐MIM and the potential this approach might have on building academic, behavioral, emotional, moral, and social competencies among at risk youth, specifically as it relates to integrating health and media literacy into the core curriculum and aligned with the state standards. www.emcartsconference .org
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Patrick-­‐Shaw, Nicole Institute of Jamaica, Jamaica nshaw@juniorcentre-­‐ioj.org.jm The Debate: The Benefits of the Arts “The Arts” as a subject is given less value compared to other academic subjects. This perception is held unconsciously by some citizens and is depicted by others in their mannerism, attitude and opinions of the Arts. It is quite evident when students in the Arts programme are required to sit their examinations. The younger students are taken out of the programme once they reach fourth grade to prepare for GSAT or the older students are encouraged or forced to sit out the year by their parents/ guardians. The achievements that these art students make in their examinations are not attributed to the arts programme in which they have been involved but to other external factors. These external factors are seen as the key factors in determining a child’s success. The value of the arts as a subject is further eroded by the perception that children who are involved in the arts are usually very poor academic students. “The Arts”, is used as a substitute programme for students who have failed to grasp the more academic programmes. Students in these programmes therefore label arts as a subject for academically challenged students. “Arts” is also viewed as a subject to control delinquent students or to pass time. It is argued in some circles that programmes for the visual arts are holding areas for children. Working Class parents/ guardians enrol their students in these programmes to assist with their work schedule. As soon as a better alternative is made these students are removed to a more “productive” programme. The findings at the Junior Centre have disproved the myth that “the Arts” has no impact on academic success. The evidence has shown that children who are more involved in the arts perform at a better level than students who are not exposed at all. The objective of the presentation is to examine how arts education has impacted the child and their academic outcomes. Stewart, Chevon Rehabilitation Therapist at a Department of State Hospital in California U.S.A. [email protected] Dance Movement Therapy: Healing people with mental illness For thousands of years, dance has been used therapeutically as a form of healing for many indigenous cultures to influence birth, fertility, sickness, and death (Molinaro, Kleinfeld, & Lebed, 1986; Ritter & Low, 1996). In the 1800’s and forward, dance developed as a performing art that people in turn began to feel out of touch with themselves and nature (Levy, 2005). There was a shift in the early 1900’s for western dance and psychology to explore non-­‐traditional forms of treatment and dancing. While dancers were being trained to use their bodies and not their minds, therapists were treating the brain and not the body. DMT www.emcartsconference .org
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integrates both body and mind to further the emotional, cognitive, social, and physical states of an individual through the use of movement as a therapeutic tool (Pratt, 2004; Brooke, 2006). DMT emerged as a viable therapy in the United States in the 1940’s and 1950’s (Levy, 2005). Through PowerPoint presentation and experiential movement exercises this lecture demonstration is designed to help people understand the history of DMT, principles of DMT, and application of DMT in various settings. Paul, Deboleena University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus Trinidad & Tobago [email protected] 1. Art And Globalization With the onset of globalization, the Art Industry is in a dramatic flux. Globalization has forced the artist, performers and dancers to rethink the world of Art. New Artists are emerging from different parts of the globe and have pulled the world of art away from traditional centres of gravity. The line between Art and the Popular cultural seems to be blurring. The emergence of internet and the rise of digital culture are removing what little distinction is left. Contemporary Art is becoming anarchic mix of cultural diversity, media, techniques and ideas. The economic infrastructure of the ART WORLD is also changing as a result of globalization. International lovers of Art are helping fund an Art boom and internet is allowing artists to showcase their work to a broader globalized audience. Now the world of Art has global distribution and audience. 2. The dance ballet of “the festive occasion of Dussehra” There are two important stories behind the festival of DUSSEHRA. One story is associated with Lord Ram and another is associated with GODDESS DURGA. It is believed an epic battle between LORD RAM and Ravana went on for 10 days and Ravana was killed by at the hands of LORD RAM on the 10th day. DUSSEHRA is also called “VIJAY DASHAMI” and is celebrated as victory of GODDESS DURGA over the demon Mahisasura and ultimately asserts her power over her husband Shiva as the goddess Kali. The Goddess Durga is the divine power of all the Universe. The main message that DUSSHERA gives is victory of good over evil. The Success of truth over lies. It is called triumph of virtue over sin or immortality. DUSSEHRA is preceded by nine days of “NAVRATRAS” which are the days when energies of DURGA, LAXMI AND SARASWATI are most accessible to us. The energies are essential in opening the door to the inner world and enable us to realise the divinity within. The Universe exists inside us, and the outside is only its reflection. Remember each one of us is a “DIVINE BEING” going through human experience. DUSSHERA is the culmination of MANTRA and HAVAN to invoke the energies of goddess to realize divinity within to help slay your demons. www.emcartsconference .org
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The dance ballet “FESTIVE OCCASION OF DUSSEHRA” is based on NAV-­‐RAS (Nine emotional states of our mind) which beautifies the human life with various colours of emotions. Similarly, NAV-­‐ROOP (Nine guise) of the Goddess Maa Durga-­‐ a symbol of women empowerment and the true human values-­‐ are being presented through the under mentioned themes. The Goddess Durga is the epitome of SATOGUN (Spirituality, Truth and Virtue), RAJOGUN (worldly affairs and materialism) and TAMOGUN (Anger, Arrogance and Destruction) is a complete representation of the deity being celebrated. So, the ballet invokes the audience to experience the complete dazzling significance of the Goddess DURGA and takes us to the world where we unite and harmonize with the deity to bring about triumph over demon of within. The dance represents a genre of classical dance which is an amalgamation of Bharatnatyam, Kathak and Modern Indian dance ensemble. Pinnock, Agostinho University of the West Indies, Mona Jamaica Jump around if yuh man can wuk!’: celebrating sex, female power and Dancehall’s re-­‐imaginings of grassroots, Jamaican feminist knowledge Attitudes to leadership and what it means to be a woman in contemporary Jamaica are often subtly encoded in the raunchy displays of female sexuality in Dancehall culture. How women sing about themselves and each other, especially as it relates to sex, embodies a considered ‘folk’ knowledge (Cooper, 199), which, when deconstructed, disrupts conventional notions of ‘femaleness’ (Cooper, 1993). They contest the ubiquitous ideologies of gender promoted as culture in ‘official’ society. As such, the lines from iconic, male Dancehall artiste Shabba Ranks’ Can Wuk, quoted above, offer unique perspectives into how male conceptions of women sometimes radically converge with a traditional grassroots, feminist agenda. These reflect ‘female politics’ as it is articulated across various generations and which aim to overthrow oppressive regimes of gendered controls both within the Dancehall as well as the wider society. Using a combination of song texts, primarily, those performed by female artistes like Tanya Stephens, Lady Saw and others, this paper argues that Dancehall culture is much more than just sex. On the contrary, it is a compendium of folk wisdom, transported across time and space and fetishized as sexual pleasure. These often belie much more important messages about female subversiveness in society. Key words: sex, pleasure, ‘femaleness’, power, Dancehall culture, folk Knowledge, subversiveness, masculinity www.emcartsconference .org
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Ra, Omari Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica [email protected] The West under Siege This paper makes the counter-­‐hegemonic attempt to extend or presumptuously relocate the geo-­‐political and historico-­‐ aesthetic landscape of the West, significantly to include the Caribbean with several countries of the region at the epicenter. It argues that the intellectual history of the West is for the most part non-­‐Western, and that it was during the 18th and 19th centuries with the help of key personalities from the Antilles that the cultural, political and economic directions of the modern West was shaped. Consequently, foregrounding major aesthetic formulations in the Caribbean, one discovers an art rooted in the triumph of the human spirit instead of an art that feeds on conquest and exterminations. The paper argues that it is only on conditions of geopolitics and an art-­‐historiography conditioned by hitherto unchallenged racist practices that the vibrant and profound aesthetics inventions , interventions and explorations of Caribbean creative minds are significantly excluded or otherwise foot-­‐noted in the many voluminous tomes on the History of Western Art. Richards, Jo-­‐Ann Jamaica [email protected] Evangelical Christianity & Rastafari: Breaking Down The Walls With Music In a paper presented at the Conference on Congregational Music: Local and Global Perspectives at Ripon College, Cuddesdon in the UK in 2011, entitled “Can I be Truly Jamaican and Truly Christian: Congregational Music & Cultural Identity in the Evangelical Church in Jamaica, it was proposed that space was created for the birth of Rastafari because the official spaces of worship dictated that one deny the African aspect of one’s identity in order to be accepted. This was untenable to some persons of African descent in Jamaica since worship by definition requires that one bring one’s real self into the worship space. They were left with no alternative but to find a Christ/Messiah who would accept them just as they are, since worship for them was not optional but essential to life itself. From before Bob Marley penned the infamous line “I feel like bombing a church!” there has been animosity and division between the church and Rastafari, even though William David Spencer, author of Dread Jesus (1999), asserts that there are strains of Rastafari that would fit quite safely within Evangelical Christianity from a doctrinal perspective. This paper will 1. Outline reasons why the whole church should address the matter of cultural relevance, with a focus on music and language, 2. Identify existing connections between Rastafari and the Church, and 3. www.emcartsconference .org
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Propose a model for the use of musical expressions in facilitating harmonious dialogue between Rastafari and the Evangelical Church. The presentation will address issues of language, music, religion and identity. It will include reports on interviews with members of both communities, as well as samples of music that could be used as we explore further possibilities for bridging the gap and breaking down the walls of division. Rollins Rushing, Mollie Delta State University, USA [email protected] A Teaching Story: My Journey into Teaching Art to Students with Special Needs This is a workshop that evolved from my journey working with students facing emotional, behavioral and physical challenges in their everyday lives. Similar to many art educators (when I began this journey) I had specialized training in art materials and processes but little training to teach special needs or to understand the professional vocabulary used to describe them. My goal is to share my insights and experiences with other art educators who may be facing the seemingly daunting and insurmountable challenge of creating a classroom that exudes joy, respect and pride in accomplishment for students with widely diverse abilities and disabilities. Through this exchange I believe art educators can collaboratively build a repertoire of best practices that will enable our special needs students to experience and express the same joy and artistic accomplishments as all other children. The presentation will focus on the importance of the professional relationship between art education and special education; the realities of the special needs art classroom; a model of possibilities for students with diverse abilities and disabilities; troubleshooting the art lesson; building collaborative partnerships and; accessing resources to develop professional initiatives. Rosa, Iris Indiana University Bloomington IN U.S.A. Professor Iris Rosa, Indiana University (Bloomington, IN, USA), proposes an international, intercollegiate collaboration to help mark the 411st anniversary season of her unique college dance company. If invited, this highly respected educator and cultural artist will lead a delegation of her students and alumni to participate in the 3rd Rex Nettleford Arts Conference at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. In addition to serving as registered conferees and participating in the wide range of workshops, classes and activities, proposed highlights of this special international exchange experience include a performance by 7-­‐10 www.emcartsconference .org
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current members of this renowned college dance troupe – the African American Dance Company of Indiana University – which studies and performs dances of the African Diaspora. A second aspect of this proposal would be a master class and potential panel participation by Professor Rosa on any of the sub-­‐themes which the conference co-­‐chairs and/or proposal review team prefer. o Performance -­‐ The IU African-­‐American Dance Company (AADC) would be pleased to perform an interdisciplinary dance piece of Prof. Rosa’s creation from their current repertoire. This diverse and well-­‐trained U.S. based college troupe demonstrates the deep cultural connections between Africa, The Caribbean, and America. This full professor at her large research institution has also helped student artists break barriers and stretch boundaries by providing collaborations/choreography opportunities for them around an annual theme, which was “Confinement” in 2015. Against the backdrop of police violence, mass incarceration and many other social justice issues playing out across their home country, these interdisciplinary dance presentations “break boundaries of stereotypes and seek to grow the arts; create enlightened appreciation and knowledge of the arts and its intrinsic value to society”. o Master Class – As founding director of the dance ensemble of one of the first, and longest-­‐standing, African American Arts Institutes on a major university campus in the United States, Prof. Rosa is a living example of “sustainability” in the arts by virtue of her four decades of leadership in the classroom and performance arena. Her continuing work emphasizes the dynamic and vital nature of the cultural arts traditions of African descendants worldwide. Also the first Latina to receive tenure at IU, she consistently connects students and professional artists across continents. - As a daughter of the Caribbean, Prof. Rosa has demonstrated a life-­‐long commitment to training artists and creative thinkers, connecting campus and community, and at times challenging the lack of understanding and respect for multicultural heritage generally, and Black dance and music forms, specifically. - Her respect for the work of Professor Rex Nettleford and choice to host Mr. Alfred Baker for the last 4 years of her annual dance workshop mini-­‐conference at IU, has exposed her students and the IU community to the Jamaican dance aesthetic, West Indian music and culture. These connections make this master class and ensemble performance a fitting “boundary stretching” lived experience for her, personally and professionally, and for the delegation she would bring for this intercollegiate “exchange”. Professor at Indiana University, Bloomington in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, and Director of the Indiana University African American Dance Company. www.emcartsconference .org
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Rostant, Dike Jamaica [email protected] Innerstanding the Arts’ move from Periphery to Centre One of the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) strategic plan 2012-­‐2017 points of focus is to develop competent, wholistic individuals who possess a vested interest in the Caribbean and a global awareness that is firmly placed within a regional identity. Arts and culture have been identified as ingredients leading to such a UWI graduate. This presentation features elements of an ongoing study to determine whether arts and culture initiatives exist as readily deployable tools toward the development of the UWI’s desired graduate. Many interviewed respondents cited inadequate levels of such systematically implemented programmes. This led to research to discern UWI Mona’s efficacy in creating these tools and communicating its stated objective of supporting arts and culture activities on campus. Methods in the process of conceptualising and implementing arts and culture systems and events on the campus were also explored. Research methods included grounded theory, case studies, questionnaires and informal interviews. The study found many instances where arts initiatives were people-­‐driven versus being institutionalised. This presentation will look at methods of turning ritualised behaviour into authoritative knowledge for the purposes of withstanding academic scrutiny, mobilising individuals for arts initiatives and breaking the boundary of art as peripheral public display to consistently used communicative vehicle in academia. The findings will be presented through collated audio from interviews articulating some of the barriers to growing the arts in academia as well as ways forward from within the ranks of arts stakeholders. Other media will also be used to present. This mixed-­‐media approach attempts to bridge the divide of bound academic text and popular knowledge transferred orally, to keep the gleaned information more dynamic, while begging the question “what is academic text?”. Russell, Danielle Communication University of China China [email protected] Portraying the Societally Marginalised in Documentaries Documentaries can be loosely defined as an artistic expression of reality. There is no universally agreed upon way of expressing oneself and though it is often believed that documentaries are as objective as news media, this is simply not so. However, like news media, documentaries do entertain, inform and educate the wider www.emcartsconference .org
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population. In addition to this, documentaries can shape an audiences opinion. The film grammar that a director chooses to use in his or her documentary will impact heavily on how the audience views the subjects in the documentary. Societally marginalised individuals are portrayed in films everyday, even those suffering from physical challenges. Often these members of society are portrayed in a negative way, sometimes unknowingly so. Through the examination of films in which physically challenged individuals are portrayed in both a negative and positive light, this paper will exam techniques which can be used by documentary filmmakers to accurately bring across their ideas about those who are physically challenged. Russell, Oneika Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica [email protected] 1. Applications of Group-­‐oriented Culture in Local Creative Projects Jamaican society was once a village and community-­‐based culture. Due to several reasons the nation has evolved towards the individualism seen in the dominant North American cultures. This is also apparent in The Arts as there can be deep distrust amongst creatives of working with other creatives, organizations and independent agents. This is a situation which is not improved by the particular monopolies held by cultural institutions and in-­‐groups created amongst cultural agents. Artists internationally however have been having great success in their careers and projects by forming teams, partnerships and collaborations. Particularly as artists have now begun to show interest in producing nontraditional interdisciplinary and multimedia projects. This approach will be reviewed in the background context of East Asian group-­‐oriented culture. 2. Artist Animation and its Appearance in the Caribbean Artists have been exploring Animation in art spaces since the mid-­‐90ʼs. William Kentridge marks the emergence of this major art form which has been labelled Artist Animation by theorists and curators. In the Caribbean, artists have since the early 2000ʼs been exploring the use of Animation technique, tools and processes to make engaging art work. This work has been exhibited locally and internationally in various places but rarely discussed in the context of the media and the politics of their narration as a group. This paper will discuss the work of Sheena Rose, Di-­‐Andre C. Davis, Wendel McShine and Oneika Russell as it relates to attempts to describe, document, represent and narrate local spaces and identities through their work. www.emcartsconference .org
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Salmon, Denise Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica [email protected] The influence of Music on Jamaica’s Politics – Music on the Campaign Trail Music has a distinctive way of motivating the electorate in a political campaign; popular music, especially, has ways of constructing political realities through campaign music. Jamaican music is no different; it has facilitated the storytelling of politics in both positive and negative ways and strengthened the marketing and advertising tools of political parties. The issue can be interrogated within the concept of music as politics and the role of music as a facilitator of political ideology used to excite and stimulate or coerce and suppress messages on the campaign trail. School of Dance Faculty Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica WHAT GERMINATES? Performance Gestation/Germination of a creation “When viewed from the world of the creation, what occurs in the gestation/germination step is unseen. It is like the fetus in the womb or a seed that germinates but lies unseen undergrown before it sprouts forth into the world”. K. Ferlic The Gestation/Germination Step is considered the most fundamental and enigmatic step in the process of creation. Like a fertilized egg in the womb or a seed germinating in the ground, in a seemingly unseen way, the creation pulls to itself what it needs to grow. It is not that what happens is really mysterious. Rather, if our mind knew what needed to be done and how to do it, we could just do it. Creation is about bringing into the world something not previously seen and experience. As such there will always be a part that seems to work in the unseen realms to manifest our creation. If we study how our particular creation manifests and what is needed, we could figure it out. But, more often than not, it is just easier to plant our seed and get it to grow and leave the more mystical unseen aspects to function as they do. Faculty from the School of Dance will present a performance piece exploring the creative process and the product that emerged out of a Gestation into Germination creative/collaborative process. Individual explorations through a gestation process/ task: how does technology shape our creative output? are collectively further developed to give life to the final work, entitled: What Germinates? www.emcartsconference .org
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Seitu, Ato Visual Artist Canada Point of Return-­‐Question of Diaspora and Identity It suggests as a natural consequence of sequential reasoning that there is a continuing narrative to be shared and sought, that the legacy of enslavement is not purely historical but rather an ongoing personal and collective multi-­‐directional journey that can be seen when observed through the creative lens of the arts. The primary objective of this creative project is to examine the contextual 'point of return' by bringing together stories, memories of my childhood experiences in Jamaica after migrating to Canada in 1963. These bodies of work reflect on memories things that are important to me and shape my character; storytelling, language, village life, the use of non-­‐traditional art materials and traditional cultural legacies. To accomplish my artistic concepts it require of my to conduct research, meeting with people from his village; sharing and exchange of knowledge, through dialogue, feelings and sharing memories of child hood both in Jamaica and Toronto in order to chart my artistic direction. Therefore, Point of Return is about bearing witness to the many diverse and complex realities surrounding the production and critical reception of these art pieces that are created in an effort to advocate for more inclusive historical perspectives on art produced in Canada, it is important to recognize Jamaican-­‐Canadian culture within the larger histories of contemporary art forms in Canada. These ongoing created new bodies of work will include the following elements and subject matters 1: The extensive use of Japanese paper, acrylic paint, pen & ink, pencil and crayon, and silvering 2: The female figure is the main vehicle in which the stories and creative ideas expresses Finally, this artistic project is about addressing how exile as a category operates in the post-­‐colonialism and imperialism age and within the present epoch of the power information technology and globalization as a Jamaican-­‐Canadian artist. In a world characterized by movement, how does the notion of exile (and diaspora, nomadism) with all its attendant myths of creativity, freedom, nostalgia and loss apply to this Jamaican-­‐
Canadian art in a globalized environment? How do ideas of home, identity, and geography feature in the works of the art that will be presented? www.emcartsconference .org
Stanley, Michael and Benjamin Johnston Delta State University, USA [email protected]
[email protected] The Culture, Education and Socio-­‐Economic Debate: An Artist’s Model for Economic Development The purpose of this presentation is to share a model of art education that integrates the liberal arts, technology, business, and education intended to empower low-­‐income communities in order to alleviate poverty. The model evolved from a Teagle Foundation Grant that challenged institutions to create a course that successfully integrated the liberal arts into students’ professional development and ‘preparation for life’. The foundations overarching goal was to ‘dispel the pernicious myth that liberal arts education carries minimal economic value, and demonstrate that it is integral to professional practice’. Delta State University’s Art Department accepted the challenge and created a model that successfully includes gaining valuable insight into the processes of production, community partnerships, the practical application of current technologies, entrepreneurial education, and helping to alleviate poverty in the area through the creation of jobs with an educated work force. The Mississippi Delta is located in the Northwest area of Mississippi and is comprised of eighteen counties. According to the 2013 census, there are 552,347 residents of the Delta with a 62% minority population, of which 59% are African Americans, with an average of 32% of the population below the poverty line per county, over twice the national average and almost one and a half times larger than the state average. Despite the overwhelming poverty, an average of 5,783,162 dollars is spent on retail sales each year in the region. The model provides members of this low income community the skills necessary to help level out the income inequality, give them a skillset, and impart upon them the knowledge needed to start their own businesses, which in turn creates more jobs in the area. While the model was developed for the Mississippi Delta Region, it is flexible for implementation within similar economic climates worldwide. It is especially adaptable to any Bachelor’s program for artists, art educators and craftsmen and women providing entrepreneurial skills necessary for the small-­‐scale production of art products. This holistic vision on arts education and practical application of a skillset to provide income is a model that stresses the importance of community minded education that is mutually beneficial for all parties involved. www.emcartsconference .org
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Stines, L'Antoninette Jamaica [email protected] Out Of Many One Body Language: Caribbean inclusivity and diversity reflected in techniques that are variations of a similar ancestral theme having global impacts. The controversial motto OUT OF MANY ONE PEOPLE has veiled meanings opening interpretations that relate to all aspects of culture. This presentation focuses on Caribbean traditional, popular and contemporary dance on its journey from field to training to stage to academia becoming OUT OF MANY ONE BODY LANGUAGE. The Caribbean is the cradle of the new world. Within its womb via the processes of colonization, maroonage, and creolization and alongside decades of intermarriage and intercultural fusions developed inclusive indigenous oral and body language methods of communication. The evolved communication tools have over time impacted on the arts globally resulting in the artistic community gradually becoming out of many one. My personal genetic heritage is common to many of Caribbean decent. My great grandmother was Indian from mainland India; my grandfather was Chinese from Guangdong, China. Another grandmother was a maroon of African descent and my other grandfather was a mixture of European and African descent. One body representing the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Caribbean’s journey from enslavement to emancipation featured several sporadic skirmishes, while below the surface of the confrontations there was, slowly developing, a distinct acculturated product that eventually resulted in hybridization, creolization, and into Jamaicanisation ((Gutzmore 25) extending to Caribbeanisation. These processes shaped the inclusivity in each person the result of adroitly managed dynamics. The product is evident on the body, the instrument on which the dance comes to life. My presentation will be imparted as a lecture-­‐demonstration-­‐class. This will enable me to establish the process from traditional, indige-­‐traditional and popular dance to training procedures. I will use the Cuban Moderna Technica which is the first Hispanic-­‐Caribbean CARIMOD technique and L’Antech, the first Anglo-­‐Caribbean technique to enable the body to validate that the OUT OF MANY ONE directly relates to ONE BODY LANGUAGE. This inclusive body language remembering ancestors with variations from an interrelated process and on a similar theme. www.emcartsconference .org
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Thomas, Makeda Dance & Performance Institute Trinidad & Tobago [email protected] Speech Sounds "Speech Sounds" engages three powerhouse performers in a performative strategy that pushes its elements in, to, over and beyond themselves; and explores the metaphors for art and technology that come out of Afrofuturist culture. It looks at how improvisation transitions to a shared experience with the audience. It asks, what does it mean to be a performer of the present? Of the future? Each performance, each iteration of the work exists in multiple variations, with each variation being characterized by the improvisations of the performers. In this way, the work is imbued with its own autonomous power that engages a more present performer -­‐ a future performer -­‐ in moments of in finite imaginations and recreation. “Speech Sounds” is about the spaces between selves; of how individuals connect and disconnect; of isolation and companionship; of what happens when we lose that which we value the most and arrive at a loss of words. The work is underscored by a research project that seeks new critical understandings of history and identity in the African diaspora. "Bring de Power: Orisha dance as a mobile technology of African diasporic identity making" navigates through West Africa, Europe, the U.S., Venezuela, Grenada, St. Vincent, and Trinidad. It works through family stories and records to explore the temporal and historical forces that brought the Caribbean to its contemporary context and in fluenced the shaping of an Afro-­‐Caribbean diasporic identity. "Bring de Power" recalls that journey -­‐ across space and time. Orisha, in its ability to respond to the increasing complexities of African diasporic identity -­‐ to demonstrate culture and identity not as fixed, but an evolving, moving body inextricable from spirit -­‐ is conceived of as a mobile technology. The embodied aspects of the research explores how particular aspects of Orisha dance can be embedded into the improvisatory dance practices of contemporary dance artists and create new choreographic, movement, and performance processes. www.emcartsconference .org
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Thomas, Tamara University of Georgia USA [email protected] 1. Performance: Secrets/(Flock) Afrikan movement concepts are explicitly engaged alongside European contemporary modern material in this movement research. The seamless flow between the two distinct forms is a task of integration and the subtext of the work asks the question; how does the body convey post-­‐colonial realities while discussing universal human issues and concerns. The choreographic research reframes traditional Afrikan rhythmic and somatic structures by manipulating movement dynamics via the sound and movement partnership. Specifically, the human phenomena of secret making, secret keeping, secret sharing and the possible emotional spectrum (fear, isolation, stagnancy, shame, guilt) that come from these processes are explored. The choreographic work runs about ten minutes and may require the use of water-­‐based paint on stage. 2. Cultural Activism: Embedded Knowledge and the Moving Application of Nommo How can a fully authoritative, Afrikan-­‐based, dance pedagogical system be developed such that it avails itself to a contemporary post-­‐colonial reality? Can this training system be engaged psychically as well as physically, for use in Afrikan diasporic and European dance forms? How can this particular training system encourage cultural activism? Dance scholars have long discussed the underutilization of Afrikan cultural knowledge as source information for the construction of training systems for bodies in Afrikan and non-­‐Afrikan dance spaces. Not all dance pedagogical systems stimulate a transfer of knowledge, however there are logical and plausible kinesthetic and cognitive knowledge transferences, especially as most contemporary dance spaces are integrated spaces that now expect dancers to have the precision of a ballerina, the breath induced release of a modern dancer and the kinesthetic percussiveness of a jazz mover. These expectations can be met through the engagement of Afrikan-­‐informed material. This avenue of research is about the development of a pedagogical training system that engages the moving body, utilizing Afrikan principles as a central point of authority. The codification of a technique, is critical to its ability to be transmitted. This technique will use Adinkra symbols and the accompanying Twi language as the base for the codification. The largely universally applicable principles present in the Adinkra symbols (visual representations of adages that contain core Asante nation ideals and are largely universal), as well as the physical construction of the symbols, inspire the technique. This dance pedagogical system, uniquely engages the concept of “Nommo”, which asserts spoken and written word as being equipped with the inclination to create and manifest. The theory of Nommo is that, that which one utters, calls him/herself, and names, www.emcartsconference .org
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become critical in identity creation and cultural appreciation. Nommo, implies that language is incredibly important in the construction of identity. The language that is used to codify a particular technique then becomes increasingly important in influencing the magnum opus of a dancer. Adinkra symbols such as “Sankofa” – go and fetch it (know your past in order to move forward) and “Aya” – fern (endurance and resourcefulness), will become regular utterances for the dancers as they are reinforced verbally, psychically and physically. This line of research aims to redefine and rearticulate the concept of cultural activism. This technique explicitly uses Afrikan movement and language information as its foundation. The use of this historically marginalized cultural material is a facet of activism, as activism speaks to any policy or action that uses advocacy in order to bring about social or political change. This technique aims to create a shift in the ways in which different cultural material can be used to develop dancing minds and bodies. Walker, Christopher, MoniKa Lawrence University of Wisconsin-­‐Madison and University College of the Cayman Island [email protected], [email protected] Nettleford's NDTC: Folk Origins and Contemporary Aesthetics Associate Professor Chris Walker and Assistant Professor MoniKa Lawrence, with the National Dance Theater Company of Jamaica will present a lecture performance where cultural studies and movement theory intersect with live performance and where Rex Nettleford's creative contemporary movement investigations in African and diasporic dance vocabulary are deconstructed through dialogue, video and live demonstrations. The session will bring focus to Rex Nettleford's creative investigations and discoveries in concert dance, which shaped a modern dance language with a specific Caribbean impulse, and on which much of Jamaica's contemporary dance expressions are built and/or are in response to. www.emcartsconference .org
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Wallace, Allison Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica [email protected] Hymns -­‐ Why do they have such an impact? “Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to thee; how great thou art.” Written by Stuart Hine, 1899-­‐1989, this hymn speaks to the heart. Is it the words? Is it the music? Or both? And does it speak to everyone? What makes a hymn popular and well-­‐loved? Hymn writers such as Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts used well known tunes as the music for the words of their hymns. The goal was to reach as many people as possible, as part of the evangelical mission. Along with many other hymn writers, these authors have contributed a wealth of hymn-­‐tunes with specific names, such as “Crimond”, “Duke Street” and “Nun Danket”, which can be used interchangeably for different sets of lyrics, provided that the meter matched. The elements of these hymn tunes, such as melody, harmony, and tempo, serve as the focus of this presentation. For example, the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers” has a combination of features that make the song appealing. The repeated notes of the first five syllables are driven by the marchlike rhythm. It was written for children as they sang, marching from village to village in celebration. The author admits that it was written in haste and as a result some of the rhymes are faulty. Nevertheless, to his surprise, the hymn became quite popular. At the same time, some denominations have chosen to exclude it from their hymnbooks, because of the militaristic nature of the song. My presentation will look at a number of popular Christian hymns with a view to justify the appeal of the musical language used. Audience members will be invited to sing along and experience the effect of the music of hymns on their consciousness. Weekes, Yvonne University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus Barbados [email protected] The Impact of Theatre Arts on the development of Self-­‐Esteem: A Barbados Scenario In 1995 the Barbados Community College (BCC) developed an Associate degree in Theatre Arts. In recent times some stakeholders have expressed concern about the lack of employment opportunities for these graduates within Theatre in Barbados. This study was based on the hypothesis that despite this concern, the study of Theatre has intrinsic values which are critical to the development of all young people. This mixed method therefore study set out to identify which course components contributed to the development of students’ self-­‐esteem. Data collection was carried out in July 2013 and 60 questionnaires were administered to graduates of the BCC programme through e-­‐mail contacts. Individual interviews were also conducted with 6 graduates and one-­‐on-­‐
one interviews with the parents of those 6 graduates. www.emcartsconference .org
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Sixty-­‐one percent who graduated were employed in some aspect of Theatre part-­‐time. Ten percent were full time drama teachers in secondary schools. Twenty-­‐nine percent were not engaged in any aspect of the Arts. Eighty-­‐five percent of the students highlighted the fact that role play, and improvisation contributed greatly to developing their self-­‐esteem. In focus groups, graduates highlighted journaling as the most important element; while all parents spoke of the improved communication skills. These results should demonstrate to education policy makers the importance of providing all teachers with the competencies necessary to utilise Theatre elements as pedagogical approaches aimed at developing students’ self-­‐esteem. Furthermore, it suggests that education cannot be tied to the mere provision of work capital for the job market. Key words: self-­‐esteem, Theatre Arts; graduates, Barbados. Welds, Bianca Kingston Surgery Center Jamaica [email protected] 1. Boundaryless: Growing your audience platform online The internet is now so pervasive that we live much of our lives online. Audiences for creative artists are no different, and the modern creator must engage them online accordingly. For any creative entrepreneur, an online presence is no longer optional, but mere presence is not sufficient. Through online content, communication, and collaboration, creative entrepreneurs can connect with a global audience previously unavailable to them. This presentation will showcase some of the approaches to developing your audience online and look at online tools and platforms that can facilitate. Further, it will provide creative entrepreneurs with tips for selecting applicable components for their audience growth activities from the five Cs: Content, Communication, Commerce, Collaboration and Community. The format will include a presentation followed by an active discussion with participants about the online possibilities for their businesses. 2. Digital sustainability: New models for making a living online Sustainability is a major area of concern in the creative industries, especially for individual entrepreneurs. Traditional business models are often so filled with competition that it is near impossible to make your mark. However, technology has opened up new opportunities, especially online. New global audiences are one obvious advantage, but there are also new models that are making room for a sustainable career in the arts. www.emcartsconference .org
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This presentation will include an examination of new business models arising out of mobile and web technologies, a review of various tools and platforms that are facilitating these opportunities, a demonstration of specific examples, both local and foreign, of creative entrepreneurs making them work, steps on how to assess the suitability of various models for a business, and the resources required for successful implementation of these new models. The format will include a presentation followed by an active discussion with participants about the applicability of various business models for their businesses. Williams, Christopher Roger Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Grenada/Jamaica Exploring the use of Digital Technology in the Drama Classroom Caribbean Governments through their Ministries of Education are clamouring for the use of technology in the classroom. Consequently, curriculum changes as well as information and communication technology workshops have been in place for an attainment in teacher proficiency in the use of technology in the classroom. Drama in Education is one of the areas that seem to be neglected when it comes to the use of technology in the teaching and learning process. This paper highlights teachers and students attitudes apropos the use of digital technology in the drama classroom, with particular emphasis on the impact and possibilities of the exploration in Drama in Education. Additionally, it explores approaches and areas of efficiency of selected digital devices and software to foster the teaching and learning process. Most importantly, the focus is geared towards a Caribbean context as the emergence of technology continues to shape curriculum development in this aggregate region. A call to action from teachers and the Ministry and Curriculum Development Unit is of great significance. Attendees will experience a programme of intervention that conciliates fearful assumptions about technology in school; an approach that has proven that the support for drama and technology outweighs the doubts that exists. The paper will establish that technology in the drama classroom: promotes higher order thinking skills, fosters cooperation and collaboration as well as enhances the teaching and learning environment. Students’ level of participation, increased motivation and exceptional level of cooperation will be featured as they developed products in the process. It will demonstrate students’ acquisition of confidence as they explore, discover and communicate ideas, experiences and emotions through drama. The paper therefore exposes opportunities provided for participants to find their voice and a pathway of creativity through drama and technology. www.emcartsconference .org
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Williams, Claudia Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica [email protected] Art and Bibliotherapy for Children and Adolescents This workshop will be delivered in live face-­‐to-­‐face meeting. It is expected that participants will work collaborative with each other. Participants will produce an artifact as an example of the way in which these two approaches can meet the needs of children and adolescents whom they serve. The workshop is designed for Social Workers, Guidance Counselors and other clinicians who wish to use literature and art as strategies that help children manage their emotions. Participants will be able to use digital story telling strategies to help children illustrate their narratives. It assumes that individuals participating in the workshop are familiar with psychopathology and children. Williams, Tishanna Metro Magazine Trinidad & Tobago [email protected] Disguise And Conquer: Waging Artistic War In Robert Beckford’s book, Jesus Dub: Theology, Music and Social Change he states “Cultural traditions are not static but dynamic [...] These express the characteristics of the cultural forms that emerge from particular locations within each generation. These cultural products allow people to make sense of their lives, articulate identity and contest structural conditions that they nonetheless reproduce.” Art and the artist has always formed the backbone of revolution and influenced social change. This presentation suggests that social media and contemporary music (dancehall, soca, hip hop etc) are the real sociocultural influencers of the Caribbean youth rather than the traditional arts and it’s practitioners. It will thus pose the question: “How can we as artists make our Caribbean cultural traditions and the propensity to create grounded art mainstream to a demographic of persons that may recognise 1 the forms but see no value in its application in their everyday lives?” This presentation will argue that the vehicles used to ensure the viability of Caribbean art and culture are no longer capable, in their preexisting, ‘pure’ states to bridge the ever widening generation gap and pass on a strong desire in youth to create Caribbean work – a necessity for Caribbean identity and social change. It will present a need for cross-­‐generational artistic conquest of our youth via the reworking and integrating of preexisting pop culture influencers into core artistic, cultural and educational elements in order to re-­‐
acclimatise young persons to the foundations of Caribbean performance art. Finally it will attempt to demonstrate the potential of identified Caribbean pop culture icons and iconography to be adapted and used www.emcartsconference .org
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for our purpose of removing negative stereotypes and and making Caribbean work more palatable, relatable and recognisable, thus increasing viability of Caribbean art. Casanova Willis, Vickie, Alfred Baker, Andre' "Fuego" Rosa-­‐Artis, Anthony J. 'Tony' Artis and Clifton Robinson Indiana University Bloomington IN, U.S.A. Lecture Demonstration/ Interactive Performance Workshop – “Drum Talk: Preserving Cultural Memory & Growing the Arts through Traditional Music” This workshop will engage practitioners, researchers, and students in an interactive demonstration of Jamaican, and African Caribbean music and hand-­‐drumming rhythms expertly presented by Clifton Robinson, Tony (Baba Amoaha) Artis, and Andre Rosa Artis. This troika of master drummers are gifted teaching and performing artists in their own right, each having studied and performed individually and with ensembles, in multiple countries on at least 3 continents. They first came together to perform in the Spring of 2015 through their connection with Mr. Alfred Baker, Founder and Director of the West Indian Folk Dance Company, Chicago. Mr. Baker will join them, either live or via a virtual format demonstrating the digital and distance learning technology at artists’ disposal in 21st century applications of arts education tools. Mr. Robinson and regular collaborator, Vickie Casanova Willis each have recorded original acoustic material with Mr. Baker, some of which will also be premiered with the Rex Nettleford Conference conferees in a pre-­‐CD release opportunity. For the participatory workshop and drum circle portion of this session, Jamaican born Clifton Robinson will anchor the lecture-­‐demonstration infusing his expertise as ethnomusicologist and expanding on his lifelong experiences with living legend Alfred Baker who has embodied this year’s conference theme of Breaking Boundaries: The unique vocal and percussion arrangements and performance of classic Jamaican traditional songs will illustrate the transformative power of the arts, as many of the melodies and script were developed as commentary on life under difficult circumstances, and the music help transcend the oppression as with work songs and laments. This “Drum Talk” workshop, an audience favorite with friends and fans of Alfred Baker and the West Indian Folk Dance Company, will demonstrate the role of these beautiful acoustic harmonies and drum rhythms to tell a story, document history, and preserve the culture. www.emcartsconference .org
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Wilson, Lisa University of Cape Town South Africa [email protected] Re-­‐crossing the Atlantic: Connecting African dance students with African Diaspora dance culture through learning and performance of the Caribbean Bele Historically, the trans-­‐Atlantic slave trade that resulted in many Africans being forcibly taken from Africa and transported to the New World from the 16th to the 19th centuries, established an indissoluble nexus between Africa and its Diaspora. However, much of the extant dance education studies related to Africa and its Diaspora (Welsh Asante, 1993; Cruz Banks, 2010; Green, 2011; Dei, 2012; Bellinger, 2013; Mabingo, 2014), are primarily within the context of students in the African Diaspora experiencing and learning traditional dances of Africa. Almost non-­‐existent are reverse studies situated in Africa and which focus on the experiences of African students learning dance forms originating from the African Diaspora. This presentation will report the findings of a qualitative research that examined the novel experiences of 10 South African dance students, at the University of Cape Town, learning and performing the Caribbean social dance form Bele. The research objectives are to examine and describe the ways in which dance students in South Africa connect with, or find personal meaning in, the Caribbean cultural form Bele, through the process of performance, and to ascertain the value of these connections to the expansion of Caribbean dance. The study will be conducted over a period of 12 weeks (4 days per week) within an African dance technique class. Video recording, participant observation, student reflective journals and semi-­‐structured interviews will be used to capture data, which will then be analysed inductively. The research is important to Africa-­‐Diaspora dance studies, and dance education studies in general, as it brings African and Diaspora dance students’ experiences to the fore, a group underrepresented in dance research. It is also of interest and value to Caribbean dance academics because it gives insights into new and unchartered educational spaces, on the other side of the Atlantic, for exploring Caribbean dance.