Letter #1: Throwing seeds, manifesting dreams
If this all feels like spinning plates, then I have managed to share a large part of my creative process, which involves listening in, being patient, taking risks and daydreaming.
It has been a long time since I checked in here and with you. Life has been full of ups and downs, and the global pandemic has ushered us into a world where community and creativity are offering balm, counsel and a kindred collective, more so than in recent times. It is hard to think about all of the losses, the tethering and the places that I have rescued myself from over this past year. But here I am! Here WE are breathing, being, and longing for a more equitable world.
With that, I am grateful for a moment to share with you how I have been spending these last months and the offerings that have kept me hopeful and in motion.
I started teaching photography and research methodologies in the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Barbados Community College, and it has brought deep fulfilment to my core. I can tap into the current of younger people's energy, enthusiasm and struggles while also learning how to guide compassionately and empathise. As someone who comes from a line of matriarchs who have taught, it is serendipitous how life works to bring you full circle back into your legacy line.
In August, I joined the Board of Directors at The Hub Collective Inc., an inclusive arts education non-profit organisation on Bequia. The Hub exists to support, develop and uplift the artistic talent, and to progress arts and culture in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. My particular focus is non-profit regeneration, grant writing, fundraising and programme development around heritage and the environment. It has been a dream of mine to contribute to my home's creative ecology, and that is slowly beginning to manifest with varied aligned partnerships.
In December, we were awarded our first international grant through the Prince Claus Fund and Goethe-Instituut under the theme "Cultural and Artistic Responses to Environmental Change". For one year, the team will be focusing on the intergenerational archiving and re-activation project "Bush Medicine Revival", safeguarding the traditional bush medicines, elder stories and ecological knowledge across all Bequia communities.
Last July, I was invited by the National Cultural Foundation here in Barbados to participate in their series on Bush Tea, Herbs, Plants and Botanical Stories. The collection is in five-parts, taking viewers on a journey of discovery into the benefits, traditional uses, folklore and mythologies around local herbs, plants and grasses.
I introduced Sage Garden Barbados, the regenerative healing food and medicine project that I have been working on, and even though there have been considerable shifts brought on by the pandemic to our region's food and medicine security, I was humbled to be a part of the conversation on the importance of being connected to sacred space, the land, the ancestors and indigenous rememberings.
All of this dovetails so nicely into the knowledge base that I have been drawing from in the year-long Yale certified Tropical Forest Restoration program. I continue to be provoked by a global cohort who bring their best selves to the table as we look for ways to anchor ourselves in the honouring and healing of Mother Earth.
Exploring Balliceaux
If this all feels like spinning plates, then I have managed to share a large part of my creative process, which involves listening in, being patient, taking risks and daydreaming. A part of listening in has led to the emergence of Sour Grass, a new curatorial agency birthed with Annalee Davis. As allies in the trenches for the last decade, we continue to renew our commitment to our lifework, elevating Caribbean artists. To that, we have just landed our first multi-year collaboration with Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam, kicking off with a solo exhibition of Trinidad and Tobago-based Jamaican artist Jasmine Thomas Girvan in September.
There is so much more being steeped in my heart, dreams being reintroduced to the back burner and anxieties thwarted thanks to my SiStren and spiritual communities.
Image by Alexander Newton.
Last December, in the most surprising of ways, I married David, the kindest, most gentle and loving man and together we are learning how to heal and how to take care of each other. I look forward to being able to share more on this creative and healing journey, especially as I anchor and feel down into my new home.
Thank you for bearing witness to my journey and I’d love to know how you are holding up and on in these times.
With eARTh blessings,
Holly