CRITICAL COMMENTARIES

This section invites our readers and members to learn more about Caribbean Mid-Atlantic contemporary art through critical commentaries, abstracts or essays to keep elevating our minds and souls.

Natalie Willis Whilly, independent curator, on ‘THE OPEN BOAT’ group show, December 19, 2023:

Representing Caribbean galleries in the unofficial Caribbean nexus that is Miami, as Atlantic Arthouse have done at the Villa Paula, holds a particularly palpable significance and sense of meaning for those operating from within the region. This is of course, in no small part, due to the intricate dynamics shaped by the postcolonial forces, histories, and legacies that have indelibly shaped us all - not to mention the Caribbean region’s longstanding presence in South Florida in particular. This sentiment of our inherent interconnectedness, and the lack of fixity within these diverse, diasporic, but connected identities aligns seamlessly with the overarching theme of the exhibition, Glissant’s “The Open Boat”. What’s more, The exhibition does so without centering the more obvious, thin and performative discourse the title might suggest, particularly around the sensationalising of those who have had to brave refugee journeys on makeshift vessels in these seas countless times. We are all tired of the cannibalistic consumption and sensationalising of the pain of people of colour (particularly in our region given the most recent struggles for sovereignty and security) without action accompanying the sharing of people’s pain. The creative cultural work featured here do the necessary work of Caribbean representing ourselves for ourselves, not for the gaze of those outside of our broader Caribbean community.

For Glissant, the Martinican poet and thinker, the conceptualization of the "Open Boat" serves as a metaphor for the collective journey of humanity. This is in contrast to the notion of a closed vessel, one that protects (but also isolates) its occupants. The open boat embraces exposure to the elements and environment, fostering continuous exchange, interaction and relationship with the landscape (and seascape) it finds itself in. Glissant’s concept challenges ideas of fixed identities (something that never suited us in this powerful corner of the planet), spotlighting the fluid and interconnected nature of cultures and histories.

While the titular focus is on the boat itself, the openness of this theory expands to include the water surrounding it, embodying a spirit of survival and legacy. He ardently advocates for recognizing the inherent multiplicity in Caribbean cultures, vehemently rejecting the fixed categories imposed by colonial powers - an interesting conversation given the exhibition’s location in Little Haiti and the histories of bloodshed and hard-won freedom associated with the world’s first Black Republic, even amongst its diaspora. The open boat, in this context, becomes a vessel for navigating the intricacies of postcolonial identity and freedom of expression, and emphasizing the perpetual flow and network of influences and the ongoing process of cultural exchange through time and space.

The pan-Caribbean representation seen from the galleries and independent entrants alike deftly and caringly put forward the sense of multiplicity in our origins as Caribbean people. The current state of this place is shaped not only by the genocide and erasure of indigenous peoples, but also by the displacement and amalgamation of individuals "from elsewhere" who have undoubtedly made the region their own despite colonial legacies of trauma and oppression. By nature of simultaneously belonging to several diasporas as Caribbean subjects (it took 5 continents to collapse into this crucible of a space), along with having a diaspora of our own, highlights this dynamic rejection of fixity and categorization that is quintessentially Caribbean.

The gathering of Caribbean creatives within this exhibition is not merely an attempt to homogenize the often-problematic (and paradisiacal) mythology of the Caribbean landscape. Instead, it is a celebration of the diversity of experiences and histories that become collectively intrinsic to our existence as a global community. These creatives are not confined to a singular narrative but exist within their own clusters and constellations, contributing to a more expansive and interconnected whole. This nuanced approach is both refreshing and commendable on part of the artists and also visible in the curation in the Villa Paula’s historic space working with the site-specificity of Little Haiti. Centering the work of Haitian artists in particular, across the canon of Haitian art - be it contemporary, traditional, or spiritually rooted - feels grounded and deeply necessary. In essence, the exhibition becomes a platform for acknowledging and embracing the diverse threads of Caribbean identity, counteracting the tendency to oversimplify or stereotype the region. The participants navigate their creative landscapes like constellations, each with its own unique set of patterns and luminaries, yet collectively contributing to the larger narrative. This nuanced celebration of multiplicity stands as a testament to the vibrancy and complexity of Caribbean identity, fostering a rich and nuanced understanding of the region, in open boats but open hearts as well.

Biography: Natalie Willis Whylly (she/they) is a British-Bahamian curator and cultural worker. Born and raised in Grand Bahama, she received her BA (Hons) and MA in Fine Art at York St John University in the UK before returning home, where she has worked since.

Following her 6 year tenure at National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, Willis now primarily works independently as a curator, art + curatorial consultant, and writer.

During her very formative time as Associate Curator at the NAGB, she sustained a concerted focus on writing aimed at decolonising and decentralising the art archive, adding to the literature on Bahamian and Caribbean visual culture, and developing her burgeoning curatorial practice. She was responsible for maintaining, documenting, researching and historicising the National Collection; and planning and installing exhibitions.

As an emerging curator desperately trying to not contribute to the brain-drain of the Caribbean, her practice has a concerted focus on knowledge building and access (through language) and speaking to the way the colonial tourism of the late 1800s shaped the cultural and physical landscape of the Anglo-Caribbean.

She was the first curator at the museum to include bilingual wall texts (in English and Haitian Kreyol), the first to have a group show dedicated featuring the work of Black Women artists of The Bahamas, and alongside colleague Abby Smith she developed the museum’s inter-island traveling exhibition as a way to combat the difficulties that the country’s archipelagic geography presents in providing access to cultural patrimony.

Willis has been an invited speaker at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) “Curators in Conversation” series (2020), where she subsequently was selected for the 2021 CCCADI Curatorial Fellowship. She also has also presented at the University of The Bahamas (“The Role of The Curator”, 2020), Tilting Axis Annual Conference (2019), Caribbean Studies Association Conference (2017), and the Museums Association of the Caribbean Annual Conference (2016). Willis was selected to take part in the Goldsmiths + British School at Rome Summer Intensive Course, themed “Curating the Contemporary”, in Rome in 2017. She was awarded the Tilting Axis Curatorial Fellowship for 2018.

Somewhere, in a parallel universe, she still makes artwork.