Antigua and Barbuda is an artist colony of sorts. With its gorgeous scenery, many
photographers are based here. There are a number of other types of arts that
are popular like textiles, basket weaving, and painting. But no matter what the type of art it
is, there is one thing that is the common denominator between them all, and
that’s bright colors. Certain arts
use natural materials such as pottery, bead jewelry (and jewelry in general, including gems and pearls) and certain kinds of
sculptures.
There are a number of art museums dotting the islands and
create a Mecca for artists. One of the largest and most well known is called
Harmony Hall, thought of as the center of arts in Antigua by some. Throughout the year, there are a number
of craft, trade, and art shows all over the islands where people can meet and
share their arts.
A number of authors have arisen to fame who have originated
from Antigua. Two of the more well
known are Jamaica Kincaid and Marie-Elena John. Jamaica Kincaid was born and raised in St. John’s, but now
resides in the United States, dividing her time between her home in Vermont and
teaching in California. Her first novel “At the Bottom of the River” was
published in 1983, and she’s written many since then. Some of her more famous
novels are “A Small Place,” “Lucy,” and “Mr. Potter.” I actually downloaded a sample of “Mr. Potter” on iBooks. It
was pretty good; I might go back and buy it to finish it. Many of her novels
surround life on the island of Antigua, and are pseudo-autobiographical in
nature, although she does claim that basically there are many parts that are
true and many parts that aren’t.
Marie-Elena John is another Caribbean writer from Antigua
whose first novel, “Unburnable” came out in 2006. This book is mostly a
historical fiction but also a little bit of a mystery novel as well. I read the
first chapter of the sample that I got off of iBooks, and I’m intrigued. I
think I may have to buy this one as well. Or at least try to find it at the
library. She does a lot of work with various nonprofit and governmental human
rights organizations and focuses her work on various African nations. She also
divides her time between residing in the United States and Antigua.
One thing I noticed in both samples I read and in looking at
the art that comes out of Antigua is the attention to detail. But it’s not
always the meticulously cleaned up detail to make everything right, it’s an
attention to detail that shows things how they are: like a giant magnifying
glass. It’s almost as if they are celebrating, or rather conveying, to the
world the beauty that is, not the beauty that is in the corrected.
Up next: music and dance
Resources:
Wikipedia: “Jamaica Kincaid”
“Marie-Elena John” “Unburnable”
iBook samples: “Mr. Potter”
(Jamaica Kincaid); “Unburnable” (Marie-Elena John)
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