Artists voyaged towards the future at 'Living Sculpture III'

Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (DVCAI), in collaboration with Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, recently made the trip to Kingston, Jamaica, to share in an annual international cultural exchange.

DVCAI artists last visited in 2012 and 2014. Since then, they have supported and invited Edna Manley College graduates to visit in residency with DVCAI in Miami.

The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts co-hosted and supported open informational conversations with artists in Kingston, and Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator artists from Miami-Dade, Florida, staged panel discussions and an exhibition at Edna Manley curated by Carol Campbell, with guest speaker Dr Alix Pierre, professor at Spelman University, Atlanta Georgia.

The joint exhibition curated by Carol Campbell, lecturer at Edna Manley College, was aimed at offering DVCAI artists an opportunity to work and converse with local artists who have been invited to exhibit.

This international cultural exchange, conceived by DVCAI founder and president Rosie Gordon-Wallace, is an innovative programme supported by Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs, and brings together artists, curators, writers and cultural workers, to engage in a rigorous programme of exchange, exhibition, studio visits and workshop intensives in the Caribbean diaspora and beyond.

A highlight of this years exchange 'Voyaging Towards the Future, Living Sculpture III', sough to examine public sculptures on the island by the DVCAI artists.

INVITED ARTISTS

Invited participating artists from Jamaica and from Miami included Rosa Naday Garmendia, Anna Carolyn Meier, Moises Aragon, Jacqueline Gopie, Onajide Shabaka, Asser St Val, Izia Lindsay and photographer Roy Anthony Wallace. These artists, writers, curators and culture makers represent an incredible range of cultural backgrounds, nationalities, homelands and artistic practices.

Gordon-Wallace described the exchange as an opportunity, "to have a conversation with ourselves about ourselves" and seek time to look at "our landscape" with radical creative eyes.

Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, is a virtual creative place-making incubator, whose mission is to promote, nurture, and cultivate the diverse talents of emerging artists from the Caribbean and Latin American diaspora living in Miami-Dade.

"Our artists' community conversations and artist talks are designated to fulfil our mission of empowering artists, as well as offering key insights, sharing resources and observations into the day-to-day issues that artists are facing", said Gordon-Wallace. "Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, Inc, has a multicultural board of 10 volunteer members. We thank Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, The Miami-Dade County Major and Board of County Commissioners for the support of this international cultural exchange to Kingston, Jamaica, in 2018."