Robert & Christopher Publishers
Caribbean Art Books
It was a pleasure and delight to finally be able to share A to Z of Caribbean Art with some of the book’s contributing writers and artists, as well as friends and supporters, at the Trinidad launch of A to Z on October 31st, 2019.
Trinidad and Tobago illustrated art book imprint, Robert & Christopher Publishers (R&C) is delighted to announce a publishing partnership with Guadeloupe arts organisation, KAERA, towards the publishing and distribution of the forthcoming book, A to Z of Caribbean Art.
With over 40 Trinidad and Tobago visual artists represented, A to Z of Caribbean Art – a comprehensive, visual overview of Caribbean art, from the beginning of the 20th century to now – will be Robert & Christopher Publishers’ sixth title. R&C is currently working towards a Trinidad launch of A to Z at Bocas Lit Fest in late April 2018.
Shell Trinidad and Tobago Limited has made a financial contribution that has been applied to the research and writing phases of the book. R&C has also raised funds through a crowdfunding campaign. While KAERA’s contribution will cover part of the cost of printing the book, R&C is still actively fundraising to cover the balance of costs needed to produce a book of this calibre.
Robert & Christopher Publishers is telling a Caribbean story through the A to Z of Caribbean Art – one of a shared past, connected cultural identities and unfolding selfhood. The strength of this publication comes from the links they are forming by collaborating with writers, editors, curators, artists and institutions here at home and throughout the region.
“We are particularly grateful for KAERA’s support because R&C has been trying, without success, to gain the support of our own local government,” explain Robert & Christopher co-editors, Melanie Archer and Mariel Brown. “We have completed a number of applications for funding; none of these has been successful to this point, but we currently have an application in with the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts. We’re hoping that, like the French government, our own government is able to see the importance of contributing to this seminal project and helping to ensure increased visibility – both within the Caribbean and internationally – and posterity for Trinidad and Tobago artists.”
KAERA is a Guadeloupe-based organisation that promotes artistic achievement in digital or traditional form. KAERA works collaboratively to create and curate art-centred events that will bring greater recognition of Guadeloupean artists.
“We believe that collaboration between the Caribbean islands can only strengthen and enhance our international profile, as well as enrich the practice of participating artists. This spirit of collaboration makes us happy to participate in publishing A to Z of Caribbean Art,” says KAERA director Hélène Dabriou.
Robert & Christopher Publishers (R&C) is a small and ambitious illustrated art book imprint based in Trinidad and Tobago. Its primary concern is to produce high-quality books that document and elucidate our Caribbean story, as seen through the eyes of Caribbean artists. R&C’s dedicated team aims to produce the highest quality of relevant books that will be accessible to a wide reading and creative audience, in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and internationally. R&C is the first Caribbean imprint to have a book distributed by Distributed Art Publishers (DAP), the most prestigious distributor of illustrated art books, with clients that include the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Guggenheim and many more. As a result, R&C’s books can be found in the libraries of MoMA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Columbia University, New York University, The University of Virginia, The University of California. Our titles can also be found in local and regional institutions including The University of the West Indies, The University of Trinidad and Tobago, the National Gallery of Jamaica and many more.
In addition to its most recent title, See Me Here: A Survey of Contemporary Self-Portraits from the Caribbean, Robert & Christopher has also published: Pictures from Paradise: A Survey of Contemporary Caribbean Photography, Che Lovelace: Paintings 2004 – 2008, Meiling: Fashion Designer and Barbara Jardine: Goldsmith. In 2014, R&C was invited to co-curate an exhibition, “Pictures from Paradise,” with Wedge Curatorial Projects in Toronto, Canada, as part of the annual CONTACT Photography Festival – the largest public photography festival in the world.
See Me Here is reviewed by Nicole Smythe-Johnson in the September 2016 issue of The Caribbean Review of Books.
“I recommend regarding the volumes in this series as exhibitions, rather than as books. Yes, they function as books: they are portable documents of artwork of a certain type, from a certain region, in a certain time. However, they also make deliberate use of the logic of the art exhibition — the establishment of visual relationships, a focus on placement and space, etc. The series makes an argument — not as a literary text does, but as a visual one does. In this way, they are truly successful art-books, fusing the two media in the best possible way. To own a copy, then, is to have a portable exhibition, open for viewing the moment you part the pages.” Read the full review here…
We are so excited to be able to share the front cover of our new title, See Me Here: A Survey of Contemporary Self-Portraits from the Caribbean with you! The cover features a piece by Barbadian artist, Sheena Rose, called Clown or What, from Rose’s “Sweet Gossip” series. Sheena is one of 25 artists from around the English-speaking Caribbean whose work will be featured in See Me Here.
The artists included in the book are:
Akuzuru
Ashraph
Ewan Atkinson
James Cooper
John Cox
Renee Cox
Annalee Davis
Susan Dayal
Laura Facey
Joscelyn Gardner
Lawrence Graham-Brown
Anna Ruth Henriques
Nadia Huggins
Michelle Isava
O’Neil Lawrence
Jaime Lee Loy
Che Lovelace
Joshua Lue Chee Kong
Olivia McGilchrist
Steve Ouditt
Sheena Rose
Irénée Shaw
Roberta Stoddart
Stacey Tyrell
Dave Williams
The essay, “Picturing Self”, was written by Marsha Pearce.
See Me Here will be launched in Trinidad and Tobago during the Bocas Lit Fest, April 24th at Medulla Art Gallery, Woodbrook.
See Me Here is published by Robert & Christopher Publishers, edited by Melanie Archer and Mariel Brown, and designed by Richard Mark Rawlins.
Robert & Christopher publishers is delighted to announce the upcoming release of our latest title, See Me Here: A Survey of Contemporary Self-Portraits from the Caribbean.
The The Trinidad and Tobago launch will take place in partnership with the Bocas Lit Fest and Medulla Art Gallery, April 24th, 2014.
In Jamaican patois, the expression, “See Me Here” (See Mi ‘Ere!) is an instruction used to call attention to the speaker – whether for his or her physical appearance, or to note the occurrence of a significant moment in that person’s life – an arrival, so to speak. In a similar way, the book, See Me Here: A Survey of Contemporary Self-Portraits from the Caribbean, calls attention to recent directions in self-portraiture throughout the region, by focusing on artists who frequently or significantly use their physical selves, or those to whom they are linked by blood or significant experience, as an avenue for exploration and expression. In so doing, the book asks: How do we really see ourselves? How accurate is the image we present? What formative roles do our cultures and upbringings play? And, what role does the Caribbean as a physical and mental space have in the creation and perception of our own personal, visual identities?
One of the most common understandings of the self-portrait is that it reveals something of an artist’s inner feelings or personality. While this is one focus of See Me Here, the book also examines how, by using their own likenesses, certain artists are speaking to potentially complex, multilayered matters – identity, history, race, gender, sexuality, politics – thus defining themselves within their given contexts and through vastly varied experiences.
Although See Me Here presents individually distinct projects, the works are inevitably interconnected through similar themes. By dealing with self as a starting and/or ending point, the book covers a broad range of media and representations that the artists here explore in order to question and articulate what defines them within a contemporary Caribbean existence.
As part of our distribution deal with D.A.P., Pictures from Paradise will be available on amazon.com from the end of March. It’s not to soon to start placing your advance orders! Click here for more information. Happy ordering!
