A to Z of Caribbean Art Launched in Trinidad

Robert & Christopher Publishers has launched its newest, long-awaited art book, A to Z of Caribbean Art. The book is available for pre-order at robertandchristopher.com and will ship from December 1st, 2019. In Trinidad, books can be bought at Paper Based Bookshop (Normandie Hotel), Rainy Days (Ellerslie Plaza) and Con Brio.

A to Z of Caribbean Art is a visual overview of Caribbean art, from the beginning of the 20th century to now. The book serves as a resource of information on many of the most outstanding, prolific, groundbreaking, critical, fascinating, and controversial artists of the region. Sequenced alphabetically, it mixes genres including drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, installation and performance.

Edited by Melanie Archer and Mariel Brown, A to Z features works from 260+ artists who come from the English-, Dutch-, French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Each artist is represented by a page that shows a definitive work, biographical details, and a short write-up about their oeuvre. These artists were selected based on a number of factors, including critical discourse around their work, inclusion in a significant publication, work written about in regional or international trade magazine, and participation in a curated exhibition at a major institution, or at a regional or international biennial.  A to Z creates a significant and lasting archive of Caribbean art that can be enjoyed and referenced by artists, art lovers, students, professors, curators, art historians, and culture lovers for years to come.

A to Z of Caribbean Art has been made possible in part through the generous support of our funders, KAÉRA, Shell Trinidad and Tobago Limited, NLCB (National Lotteries Control Board),  the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts,  and backers on Indiegogo.

Three new contributing writers for A to Z!

At Robert & Christopher, it has been a deep honour to be able to work with some of the leading specialists in the field of Caribbean Art on our upcoming title, A to Z of Caribbean Art.  Today we introduce writers (from left to right) Veerle Poupeye, Rob Perrée and Indra Khanna.

Veerle Poupeye is a Belgian-Jamaican art historian, curator and critic. She was educated at the Universiteit Gent in Belgium (BA. and MA in Art History) and at Emory University in Atlanta (Ph.D. in Art History and Cultural Studies). She has published extensively on Caribbean art and culture and her best-known publications are Caribbean Art (1998), in Thames and Hudson’s World of Art series, and Modern Jamaican Art (1998). Poupeye has as the Executive Director of the National Gallery of Jamaica and had previously worked there as a Curator. She lectures in Material Culture and Curatorial Studies at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston and has also taught at the University of the West Indies-Mona, and at Emory University and New York University. She lives and works in Kingston, Jamaica, where she presently works as an independent curator and writer.

Rob Perrée studied Art History and Dutch Language and Literature at the University of Amsterdam. He works as a freelance writer and curator, with a focus on contemporary African-American, African, Caribbean and media art. His articles have appeared in many catalogues, books, magazines and newspapers; he has also published books on video art and African-American art, Nan Hoover, Marcel Pinas, Tirzo Martha and René Tosari. Perrée is the founder and editor of Africanah.org. He divides his time between Amsterdam and Brooklyn, New York.

London-based Indra Khanna achieved an MA in Fine Art Printmaking at Chelsea School of Art, and was a practising artist, teacher, and active member of grassroots artist’s organisations for 15 years. Khanna worked at Autograph ABP (The Association of Black Photographers) for seven years, eventually becoming curator, and working with artists such as Pieter Hugo, Shemelis Desta, Franklyn Rodgers and Santu Mofokeng. She started curating independent projects in 2003, the first of which, FlyPitch, was a series of interventions in Brixton’s outdoor market.  She went on to curate group and solo shows in the UK, working with artists such as Donald Locke and Tim Shaw.  She also acts as an artist’s advocate, and created the Caribbean Artist’s Salon.