Giorvana Hadeed: The Nypa Seed

Wednesday 11 September, 2024, from 6.30 pm
Granderson Lab 

 

On Wednesday 11 September, for one night only, artist Giorvana Hadeed will present new and recent works from an ongoing project, including a series of metal sculptures and a light installation.

The artist writes:

You never know what can come in with the currents… This ebony object, this Nypa seed, alluringly demands to be picked up. So enticing that it perfectly fits in the palm of your hand. So effortlessly gentle and smooth that its curves follow the fluidity of the oceans’ waves which delivered it to this beach. It appears to be delicate, fragile even. It can almost be perceived as helpless or wandering. But in that same instant its tenacity and fortitude discloses itself. Solid. It has the capacity to endure. Its bristles folding in on themselves as if to hold their narratives captive.
Portable, yet what does it carry?

All are invited.

About the artist:

Giorvana Hadeed (b. 1999, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) is an artist based between Trinidad and London. She works primarily with sculpture and installation. Her practice explores ideas surrounding the sea, the Caribbean, and notions of the landscape. Having a particular allure towards metal, her work takes shape through methods of mapping and circularity. She holds a BA from Goldsmiths, University of London.

CUT, PASTE, STAMP, DRAW

(no laptop required)
A “making day” hosted by Alice Yard + SPEC*
Saturday 7 September, 2024, 12 noon to approximately 6 pm

 

Featuring the launch of SPEC* issue 2!

Following our UN|FOLD zinemakers’ meet-up in July, we're hosting an informal and very hands-on workshop/“making” session for anyone interested in DIY publishing. We’ll play with manual techniques and tactics for assembling a simple publication (zine, chapbook, poster) — no electronic hardware or software needed.

Bring your own texts, photos, and other collage materials — we’ll provide paper, pens, scissors, glue, tape, stamps, ink etc. Come and explore, share ideas, learn and teach by doing, try something new, get feedback, make friends.

Plus the SPEC* collaborative will launch the second issue of their zine! Grab a copy, have a conversation, listen to some tunes.

All are invited.

With practical support from the Mellon Foundation

Currency: field notes from Shanice Smith

Saturday 24 August, 2024 | 6pm 'til (Artist talk at 7pm)

Currency: field notes from Shanice Smith is the second installment of the piece Women are the currency of the day (2016). The earlier artwork consists of a suggestive image of a woman’s body, printed on local currency, prompting conversations about ‘body counts’ in relation to coded sexual references and access to women’s bodies. According to one of the three traditional ideals of masculinity—access to women’s bodies, having the respect of peers, and conventional measures of career/financial success)—the greater the number of conquests, the higher a man’s perceived security in his masculinity. Like ‘body counts’, the single dollar bill has very little value, but a stack of dollar bills is worth more.

Her latest piece centres the survivors of sexual violence, who retell their encounters. The installation consists of a thermal printer that reads out the survivors’ accounts. Eventually, the ink fades away; much like the instances of trauma and abuse, these stories become part of a repetitive cycle—you hear about them, you are troubled, but then you move on—sweeping it under the rug, or discarding it like an old receipt whose contents have faded long after a transaction has taken place.

All are invited.

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Shanice Smith’s work explores gender-based issues, with a focus on deconstructing and investigating violence faced against women and children within the Trinbagonian society. Through visual representations, she explores these themes using a mixed media approach—from video works, to found and discarded items, to performative or interactive gestures. Her main aim is that these works will function as a medium for open discussions. These encounters serve as motivation for her ongoing works and prompt conversations that create awareness and foster safe spaces for others to share their own stories, seeking to transform silence into a language of action. Her artistic inspiration stems from her own journey of self-discovery, interrogation, and more importantly, from her family’s history.

Apart from her personal practice, she is also the co-founder of Cousoumeh Collective. The Collective focuses on using participatory research methods via the act of cooking as a tool for interpersonal engagement. Within the Caribbean and its diaspora, food holds a lot of meaning as a way of showing care and building community. Both of Shanice’s practices work in tandem, becoming a reflection of each other - while her personal practice acts as a mirror, revealing parts of society we try to hide, the works done under Cousoumeh Collective offer a nurturing, healing approach to confronting the harsh realities that have been unveiled.

UN | FOLD

A zinemakers + small-scale publishers meetup

Hosted by Alice Yard + SPEC*

Saturday 27 July, 2024, 5 to 9 pm
Granderson Lab, 24 Erthig Road, Belmont, Port of Spain

Writers, makers, publishers: join us for an informal meetup at the end of International Zine Month, to exchange ideas, experience, knowledge, and small-scale/non-commercial/handmade publications. See + listen, show + tell.

All are invited.

With practical support from the Mellon Foundation