Art remains a sacred space where voices can breathe life into communities. And Art Africa Miami 2019 will inject this renewing energy in spades, as they return to Overtown.
Founded in 2011 by architect Neil Hall, Art African Miami celebrates a spectrum of artists across the black diaspora. And as a historic and iconic black neighborhood in Miami, Overtown became the perfect home for the fair.
“From the beginning, I knew that this art fair would be the anchor to help contribute to strengthening the cultural identity of Historic Overtown, as well as its resurgence as a cultural hub,” says Hall. “The arts and culture are essential for building a community, supporting development, and contributing to economic opportunity. Collectively, the arts and culture enable understanding of the past and envisioning of a shared, more equitable future.”
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, this year’s show offers 2019 a slew of exciting artists. Under this year’s theme “A Retrospective” commemorates nine years of social justice through diasporic arts. The show also seeks to encourage individuals to question injustices and inspire a call to action. “Art has always been a tool to claim space, build power, and to question the injustices that have shaped our social experiences,” says Hall.
2019 Art Africa Art Artists:
This year’s roster of talents includes: Anthony Burks, Byran McFarlane, Ayo Filade,Carl Craig, Marvin Weeks, Johnny Ray Williams,Doba Afolabi, Emilio Martinez, Gene Tinnie,Kofi Kayaga,Najee Dorsey, Phillipe Dodard, Solomon Adufah, Maximo Caminero,Turgo Bastien, Sergio Garcia,George Endozie, Chris Clark, Tierra Armstrong,Carlos Salas,Evita Tezeno,Jose Bedia, Miles Regis,Tracy Guiteau, Patricio Rodriguez, Franklin Sinanan,Jerry Vallias-Jean, Carl Montes,Jason Fleurant and Weldon Ryan.
In the last nine years, these artists have become recognized as masters in their respective fields. These artists’ works have been shown in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and the Caribbean.
“We invite you to this year’s exhibition to revisit and reassess the works that have been a part of the transformation of art not only in Overtown but also in Miami,” says Hall. “Overtown, the ‘Harlem of the South’ is in the midst of a renaissance. There is now an understanding that art plays a significant role in our community.”
Location for this year’s Art Africa Miami Fair-Plaza at the Lyric- 919 NW 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33136
Mixed media takes on a whole need meaning for Caribbean artist Miles Regis. Born inTrinidad and currently based in LA, he has become prolific in both fine art and fashion design, known for his large mixed media paintings incorporating materials such as denim, buttons, sequins, leather. These richly hued paintings tell a stories of love, loss, survival, freedom, activism and living history.
Ahead of his show at Art Africa Miami, we sat down with the artist to discuss his current inspirations.
How did your journey as an artist begin?
Art has been part of me all my life as far back as I can remember growing up in Ghana. I grew up very humble in a small village. During that time, my village didn’t have any electricity. My uncle was a taxi driver, and when he would come home from work, my friends and I would take his car battery and use it to power a small black and white TV set. That was how I watched cartoons to be inspired to draw the characters. I loved to draw growing up; I still do now.
What is your biggest motivator as an artist?
My biggest motivator as an artist is being able to create work that challenges the status quo and provide an alternative canon through which everyday people can be seen and heard.
Does any of the work engage with any particular social issues?
My work explores parallels and discourses in the duality of my own identity. It expresses a viewpoint of people, shapes, and colors relevant in the everyday lives of individuals I engage with. As a result, this blurs the preconceived notion of cultural identity and blackness portrayed within the global racial canon.
Do you think art has a power to affect any social change?
Art is about humanity, and humanity is ever-evolving to change. Art affects social change as it challenges the status quo and spark dialogues, which helps convey an alternative perspective on society.
Marlon and Carla Hill - Caribbean Power Couple | Photography: David I. Muir
For Caribbean power couple Carla and Marlon Hill, their romance is a tale as old as time, the embodiment of the opposites attract cliché. As students at Florida State University, she was the tattooed musical theater kid in love with punk rock and Prince, and he was the straight laced future lawyer. He was a Jamaican, and she a carnival-loving, first generation Trinidadian-American. “We like to joke that we have a mixed marriage,” says Carla, a TV host with TV station South Florida PBS.
During one fateful dinner at the Silver Slipper in Tallahassee, with Marlon’s law school graduation on the horizon, Carla did consider letting him go. “I never saw myself as anyone’s wife, far less someone as wonderful as Marlon,” recalls Carla. “I was trying to save him from my non-domestic ways.” But when he proposed, “Something in me just said you better say yes.”
“I knew the river of separation was about to happen,” recalls Marlon, now a partner at Hamilton, Miller & Birthisel and candidate for Miami-Dade Commission, District 9. “But I knew we needed to remain together, no matter what direction the river went.”
It turned out their unique qualities fit perfectly like puzzle pieces, her creative adventurousness matching his calm temperament. “So much of being in love is an exchange,” says Marlon.
Marlon and Carla Hill – Caribbean Power Couple | Photography: David I. Muir
They also proved alike where it mattered, with a fierce loyalty to each other’s dreams, from Carla’s career in the arts to Marlon’s pursuits in politics. “He has always supported me doing the things I love,” says Carla, who in turn has been an active spokesperson for his civic endeavors. “I may be the first politician’s wife with visible tattoos, but he loves me to be me.” Their partnership has led them through many hurdles over 21 years of marriage, including Carla’s kidney transplant and multiple breast cancer diagnoses. Since then, they’ve launched the Carla Hill & Hazel Bethel Breast Cancer and Organ Donation Fund, also honoring Carla’s mother, a fellow breast cancer survivor. The organization campaigns to improve breast cancer awareness, and access to mammograms among young women of color.
Through life’s many uncertainties, they’ve learned “to have faith in the love you have,” explains Marlon. “Where we’re going may be unknown. But we know we’re in this together.”
Chantal and Cesar Soto - Caribbean Power Couple | Photography: David I. Muir
Grand, romantic gestures in the modern world may seem like the stuff of telenovelas, but they are familiar territory for this Miami Caribbean power couple: engineer Cesar Soto and makeup artist Chantal Soto. Their courtship sparked over late night calls catching up on their favorite show, Mi Pequeña Traviesa. “I had to work nights, so I used to call him for updates,” recalls Chantal about their early flirtations. “It was a great excuse to talk about when we were going to go out again.”
Introduced through her sister as teenagers, Chantal and Cesar were friends for years before the late night chats led to something as romantic as a novela plotline. When they began dating, her at 21 and him at 25, it only took three weeks for Cesar to propose. “For me, time didn’t make a difference. I just knew,” he says.
Now married for 19 years, their whirlwind romance has grown deeper with every new challenge, including founding their company Paramount Consulting & Engineering. The business has evolved into one of the leading engineering firms in Southeast America, helming major tower projects transforming the Miami skyline and beyond. They established Paramount in 2010 after years of Chantal’s urging, says Cesar. “She would say, let’s suck it up for a couple years, and see what happens. We’re in this together.”
Chantal and Cesar Soto – Caribbean Power Couple | Photography: David I. Muir at Yarumba Restaurant
Perched for further expansion, “we’re so proud the company has grown so much, from what started as a lick and a prayer,” says Chantal, who helps with the firm’s marketing while running her own successful makeup practice, Chantal Sauvignon. “It’s been our baby for a while now.”
While taking their businesses to new heights, the couple still finds time to bond over their shared passions. True to their Dominican roots—Cesar is born and bred, while Chantal is first-generation Dominican-American—merengue and rumba “are a big part of our life,” says Chantal. “So much of what we do revolves around our culture.”
And though they may be dancing away into their perfect novela ending, real life feels far more rich for the couple. “I’m most proud of how much we both have grown over the years together,” says Cesar. “Marriage is all about that give and take.”
Miami Art Week will host the MUSE Art Fair December 3-8, 2019 in the The Gates Hotel South Beach. This fair is brought to you in partnership with MUSE Modern & Contemporary Art Fair. The collection will feature female Bahamian artists, as well as various multicultural artists from the Caribbean. Proceeds from this reception will go towards providing aid to those affected by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamian Islands.
MUSE Art Fair will display a variety of artwork including paintings, ceramics, photographs, sculptures and augmented reality art. There will also be a panel discussion, live art performances and a master class instructed by internationally known artists.
Bahamian Female Artists
The five female artists that will be featured at the MUSE Art Fair, have been playing an active role in contemporary art in Nassau, Bahamas, by defining Bahamian artistic experiences through cultural history and identity. These artists include oil painter Gabrielle Banks; documentary photographer and multimedia artist Tamika Galanis; interdisciplinary artist Anina Major; oil painter and performance artist Jodi Mannis; and ceramist, sculptor, and painter, Averia Wright. This Miami based art fair will also showcase the work of multicultural artists from the Caribbean.
MUSE Art Fair
The Gates Hotel South Beach already has a collection of aerial beach photography on display throughout its property. The photographer, Jorge de la Torriente’s pieces capture a bird’s eye view of the azure coastline. One that visitors can book to see for themselves, with a VIP helicopter experience with the photographer himself to capture their own aerial shots.
In addition, there will also be an opportunity to participate in local textile artist Karelle Levy’s interactive installation, KRELwear: The Interknit, a “web” that encourages participants to add stitches to the community art project.
The MUSE Art Fair will be open to the public daily from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. December 4th until Saturday, December 7th, and from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday December 8th.
Brown University will feature Edouard Duval-Carrié’s art exhibition from October 29 – December 13, 2019. This exhibition is hosted by The Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice (CSSJ) and the Brown Arts Initiative (BAI), and is curated by Anthony Bogues, CSSJ Director and Asa Messer Professor of Humanities and Critical Theory Professor of Africana Studies at Brown.
Bogues most recently curated the Art of Haiti: Loas, History and Memory at the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College in 2018, and Edouard Duval-Carrié: Metamorphosis, a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, FL, in 2017.
Edouard Duval-Carrié. Soucouyant #4, 2017.
About Edouard Duval-Carrié
Edouard Duval-Carrié, a Haitian born painter, sculptor, and educator, migrated from Puerto Principe, Haiti to Puerto Rico during the Francois Duvalier dictatorship. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Layola College in Montréal in 1978. He then continued his studies in Paris France from 1988 to 1989, attending the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. After residing in France for many years, Duval-Carrié moved to Miami, FL, in 1993.
In 2014 Duval-Carrié’s work was presented in a major retrospective, Imagined Landscapes, at the Pérez Art Museum, in Miami. The following year, in 2015, he received the “U.S. Artist Award” and participated in the exposition “Haiti” at the Grand Palais, Paris, France. In 2016, he was awarded the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. In 2018 he was given the Michael Richards Award and a commission at The Bass Contemporary Art Museum in Miami.
Currently, Duval-Carrié’s artwork is in the permanent collection of Africa Museum, Netherlands; Frost Art Museum; Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL; Musée des Art Africains et Oceaniens, Paris; and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Mexico, among other institutions.
Edouard Duval-Carrié. Migration, 2019
Caribbean History Inspired
This art exhibition was inspired by Edouard’s research of slavery, migration, colonialism and Afro-religious practices in the Caribbean. The installation can be viewed on two Brown University campus locations: the CSSJ Gallery and the Cohen Gallery in the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Performing Arts. The eleven pieces on display comprise various mixed media embedded in resin, engraving on back-lit Plexiglas, mixed media on aluminum, and works on paper.
“Duval-Carrié continues his examination of Haitian history in part to reframe the colonial gaze that is still perpetuated about Haiti. This gaze obscures the nation’s extraordinarily rich, complex, artistic, cultural and literary life. With Art of Embedded History, the CSSJ continues to engage with artists around the theme of the relationship of history to memory and the different ways in which the afterlives of colonialism and racial slavery continue to haunt our present,” said Bogues.
Edouard Duval-Carrié’s Featured Work
The Cohen Gallery will be displaying Henri Christophe (ou la derniere danse Taino), Burning Amazon and Migration, black and white drypoint engravings. These works emerged following Duval-Carrié’s artist residency at the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Center, University of Johannesburg in South Africa. Soucouyant (2017) depicts Caribbean folk tale figures, and narrates elements of Haitian history in addition to the artist’s growing preoccupation with the environment.
Edouard Duval-Carrié. The Kingdom of this World, 2018
Three works from his kaleidoscopic Memory Windows series (#2, #3 and #9, 2017) draw from from Florida history, plantation life, the Haitian Vodou pantheon and well known illustrations of slavery. Once again the artist uses mixed media embedded in resin and backlit.
The CSSJ Gallery will display black and white linocut prints Amazon and Migration and the engraving Royaume de ce Monde (2017) will be presented in dialogue with The Kingdom of this World, a series inspired by Alejo Carpentier’s novel “The Kingdom of this World” (published in 1949). This novel is a collection of stories about the Haitian revolution, told from the perspective of an enslaved person.
“Decades of research has made it evident that my endeavors have always been to elucidate the trials and tribulations of my native land Haiti via the visual field… My collaboration with the CSSJ has provided me with inspiration and access to a vast array of information that would not have been readily accessible. Again, thinking retrospectively by placing the history of Haiti in a more global context has permitted me to evaluate many of the issues concerning that nation in a new light,” said Duval-Carrié.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog edited by Anthony Bogues. The catalog is published by the CSSJ at Brown University and is available free of charge at the Cohen Gallery and CSSJ Gallery.
Public Programs
October 24, 2019, 12:00 pm. Edouard Duval-Carrié lunch talk with students
The Center for Public Humanities, 357 Benefit Street
October 29, 2019, 5:30 pm. Edouard Duval-Carrié keynote lecture/exhibition opening
Granoff Center, 154 Angell Street
December 12, 2019, 5:30 pm. Exhibition opening at CSSJ Gallery for students of Haiti: A New World, A Free World
Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice Gallery, 94 Waterman Street
This course is taught by Dr. Bogues and students will work with Duval-Carrié to create this exhibition.
Application submissions are now open for the American Friends of Jamaica (AJF) 2019 Grant Cycle. Candidates from qualified non-profit organizations who provide charitable services in Jamaica, specifically in education, healthcare, and economic development sectors, can submit their applications with the deadline of February 7, 2020.
The AFJ Grants Committee will review, evaluate and make decisions based on applicant organizations that have registered under the Jamaica Charities Act. Once reviewed, the committee will notify awardees, and implement the grants. The application review process happens once per year; award announcements will occur in March, and be presented in April.
The AFJ recognizes organizations that implement programs assisting Jamaicans in need, offering grants to support their life-changing initiatives.
Previous American Friends of Jamaica Grant Awardees
In 2018, the AFJ received 83 applications and granted 25 awards. St. Joseph’s School was awarded last year for its aim to improve and support the use of technology for Jamaican children, so they can be better equipped to compete in the global economy. St. Andrew Settlement is now able to serve over 100 patients in under-served communities. These are just a few examples of the organizations that benefited from the grant funding awarded 2018-2019.
Visit theafj.org/grants to see if your organization qualifies to submit a grant application. Applicant entities must demonstrate clear and compelling charitable goals, established governance structure, sound financial management capability and measurable targets for implementation.
Bring the entire family to see an exhibition of Caribbean culture and history at the Caribbean Culinary Museum and Theater. The exhibition will have its final display of 2019 at the West Regional Library (Plantation), from Sunday, December 1, 2019 through Tuesday January 14, 2020. This installation includes a presentation of historical Caribbean artifacts and graphical information, as well as a dramatic video. It explores the history of the Caribbean and its shared food culture, showing how the islands are unique and connected at the same time.
Guests exploring the Museum’s installations | Photography: Island Syndicate Team
What started as a pop-up display within “The Taste the Islands Experience” food festival in 2018 has evolved from a small selection of artifacts, primarily from Jamaica, to a broad collection of over 80 pieces from Trinidad, Haiti, Barbados and the Latin Caribbean islands. Large display boards illustrate information on the food elements common throughout the region.
Plantation residents and neighbors of the city are invited to an opening event on Monday, December 2 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served and entry is free to the public, however guests are encouraged to register on Eventbrite.
Throughout 2019, over 28,000 people have seen or interacted with the Museum at various installations in Lauderhill, Fort Lauderdale, Tamarac, Pompano, and Miramar, including most recently a pop-up installation at the Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival.
“It’s been amazing seeing how multiple generations, and people from different cultures and backgrounds, have found commonality through this exhibition,” said David I. Muir, co-creator of the exhibition. “With the generous support we have received, particularly grant funding from the Community Foundation of Broward County, we have been able to share this cultural exposition with communities throughout Broward. We encourage folks to stay tuned, as we plan to grow our cultural offerings and impact well into the future.”
Museum visitors examining artifact displays | Photography: Island Syndicate Team
The Caribbean Culinary Museum and Theater project was created by directors Calibe Thompson and David Muir of Island Syndicate, with artistic support from designer Marsha McDonald, script-writer Zenzele Clarke and film-maker Lukkee Chong among many others. Support has been provided by the following Funds at the Community Foundation of Broward: Helen and Frank Stoykov Charitable Endowment Fund, David and Francie Horvitz Family Fund, Ann Adams Fund, and Mary and Alex Mackenzie Community Impact Fund. The traveling exhibition is made possible by partners including the Community Foundation of Broward, Broward County Cultural Division, History Fort Lauderdale, and Primary Medical Care Center, partners committed to honoring the cultural legacies of South Florida’s Caribbean community. For more information and to stay up to date on “Taste the Islands Experience” events, please visit www.ttiexperience.com/museum.
Event Details Title: The Caribbean Culinary Museum and Theater
What: An immersive cultural exhibition that celebrates the food history of the Caribbean region with artifacts and information.
When: Opening Reception – Monday, December 2, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.
Where: West Regional (Plantation) Library, 8601 W Broward Blvd, Plantation, FL 33324
Price: Free – Tickets at plantationculinarymuseum.eventbrite.com
Dale V.C. Holness, a Jamaican-American, was unanimously voted by the Broward County Commission to serve as Mayor today. Mayor Holness has served for the past year as Vice Mayor, and makes history as the first black Mayor to lead the County.
Photo by David I Muir
Holness is an avid champion for small, minority and women-owned businesses, fair wages for workers, improving and providing economic development opportunities for all, and home ownership. He has lead the charge for projects like America’s only internationally certified cricket stadium at Central Broward Park in Lauderhill, and programs like the CBE certification system, which requires the inclusion of small businesses in applicable county-funded projects. His global advocacy includes positioning Broward County as the center for international trade with the recent success of the annual Florida International Trade and Cultural Expo (FITCE) held October 9-10, 2019 with representation from 60 countries and nearly 2000 in attendance, the largest to date.
Mayor Holness was sworn in by Senior Pastor, Henry Fernandez, The Faith Center Ministries, while his son Daylan, held a bible before a standing-room only crowd.
Photo by David I Muir
He was first elected in 2010 to represent residents living in Broward County’s District 9, which includes a population in excess of 200,000 residents and covers over eight municipalities in Broward County. Prior to being elected a Broward County Commissioner, he served as a City of Lauderhill Commissioner from 2004 to 2010. During his terms as a Lauderhill City Commissioner, he served as Vice Mayor twice, 2007, 2010, respectively, started the Lauderhill Chamber of Commerce and established the Lauderhill Business Incubator.
“Thank you Mayor Bogen for your hard work this past year and doing a great job representing Broward County. Thank you to my colleagues for your vote of confidence. The mission of my year as Mayor will be to work on making Broward County a better place for all who live here by empowering our community, strengthening our households and businesses, creating policies that afford access to opportunities and by unifying everyone across racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.. We are Broward County, one community for everyone and prosperity for all,” said Mayor Dale Holness.
Photo by David I Muir
A practicing real estate broker for over 30 years, he is the President and CEO of All Broward Realty.
“Labadee” installation, courtesy The Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas in Austin
The Blanton Museum of Art is currently exhibiting Joiri Minaya’s Labadee, a video exhibition that explores the social and economic dynamics that occur in Labadee, Haiti and how they are deeply tied into Haiti’s tourism industry. The exhibition is open to the public through December 8, 2019.
The seven minute exhibition video tackles the complicated issues of race and privilege that are currently happening in the tourist industry in the Caribbean. Labadee’s private beach has been leased to Royal Caribbean cruise lines until 2050, and is the centerpiece of this film.
Minaya’s footage offers an intentional contrast of experiences. The film juxtaposes scenes of pristine beauty with the wall in Labadee constructed to separate tourists from the locals. The only Haitians permitted on the beach are vendors, performers and those employed by the resort. Minaya uses a parallel comparison of Christopher Columbus’s invasion of the Caribbean. Columbus’s diary passages as subtitles for the film, connecting the past to the present reality of the Caribbean tourism industry.
Joiri Minaya is a New York City based Dominican-American artist. Her work frequently represents issues related to the travel industry. She works with digital media, photography, film, performance, sculpture, textiles and painting.
Minaya’s work has been viewed internationally across the Caribbean and the U.S. She has received a grants from the Nancy Graves Foundation, the Rema Hort Mann Foundation (Emerging Artist Grant), the Joan Mitchell Foundation (Emerging Artist and Painters and Sculptors Grants), the Great prize and the Audience Award XXV Concurso de Arte Eduardo León Jimenes, the Exhibition Prize Centro de la Imagen (D.R.), and the Great Prize of the XXVII Biennial at the Museo de Arte Moderno (D.R).
