29 artists, 38 pieces and one shared exploration of national identity.
The Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago is marking Independence with its latest exhibition, “ID,” celebrating the heritage, culture and experiences that shape the twin-island nation.
As Trinidad and Tobago prepares to celebrate Independence, the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago is using art to explore the nation’s identity, heritage and the experiences that define its people.
Titled “ID,” the exhibition features 38 works by 29 artists, each offering a unique perspective on what it means to be Trinidadian and Tobagonian.
“The Art Society put out a call to its members and asked the artists please present painting that best represents your identification. Your identity sorry, and it’s sort of a play in words. ID abbreviated for independence day which we are about to celebrate and that’s why we are contributing this exhibition to the nation as our independence day celebrations.”
Among the exhibitors is artist Marvin Andrews, whose work uses familiar local imagery to spark conversation about national identity.
One of his pieces features the corbeaux, painted in the national colours, and questions the bird’s place in Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural landscape.
“The piece behind me is actually playing dead to ketch corbeaux and the idea behind it really is and you will notice that it is in our national colours. The corbeaux is one of those birds that aren’t particularly respected in our society but yet still they’re one those birds that play a really critical part. The question might be should it be one of our national birds? Maybe”
Another one of his pieces uses the image of a fish and a subject to represent responsibility.
“In this piece what I wanted to focus on, would be the fish on the back of the subject, the fish represents his responsibilities that he is responsible for providing and the scale of the fish, no pun intended, but the scale of the fish you know relative to his size shows the size the of his responsibilities and the magnitude that it represents for him.”
The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on their own understanding of Independence and the many identities that make up the twin-island republic.
“ID” remains open to the public until September 5th at the Art Society Gallery in Federation Park.