{"id":17127,"date":"2012-01-20T11:15:47","date_gmt":"2012-01-20T16:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=17127"},"modified":"2012-01-20T11:18:34","modified_gmt":"2012-01-20T16:18:34","slug":"new-era-for-national-art-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2012\/01\/new-era-for-national-art-gallery","title":{"rendered":"New Era for National Art Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Amanda
NAGB Director: Amanda Coulson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s a new era for the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB).\u00a0 Under the directorship of Erica James, the national institution set the bar for Bahamian art, stretching the boundaries of the Bahamian cultural imagination and establishing Bahamian visual art within a historical context at home.<\/p>\n

Yet with a new staff and new director Amanda Coulson at the helm, NAGB will take an exciting step in a new direction \u2013 establishing itself as a national institution in the eyes of the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cCulture needs to be a dialogue between nations, and while we should protect our own cultural heritage, it is totally valid to have conversations,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cI would like to see international art coming down here and Bahamians making a splash internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such is the goal by the enthusiastic and tenacious woman who for years has made strides in the global art world, whether through her critical eye and voice or through her wildly successful venture, the annual art fair Volta \u2013 taking place both in Switzerland and in New York \u2013 which for eight years has been giving voice to emerging artists and galleries.<\/p>\n

Yet Coulson, who has lived, studied and worked in major cities around the globe including New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, Milan, as well as in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and in Germany \u2013 where she\u2019s lived for the past decade with her husband, a German art gallery owner \u2013 has Bahamian heritage.\u00a0 With a Bahamian father hailing from the Farrington family and an American mother, Coulson spent many of her formative years taking extended visits to The Bahamas while living with her mother in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked in many places because these opportunities came along, and I was always coming down and trying to see what was happening down here but there wasn\u2019t really an opportunity at the level that I was working,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen this opportunity in The Bahamas came along, I jumped right on it.\u00a0 People always asked why I never lived in The Bahamas, but what would I do to satisfy my intellectual curiosity and my professional drive?\u201d<\/p>\n

Art and Society<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indeed, she\u2019s been able to witness the rapid growth of the art world since the inception of NAGB, even finding challenging contemporary work that she wanted to share with viewers outside of The Bahamas.\u00a0 In 2006 she curated the exhibition<\/p>\n

\u201cFunky Nassau\u201d, which took nine contemporary Bahamian artists to exhibit their work at the Nassauischer Kunstverein gallery in Wiesbaden, Germany. But only now has she finally found the right time to marry her skills and desires with the cultural temperature and needs \u2013 especially in the arena of cultural tourism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I tell people I got this job they say, \u2018Oh really?\u00a0 There\u2019s a national gallery there?\u00a0 Really?\u2019\u00a0 I think we need to make a splash internationally, not only for our pride and how we\u2019re perceived as a nation overseas, but also frankly, for our economy,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s very important and what I\u2019m not sure our nation has exactly figured out yet is that there is a whole sector of the tourist industry which is cultural tourism.\u00a0 People go on vacation and they don\u2019t want to lie on the beach; they want to go see art.\u00a0 Those people are in a much higher income bracket than the tourists we generally are advertising to,\u201d she points out.\u00a0 \u201cCultural produce is something we can trade on and we are not attracting cultural tourists right now because they do not realize there is a valid system of museums and galleries and practicing artists down here they can discover.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the ways she plans to raise the international profile of the institution is to draw from her extensive list of contacts she\u2019s made through her travels and invite them to visit and practice here \u2013 enabling them to spread the word about Bahamian art once they travel back home.\u00a0 She hopes also to hold shows by international artists at NAGB to bring it into focus.<\/p>\n

Though many people may protest exhibitions by non-Bahamian artists, believing funds are not being spent on our own people, Coulson points out that NAGB would be going the route which many esteemed art institutions worldwide take \u2013 that such featured countries may reciprocate.<\/p>\n

Besides, she also would like to invite international and regional artists to exhibit alongside Bahamian artists, allowing them to hold conversations about issues relevant to society.\u00a0 For the upcoming retrospective on Amos Ferguson, for example, she plans to hold a second exhibition at the same time that explores intuitive art.\u00a0 Such an exhibition will provide context for viewers as well as an avenue for international artists.\u00a0 All of these moves will give NAGB global status and praise, and in turn elevate Bahamian art on a global level, creating viable avenues for cultural tourism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very strongly that nations are judged by their culture.\u00a0 Of course when you visit somewhere, it\u2019s nice when the roads work and there\u2019s fresh drinking water, but nations aren\u2019t judged historically on their transport system,\u201d she points out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we portray abroad is that we\u2019re a country of beaches and partying and maybe Junkanoo.\u00a0 We\u2019re not known for our culture and I hope to change that \u2013 I think our culture is something we should be really proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n

A New Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the same time, Coulson is aware that the gallery has been inactive in the wider Bahamian community for some time and plans to look inward as well as outward.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately I think our location and architecture continues the mythology that we\u2019re a bunch of over educated people in a big house looking down on people, and that\u2019s not what this gallery is about,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cI want it to be an open-door situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the ways she hopes to bring more Bahamians into their national art gallery is to explore holding a free gallery day like many international institutions do so that anyone can walk in free of charge and learn something new.\u00a0 She also hopes to hold shows dedicated to Bahamian craft rather than shows that are perceived as inaccessible or \u2018too intellectual\u2019 by the wider public.\u00a0 Right now, for example, the gallery is holding a call for work by local amateur artists for a special one-night-only exhibition of Bahamian amateur art \u2013 something that will definitely reach out to the wider community and make the gallery less intimidating and polarizing as an institution.\u00a0 Indeed, for both the artistic and wider communities, she wants to work towards NAGB\u2019s motto, \u201cIt belongs to you\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to make the gallery a hub of ideas and a support system for the community here,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cI want to start supporting other art institutions like Popopstudios, that will bring Caribbean artists in and send Bahamian artists away so that there\u2019s a cultural exchange and of course communication, taking the news of what\u2019s happening down here outward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coulson also plans to continue to make education a big part of NAGB\u2019s mission, bringing back academic talks, tours, and workshops all designed around current exhibitions.\u00a0 Already as part of Kendal Hanna\u2019s retrospective, the institution has been showing films and holding workshops that explore abstract art as well as the relationship between mental illness and art making.\u00a0 In the future she plans to include global thinkers, artists and academics in these discussions and workshops, really allowing local artists to contextualize their work and stop practicing in a vacuum.<\/p>\n

Indeed, National Art Gallery of The Bahamas is undergoing major change that promises to be exciting and challenging.\u00a0 But with all of her global experience \u2013 and with her degrees in various specializations of art history \u2013 Coulson is the perfect person to be its director, bringing to NAGB a fresh perspective with a thoroughly experienced eye and a list of international contacts that will help her put the national institution on the map.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s hard to see things from the inside, to see with outside eyes what\u2019s going on or what needs to be changed,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the one good thing in having someone fresh come from outside because I\u2019m able to look at things in a fair way without any kind of emotional impact about prior relationships and what\u2019s expected, and with a new amazing team we can build upon Erica\u2019s foundation,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a tabula rasa, but it\u2019s exciting.”<\/p>\n

Sonia Farmer
\nGuardian National Correspondent<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

It\u2019s a new era for the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB).\u00a0 Under the directorship of Erica James, the national institution set the bar for Bahamian art, stretching the boundaries of the Bahamian cultural imagination and establishing Bahamian visual art within a historical context at home.<\/p>\n

Yet with a new staff and new director Amanda Coulson at the helm, NAGB will take an exciting step in a new direction \u2013 establishing itself as a national institution in the eyes of the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cCulture needs to be a dialogue between nations, and while we should protect our own cultural heritage, it is totally valid to have conversations,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cI would like to see international art coming down here and Bahamians making a splash internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such is the goal by the enthusiastic and tenacious woman who for years has made strides in the global art world, whether through her critical eye and voice or through her wildly successful venture, the annual art fair Volta \u2013 taking place both in Switzerland and in New York \u2013 which for eight years has been giving voice to emerging artists and galleries.<\/p>\n

Yet Coulson, who has lived, studied and worked in major cities around the globe including New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, Milan, as well as in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and in Germany \u2013 where she\u2019s lived for the past decade with her husband, a German art gallery owner \u2013 has Bahamian heritage.\u00a0 With a Bahamian father hailing from the Farrington family and an American mother, Coulson spent many of her formative years taking extended visits to The Bahamas while living with her mother in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked in many places because these opportunities came along, and I was always coming down and trying to see what was happening down here but there wasn\u2019t really an opportunity at the level that I was working,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen this opportunity in The Bahamas came along, I jumped right on it.\u00a0 People always asked why I never lived in The Bahamas, but what would I do to satisfy my intellectual curiosity and my professional drive?\u201d<\/p>\n

Art and society<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indeed, she\u2019s been able to witness the rapid growth of the art world since the inception of NAGB, even finding challenging contemporary work that she wanted to share with viewers outside of The Bahamas.\u00a0 In 2006 she curated the exhibition<\/p>\n

\u201cFunky Nassau\u201d, which took nine contemporary Bahamian artists to exhibit their work at the Nassauischer Kunstverein gallery in Wiesbaden, Germany. But only now has she finally found the right time to marry her skills and desires with the cultural temperature and needs \u2013 especially in the arena of cultural tourism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I tell people I got this job they say, \u2018Oh really?\u00a0 There\u2019s a national gallery there?\u00a0 Really?\u2019\u00a0 I think we need to make a splash internationally, not only for our pride and how we\u2019re perceived as a nation overseas, but also frankly, for our economy,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s very important and what I\u2019m not sure our nation has exactly figured out yet is that there is a whole sector of the tourist industry which is cultural tourism.\u00a0 People go on vacation and they don\u2019t want to lie on the beach; they want to go see art.\u00a0 Those people are in a much higher income bracket than the tourists we generally are advertising to,\u201d she points out.\u00a0 \u201cCultural produce is something we can trade on and we are not attracting cultural tourists right now because they do not realize there is a valid system of museums and galleries and practicing artists down here they can discover.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the ways she plans to raise the international profile of the institution is to draw from her extensive list of contacts she\u2019s made through her travels and invite them to visit and practice here \u2013 enabling them to spread the word about Bahamian art once they travel back home.\u00a0 She hopes also to hold shows by international artists at NAGB to bring it into focus.<\/p>\n

Though many people may protest exhibitions by non-Bahamian artists, believing funds are not being spent on our own people, Coulson points out that NAGB would be going the route which many esteemed art institutions worldwide take \u2013 that such featured countries may reciprocate.<\/p>\n

Besides, she also would like to invite international and regional artists to exhibit alongside Bahamian artists, allowing them to hold conversations about issues relevant to society.\u00a0 For the upcoming retrospective on Amos Ferguson, for example, she plans to hold a second exhibition at the same time that explores intuitive art.\u00a0 Such an exhibition will provide context for viewers as well as an avenue for international artists.\u00a0 All of these moves will give NAGB global status and praise, and in turn elevate Bahamian art on a global level, creating viable avenues for cultural tourism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very strongly that nations are judged by their culture.\u00a0 Of course when you visit somewhere, it\u2019s nice when the roads work and there\u2019s fresh drinking water, but nations aren\u2019t judged historically on their transport system,\u201d she points out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we portray abroad is that we\u2019re a country of beaches and partying and maybe Junkanoo.\u00a0 We\u2019re not known for our culture and I hope to change that \u2013 I think our culture is something we should be really proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new vision<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the same time, Coulson is aware that the gallery has been inactive in the wider Bahamian community for some time and plans to look inward as well as outward.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately I think our location and architecture continues the mythology that we\u2019re a bunch of over educated people in a big house looking down on people, and that\u2019s not what this gallery is about,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cI want it to be an open-door situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the ways she hopes to bring more Bahamians into their national art gallery is to explore holding a free gallery day like many international institutions do so that anyone can walk in free of charge and learn something new.\u00a0 She also hopes to hold shows dedicated to Bahamian craft rather than shows that are perceived as inaccessible or \u2018too intellectual\u2019 by the wider public.\u00a0 Right now, for example, the gallery is holding a call for work by local amateur artists for a special one-night-only exhibition of Bahamian amateur art \u2013 something that will definitely reach out to the wider community and make the gallery less intimidating and polarizing as an institution.\u00a0 Indeed, for both the artistic and wider communities, she wants to work towards NAGB\u2019s motto, \u201cIt belongs to you\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to make the gallery a hub of ideas and a support system for the community here,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cI want to start supporting other art institutions like Popopstudios, that will bring Caribbean artists in and send Bahamian artists away so that there\u2019s a cultural exchange and of course communication, taking the news of what\u2019s happening down here outward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coulson also plans to continue to make education a big part of NAGB\u2019s mission, bringing back academic talks, tours, and workshops all designed around current exhibitions.\u00a0 Already as part of Kendal Hanna\u2019s retrospective, the institution has been showing films and holding workshops that explore abstract art as well as the relationship between mental illness and art making.\u00a0 In the future she plans to include global thinkers, artists and academics in these discussions and workshops, really allowing local artists to contextualize their work and stop practicing in a vacuum.<\/p>\n

Indeed, National Art Gallery of The Bahamas is undergoing major change that promises to be exciting and challenging.\u00a0 But with all of her global experience \u2013 and with her degrees in various specializations of art history \u2013 Coulson is the perfect person to be its director, bringing to NAGB a fresh perspective with a thoroughly experienced eye and a list of international contacts that will help her put the national institution on the map.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s hard to see things from the inside, to see with outside eyes what\u2019s going on or what needs to be changed,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the one good thing in having someone fresh come from outside because I\u2019m able to look at things in a fair way without any kind of emotional impact about prior relationships and what\u2019s expected, and with a new amazing team we can build upon Erica\u2019s foundation,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a tabula rasa, but it\u2019s exciting.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New NAGB Director is one of the few people who agrees with the long-held belief of BahamasB2B that it is beneficial for Bahamian artists if the gallery features international art – not just the work of Bahamians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-17127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-arts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}