December 14th 2019 – 
Until the end of summer – Rooted Home and Abroad, an exhibition in the upper gallery of the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda opened August 8th 2019 
and will run to the end of summer. It features the work of Zucan Bandele and Walter J. Parker (the former an Antiguan-Barbudan artist based in the US), the latter a deceased NY artist. The exhibition is curated by Mali A. Olatunji, an Antiguan (co-author with Paget Henry of The Art of Mali Olatunji) who worked as a fine arts photographer at the Museum of Modern Art for more than 20 years. Featured pieces emphasize African masques and mythology. This includes Parker pieces like Becoming, Symbiosis No. 7, A Coat of Many Colors, Symbiosis No. 8, Be Pleased Now to Bless Your Servants House, Revealed (Spirit Aloft) – my personal favourite, How Beautiful is Your Face, The Conversation, and Speak Your Servant Hears – all colourful pieces in which larger than life characters and some in quite pedestrian poses are masked, to godlike effect. Zucan more directly engages with gods of African religiousity, Santeria in particular – Yemaya to Shango – seeming to capture their essence in motion and suggest the reflection of them in us. Olatunji explained that he was familiar with Walter’s work from the East Village and that after his death his family wasn’t sure what to do with the remaining pieces (and considered destroying them) – he saw a connection between Walter’s and Zucan’s aesthetic and a collaboration was born. A common connection is what he sees as the effort to dismantle modern art (the art elevated in venerated institutions like MoMA) and invent something more difficult to understand (the motif of masks – i.e. hiding – being a key component), “and they just did that”. We don’t have pictures or examples of the art; but check it out. UPDATED TO ADD! 
By the end of Summer – 
Before the end of August 2019 – Do you want another Jhohadli Summer Youth Writing Project before the end of summer? If so, email jhohadli@gmail.com for a registration form – 
August 31st 2019 – 
August 21st 2019 – @ the Best of Books bookstore – email bestofbooks@yahoo.com for more information 
August 17th 2019 – 
August 17th – 18th 2019 – Pineapple Mango Festival – 
As with all content on Wadadli Pen, unless otherwise indicated, this is written by author and Wadadli Pen founder and coordinator Joanne C. Hillhouse. All rights reserved.
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