October 29: The power of theatre has long influenced the artistic dialogue between original observations of contemporary life and its storytelling on painted canvas. Bois Causeur (Wood Talker) is a small exhibition presenting part of my ongoing body of work on the Grenada ShortKnee. Seventeen paintings are currently on view at the Grenada National Museum, Monckton Street, Saint George’s from October 29 through December 22, 2012. They are part of 50 plus works created on plywood construction waste, donated by Grenadian design and construction company, Quinn Company Limited.
 |
| detail of SK Roadblock |
The Grenada ShortKnee masquerade (mas) is a symbol of a cohesive cultural identity evolved on this small island in the eastern Caribbean. Troupes of thirty or more players are each disguised in a West African-influenced restyled French Pierrot costume constructed of several heavily patterned fabrics. Blouses are worn with double length sleeves fastened at the wrists, and double length pants worn gathered at the knees, give the costume its name. Completely concealed from head to toe (hood, mask, tunic, blouse, pants, socks, shoes), each player, during choreographed performances embodies the power of an ancestral spiritual being.
 |
| detail SK Non-Currency |
Immediately following Emancipation, West African Yoruba peoples were brought here as indentured servants in their hundreds, settling exclusively the villages of Rose Hill, Concord and Munich until the early years of the 20th century. The ShortKnee is indigenous to this island, created to celebrate carnival by Grenada’s newly creolised population. Wood Talker is part of Suelin’s ongoing project to move traditional mas elements past the ‘carnival-only’ mentality and into the visual art mainstream.
 |
| Suelin with Jean Pitt and Angus Martin of the GNM |
John Angus Martin, author of A to Z of Grenada Heritage, and curator of the Grenada National Museum, said that the Wood Talker exhibit fits in nicely with the surrounding exhibits on Grenada and the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Indentured Africans to Grenada, as it highlights the enduring legacy of African cultural survivals in Grenada. The Grenada National Museum ends 2012, the ‘Year of the ShortKnee’ with this art exhibit, sales of which will help benefit the Museum’s programmes.
Good morning how are you?
My name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people’s diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because trough them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately it’s impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this I would ask you one small favor:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Grenada? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Grenada in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Avenida Juan de la Cierva, 44
28902 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog http://www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Emilio Fernandez
Nice post. I was checking constantly this blog
and I’m impressed! Very helpful information specifically the last part 🙂 I care for such info much. I was seeking this particular info for a long time. Thank you and good luck.
Also visit my web site … Instalación geotermia en Madrid