Movie Nite tonite

Movie Night at Redbones - 21 Braemar Avenue
This Saturday 8th December, 2007
Presents:
SICKO
Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 9/11) is back and now he is taking on the U.S. health care system. Using personal testimonies to recount some of the problems faced by the many without health insurance he makes comparison with the existing health care systems in places like Canada, France, Cuba and England. As always Moore injects a bit of humour along the way into the sometimes gloomy picture.
(Directed by Michael Moore; 123 minutes, 2007)


Contribution: $250
Showtime: 8pm


Carry a blanket if you want to lay on the grass and hang out and listen to the music in the courtyard afterwards.

R.I.P. Darren Khan

Got news this morning which stopped me in my tracks.
Darren Khan, whom I had recruited (on the recommendation of Analisa Chapman and above the stern reservations of Exec Editor Vernon Davidson) as a freelance

features writer/reviewer at the Observer, was founded burned to death in Surbiton Road apartment on Thursday

Darren had issues as well as do, but during his tenure at the Observer I saw the beginnings of a maturation process that was showing first in his writing and less so but still noticeable in his overall demeanour.
I'm very saddened by his death, and I extend my heartfelt condolences to his mother, other family and friends.


"It may be easy to choose to live without Christ, but to die without Him is hell"

Time Trippin'

SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW HISTORY? Maybe so – but actor-comedian Chris “Johnny” Daley learns Jamaican history by magic when ghosts from the past put him straight about facts he took for granted. The stories unfold in the new dramatized six-part series TIME TRIP by Video for Change.
Did Christopher Columbus really discover a ‘new world’ ? A young Taino woman ghost reminds us that her people were in Jamaica thousands of years before Columbus arrived. In fact, the Tainos found it quite annoying when Columbus kept asking “Where’s India? Where’s China? Where’s Japan?”
Chris Daley’s second encounter is with a rascally sailor from a slave ship who explains the trade in captive Africans, and the profits it made for Queens, Barons, Dukes - and even the Bank of England. A strong-spirited woman cane cutter combines humour and pathos in her story, and an enslaved descendant of an African Chieftain relates the dangers of his escape to join Nanny and the Maroons. The next encounter is with a courageous and intriguing Haitian housemaid brought to Jamaica by her owner during the Haitian revolution – the first successful Black revolution in the western world. In the final Episode, our traveler Chris Daley meets a brave warrior who fought at Sam Sharpe’s side in 1831.
The cast of the Time Trip Series includes well known actors Nadean Rawlins, Brian Heap, Deanne Allgrove, Damion Radcliffe, Michelle Serieux and Saun Drysdale. Each segment ends with an original rap song summing up the story, composed and performed by the talented group From The Deep.
Although the series is primarily aimed at students, the humour and excitement of the stories attract audiences of all ages. This innovative DVD series is the work of its creative directors/producers, Cynthia Wilmot and Hilary Nicholson, while support for the project came from CHASE. (END)

CONTACT: Hilary Nicholson 926 0882, 927-7599, 532-0996
Cynthia Wilmot, 750 0748

[Art] Basel on the [Miami] Beach

If you're going to Miami this weekend, this is a good bet for art lovers

Art Basel Miami Beach
November 28-December 11, 2007

Winning over the art world with its spirited flair, Art Basel Miami Beach returns for its sixth year with even more special events and a coterie of emerging fringe fairs. We preview ABMB's highlights, from the new Art Supernova section to the multimedia Art Sound Lounge in the Botanical Gardens. Miami-based artists Naomi Fisher and Jim Drain talk to us about the local art community, and we profile the trendsetting designers of Studio Job, who exhibit their latest work at Design Miami. Beyond the Miami hubbub, we review the catalogue for Takashi Murakami's controversial LA show, as well as new projects around the globe from Kirsten Hassenfeld and Jon Kessler.

The 'Rainmaker' Returns

He's from a line of naturistic 'rainmakers' in his native Kenya,
but multi-media artist Mazola has been making a lot of hay in the
Jamaican sun since making the island his base several years ago
His new solo show opens atthe Mutual Gallery this Thursday at 7 pm.
It runs through Jan '08

Fine Arts fest for Mobay

HALF MOON SPONSORS MONTEGO BAY’S 1ST INTERNATIONAL FINE ARTS FESTIVAL
On Saturday, December 15th Expressions Art & Framing will present Montego Bay’s first international fine arts festival at the Cornwall Room, Half Moon Shopping Village.

The brainchild and dream of Expressions Art & Framing founder and Managing Director Nereree Edwards, the aim of the seven-day festival is to unearth and showcase Jamaican artists and to allow the viewing public in Western Jamaica the rare opportunity of seeing and appreciating a diverse cross section of fine arts. In addition to Jamaican artists there will also be several international artists, from South Africa., Belize, Guadeloupe and the Caribbean.

Highlights of the Festival will include educational fora, panel discussions, student exhibitions, artist development workshops, live entertainment and the launch of Kevin McIntyre’s innovative artwear fashion line, McEsson.

Edwards, who has also formed a fine artist management company called Art by Expression, explains: “It is hoped that visitors to the island including Jamaicans returning ‘home’ for Christmas, will be able to experience and savour the high caliber art on display alongside Jamaican art appreciators. History shows us that the fine arts are an essential thread in the fabric of a nation’s cultural identity and heritage. Given the varying palates of our visitors, we believe the festival will offer a fulfilling experience which may assist the development of an integrated tourism product. I am eternally grateful to Half Moon for coming on-board as a sponsor. Our goal is that this Festival will be a resounding success and become a permanent fixture on the international arts calendar.”

There is no cover charge for entry to the Festival, but there will be a wide variety of fine art on sale.

Tis' the Season for art fairs - like Grosvenor's

GROSVENOR GALLERIES

CHRISTMAS FAIR

Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th December, 2007

10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Over 50 booths of things you can’t find in stores! silver jewelry, pottery, precious stones,

wood craft, paintings, prints, ceramics,

Indian clothing, stained glass, linens, leather bags,

carvings, curios, driftwood angels,

aromatherapy products, books,

coffee gift baskets, furniture, antiques,

food court and much more!

Entertainment and drinks by Tony’s Bar

1 Grosvenor Terrace, Kingston 8, Jamaica

876-924-6684, 876-931-5569

grosvenorgallery@cwjamaica.com , www.artofjamaica.com

Shakespeare: gang-breaker?

From David Heron in NY, the notice is short, but the info is good nonethless

H

- An Adaptation of William Shakespeare's HENRY IV, Parts 1&2 -

This workshop production examines “power” and “the divine right to rule”

through Spoken Word & Shakespeare’s text

conceived & directed by Kaia Calhoun

Cast:

Kim Sullivan* Jeffrey Thompson* Chris Bauer* David Heron
Jeanetta Rich Carsey Walker Jr.* C.L. Rivera LaKai Worrell

Xavier Rodney Tennesse Palmer

Michael Leonard James* Xavier Merchan

November 9 -10, 2007
Location & Performance Schedule:

BRIC Studio

57 Rockwell Place (bet. DeKalb Ave. & Fulton St.)

Brooklyn, NY
Fri. at 8pm, Sat. at 2PM & 8PM/

Post-Show Discussion(s) on the production, street gangs and their impact on the Brooklyn community

Francophone Film 07

Good food, good wie, good music and good film combined excellently
atthe Alliance Francaise in Kgn on Monday as the 31st (wow!) Francophone FIlm Festival was officially launched, with one new entrant - Senegal - repepd by the new ambassador (Switzerland is the other)
Thae audience also heard live interpretation of Guadeloupean composer Chevalier de St George (b. Joseph Bolougne)courtesy of Anee McNamee and Peter Ashbourne before viewing a documentary made by Caribbean hudban-wife filmaking team Steve and Stephanie James abouta special comemmoration of St George - a ballet and musical concert - that took place in Cuba.
The festival runs for one week
Will return with film titles and schedules

Wine 101

CLASS REPEAT BY SPECIAL REQUEST - Our Oct class was oversold, so we organized this one on Nov 10th !! Please book early.

Don't know much about wine? Not sure where to begin?


This one-session class will teach you how to taste like a pro while sampling major varietals in an entertaining, interactive setting.



You'll taste six major varietals of the wine world, and then some ........

Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Pinot Noir from the largest wine-producing countries.

By tasting the wines and smelling them side-by-side with "scent cues", you'll learn to identify basic elements of a wine including tannin, acidity, how to describe different tasting characteristics



Other topics covered in this introductory class:

How grapes become wine.
The major types and styles of wine.
Major wine producing regions of the world
What stemware to use with the various varietals of wine.
The correct temperature to serve wine.
How to best store wine.
You have got the wine list, now what ?

Plus, the techniques of tasting wine.



You will taste a minimum of 6 wines representing the "big 6 grape varietals"

Whites
Riesling; Sauvignon Blanc; Chardonnay
Reds
Pinot Noir; Merlot; Cabernet Sauvignon
The Wines for this class will be supplied by Caribbean Producers.





SATURDAY NOV 10, 2007

Liguanea Club

Knutsford Blvd

2pm - 6pm

US$ 50 J$ 3,600 per person (Call for group Rates)



Email winesjamaica@gmail.com or Call Kerri-Anne on 816-9707 to reserve your space.

Red Bones Movie night

This has unfortunately moved from Saturday night to tuesday night (as in tonight), ruling me out, but check this out if you can:

Movie Night at Redbones - 21 Braemar Avenue
This Tuesday 23rd October, 2007
Presents:
MOOLAADE
In a small village in Burkino Faso(Africa), four young girls flee the ritual ceremony for their circumcision and seek protection from a woman who gives them "Moolaade" which is a special magical defence that cannot be broken unless it is revoked by the person who first casts it. This creates a tense stand-off between the traditionalists and the modern thinkers in the village. This film won the "Un Certain Regard Award" and "Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention" at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. The writer-director Ousmane Sembene is widely regarded as the father of African cinema and the first film director from an African country to achieve international recognition.
(Directed by Ousmane Sembene; 120 minutes, in Bambara and French with English subtitles, 2004)
Contribution: $250
Showtime: 8pm
We have chairs but you can bring cushions for them or carry a blanket if you want to lay on the grass. Hang out and listen to the music in the courtyard
afterwards.

Link to NY Times review

The following from the NY Times literary review is very interesting.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/books/review/Schillinger2-t.html?8bu&emc=bu

Rains force move of Red bones movie night

The inclement weather has forced a relocation of the weekly Red bones movie night

The presentation, a documentary entitled Coping With Babylon, will be shown
atthe Edna Manley College School of Music Auditorium, on Arthur Wint Drive
opposite the Little Theatre.

A relase from red bones said that an accompanying book launch will still take
place at the Braemar Avenue eatery/lounge.

Promo link for Word Sound Power

Go to myspace.com/thewordsoundpower to see a promo clip from the
new BET-J live poets show.
I recognised yassus Afari, Rootz Underground, Cherry Natural among others.

Carib dub poets puto ut 'Word Sound Power' on BETJ

Caribbean Dubpoets given a platform on BET J’s
Word Sound Power every Saturday 11am &11pm

Last Saturday at 11am and 11pm, the first show for the series Word Sound Power was viewed by millions on BET J, world wide. For the first time, dub-poets were given a platform on a commercial network to showcase Caribbean poetry for the world to experience.

Word Sound Power is an artistic force uniting the African oral tradition of rhythmic dub poetry and the literary art form of spoken word to form the voice of a new poetic generation.

Hosted weekly by M-1 of legendary Hip-Hop Duo Dead Prez, it features some of the best dub poets like Ansley Burrows, Cherry Natural, Yasas Afari, Suhir Hammad, LSX, Roger Bonair Agaird, Kamika and others.

The first three shows of the series were recorded at Boone Hall in Stony Hill. The cast will return to Jamaica to finish recording the rest of the show, utilizing the beauty, wonderful themes, and perfect location.

Word Sound Power redefines the boundaries of entertainment by directly addressing socio- economic, political issues with prose and purpose while providing an elevated visionary alternative to bridge the gap between cultures and countries of the African Diaspora.

This marriage of cultures brings together talent dub-poets of the world representing Caribbean and African background to express them-selves creatively yet sending strong messages. Produced by Roots Cause Entertainment and Earth Strong Production, Aranthes explains, “Dub Poets have never had a platform like this on a major international network. It’s never been done before. BET J has given us a platform to showcase this art form across the world.” Word Sound Power will air on BET J

More Red Bones Lit

Wednesday September 26, 2007 @ 8:30pm

Redbones the Blues Cafe presents
An Evening of Contemporary Literature
Readings by: Clement Hamilton and Mo' Scherrie

Admission is Free

Five books to be launched at Red Bones

Novelty Trading continues to step up its marketing
of books locally.
On Oct 4, the distributor in association with
Red bones the Blues Cafe will host a multiple book launch
under the banner Writing Home, at Red bones beginning at 7:00pm
The books, all by Dawes (whose Shook Foil and Jacko Jacobus
are favourites of this blog)include Gomer's Song, She's Gone, Impossible Flying, A Far Cry From Plymouth Rock and Wisteria
The latter book will also be the subject of a special presentation
on Sunday October 7 at the Phillip Sherlock Centre at UWI - Mona.

Dawes' Progeny of Air won Britain's Forward Prize as Best First Poetry
collection

'Big Dickey' returns

"Oh, he just gets women!"
That was but one of the comments from a raving female fan
at Wednesday night's lauch of the latest tome from Afro-American
author Eric Jerome Dickey.
Titled Waking With Enemies, it succeeds Sleeping With Strangers.
The plot - not that it matters to the hordeof female fans who turned up at
Devon House to see and hear hm - centres on a hit mna who is himself the object of a hit. He moves form locale to locale while trying to find out who wants to kill him, to come to terms with his past and also to enjoy some heated sex with his girfriend (who wants him to kill her sister) among others.
Our arrival at the venue fouund Dickey getting into - what else? -a sex scene,
and women who otherwise feign disinterest in such matters were hanging on his
every word.
Its a relief to know, from our standpoint, that Dickey isn't only about steamy potboilers. He's also donje a book based on the X-Men character Storm, and in a previous interview with this writer, revealed that he was working on a graphic novel revival of the Afro-American comic superhero, The Black Panther.

National Gallery exhibition

Materialising Slavery: Art, Artefact, Memory and Identity
September 16- End of 2007



The Institute of Jamaica Galleries and

The National Gallery of Jamaica



This exhibition is a collaboration of the Museums Division, Institute of Jamaica , and the National Gallery of Jamaica to commemorate the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Atlantic slave trade.



This exhibition examines the intersection of slavery, history, trauma, memory and representation. More specifically, it is an exploration of the complex relationships between slavery and identity and belonging in contemporary Jamaica . Utilising materials such as implements of torture, books, prints and drawings, among others produced at the time of, and to reinforce the system of slavery, this exhibition will explore new world slavery from the position of the “colony”. It will seek to examine how we as peoples whose original location is rooted in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade can visualise this past. Though grounded in the historical, the exhibition will also explore the relationship between the slave past and the present, especially through the lenses of several Jamaican contemporary artists whose work examine the impact of “memories” of slavery. Additionally, we have invited renowned African American (of Caribbean descent) Artist and Scholar, Fred Wilson, who has been at the forefront of museological engagement with the objects of slavery and visual display of the “hidden” past, to create an installation using some of the collections of the Institute of Jamaica.



This Four Part Exhibition is being curated by Wayne Modest of the Museums Division of the Institute of Jamaica and David Boxer of the National Gallery of Jamaica



The opening function on Sunday September 16 will be at the Institute of Jamaica and the National Gallery of Jamaica.



FEATURED ARTISTS

Joseph B. Kidd, James Hakewill, Isaac M. Belisario, Adolphe Duperly, George Robertson, Carl Abrahams, Henry Daley / Vera Alabaster, Everald Brown, Clinton Brown, Christopher Gonzales, Augustus John, Judy MacMillan, Ronald Moody, Karl Parboosingh, Edna Manley, Koren Der Harootian, Albert Huie, Alvin Marriott, Ronald Moody, Namba Roy, David Miller Snr, David Miller Jnr., Hector Whistler, Osmond Watson, Barrington Watson, Richmond Barthe, Gloria Escoffery, Leonard Morris, Mallica Kapo Reynolds, Albert Artwell, William Rhule, Marvin Bartley

Charles Campbell, Camille Chedda, Christopher Clare, Renee Cox, Carol Crichton, Laura Facey, Nicholas Morris, Petrona Morrison, K. Khalfani Ra, Omari Ra, Roberta Stoddart, Oya Tyehimba, David Boxer, Christopher Irons, Lawrence Graham Brown, Oneika Russell, Michael Parchment



And specially invited eminent American Artist Fred Wilson