Icarus Lands at Phillip Sherlock Centre

With the bust of the eponymous founder watching, The Sir Phillip Sherlock Centre presented an installation by artist Robert 'Toby' Grant this evening. The installation, depicting the fallen winged creature of myth (he flew too close to the sun), is made of creeping vines, or 'wist' and thus will grow and transform over the five to six weeks that it will remain suspended from the Centre's ceiling.
1876 Wines refreshed a solid turno ut of well-wishers and artphiles.
More on this , as well as photos, next post.

“We Can’t Pay, We Won’t Pay!” @ EMC Drama Auditorium

a political farce written by Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo, directed by Pierre Lemaire and featuring 2nd and 3rd year students from the Drama School will open on Thursday 5 March at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. This play shows how people can change when put under extreme financial pressure. We have dedicated this production to the people of Guadeloupe and Martinique who are entering their second month of general strike, fighting against abnormally high prices facing the population of these islands. Come and multi task: Laugh and think!

The M n' M show:FABRICated Journals

An Exhibition by Margaret Stanley and Miriam Hinds
Opening: Sunday, March 8th, 2009, 11am
Revolution Gallery, 44 Lady Musgrave Road, Kgn 10
Exhibition continues until March 31st, 2009

What does Darwin Have to do with fiction writing?

Plenty , as it turns out. The Darwinian effect on character development was but one of the more interesting points raised during the panel discussion (followed by a workshop) on Speculative fiction, which was held Saturday last (Feb 21) at the UWI Library Multi-function room.
The panel featured Prof. John Leonard, writer and elcturer Jean Small, and novelists Erna Brodber and Nalo Hopkinson.
I'll have more on the conference, Inlcuding comments from Nalo Hopkinson and Prof Leonard, tomorrow.

Thanks again to Michael Holgate and Brian Heap, whose persistence helped see this important event through to fruition - time well spent.

Watchmen greet the world form London

Watchmen, the film adaptation of the legendary graphic novel, premieres in London tomorrow (Feb 23) before crossing the Atlantic for a March 6 scheduled open in the U.S. no word yet on when, or even if the controversial film will open on local Jamaican screens.

In an alternate 1985 America, costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the "Doomsday Clock" - which charts the USA's tension with the Soviet Union - is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed-up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion - a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers - Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity...but who is watching the watchmen?

James in NYC

John Crow's Devil author and sometime critic Marlon James will be giving readings in New York Feb 23 and 24. Will come back with details on venue and time (yeh, I know I've said that already).
James' new novel, The Book of Night Women, officially hits stores (U.S. I believe, check amazon.com or publisher Riverhead to secure a copy online) and see the Sunday edition of the Jamaica Observer (Feb 15) for an interview with marlon

'Salt Roads' author @ UWI Sat

Renowned sci-fi/fantasy writer Nalo Hopkinson (who is of Jamaican-Guyanese parentage) will participate in a workshop at the UWI- the Multi-function Room atthe Main Library - Saturday, Feb 21, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Hopkinson's books include Midnight Robber, Brown Girl in the Ring and The Salt Roads

The Spanish View: XAYMACA - Life in Spanish Jamaica 1494-1655

The Institute of Jamaica
February 17, 2009 – August 17, 2009
Limestone frieze, New Seville,c. 1524.
Photo Tony Wong
OPENING: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2009, 11 A.M.
The competition between European nations for wealth, power and religious dominance in the New World began in the 15th Century. Advances in cartography, navigation and shipbuilding fuelled the desire to find new trade routes, gold and spices. Ultimately, this led to the discovery and conquest of lands previously undreamt of.
The Spanish monarchs, King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella, joined in the pursuit of supremacy via the seas in 1492 by supporting the expeditions of Italian-born seaman Christopher Columbus. Their goal was to find trade routes to the east that were unknown to their European rivals and to acquire the much desired gold and precious stones to be found in Asia. However, what their expeditions discovered was far removed from their original intentions.
Featuring the magnificent stone sculpture from New Seville, original Taino and Spanish objects plus reproductions of navigational tools and documents from the period of the Spanish control of Jamaica, XAYMACA: Life in Spanish Jamaica 1494-1655 tells the story of the Spanish experience in Jamaica from the time of Columbus' arrival in 1494 until the time of the island's complete conquest by the English in 1660.

The full-colour catalogue features articles by Professor Patrick Bryan of the University of the West Indies, Dr. Robyn Woodward of Simon Fraser University and Dr. James Robertson of the University of the West Indies. The exhibition has been curated by Dr. Rebecca Tortello and Dr. Jonathan Greenland.

XAYMACA: Life in Spanish Jamaica 1494-1655 has been made possible through the support of The Embassy of Spain in Jamaica, The Jamaica National Heritage Trust, The Ministry of Culture of Spain, The Archive of the Indies, Seville, The Museum of America, Madrid, The Jamaica Archives, The National Library of Jamaica, The Museo Naval, Madrid, and The Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports.