Times of the Islands Fall 2020

More documents

Info

astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum In this illustration, “Cacique and Emissary,” a Hispaniolan (Taíno) emissary presents a siba (stone celt) to the Lucayan cacique, who welcomes him to his village with an entourage of family members ceremonially painted and attired in a rich variety of stone and shell ornaments (including belts, naguas, necklaces and ear flares). Lucayan Legacies Images of the past. By Joanna Ostapkowicz ~ Images By Merald Clark © In 2017 during a visit to the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, I came across a temporary exhibit filled with children’s paintings focusing on island history, both past and present. At the very start of the exhibition were several paintings showing Columbus laying claim to the islands for the Spanish crown, with the local “Indians” (the Lucayans) looking passively on. There were no images “pre-Columbus,” giving the impression that the islands’ history started with that fateful landfall on Guanahani (San Salvador) on October 12, 1492. But what of the centuries of island life that preceded this event, with indigenous settlement going back to AD 700? 64 www.timespub.tc
astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum Depictions: past, present, future The absence of this subject matter on the walls of the gallery told its own story. And while the Columbus focus was only a small part of a highly diverse and engaging reflection on some of the histories as well as the issues facing the islands today (tourism, pollution, etc.), it sowed the seed of a venture that aimed to visually re-engage young audiences with the Lucayans. As part of project SIBA (Stone Interchanges in the Bahamian Archipelago), in collaboration with the National Museums of both The Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos Islands and in consultation with the Bahamas Ministry of Education, a package of educational resource materials has been brought together for use in primary and secondary schools on the islands. These include a set of 10 large posters, featuring commissioned illustrations by artist Merald Clark, alongside teacher’s guides to the content. The information is entirely flexible to the directions in which current and future teaching modules develop. The aim is to show the Lucayans within the context of their own histories—not as backdrops to European history—and to highlight the rich archaeological heritage of the region. The artworks, which are inspired by the many unique artefacts that have been recovered over the last century, reflect the latest understandings of the archaeology of the archipelago. They focus on various subjects, from the skills needed to carve a canoe or weave a hammock, to food production, to the social dynamics and trade networks that linked the Lucayans to their southern neighbours in Cuba and Hispaniola. These images are intended as windows onto a Lucayan past, to spur imagination and engagement in classrooms. The background information to the content of these illustrations took several years to complete. The journey through the archaeology and history of the region, through the many museums that held Lucayan collections, and ultimately to the discussions about how to bring these myriad aspects to “life,” has been enormously rewarding, and for me the highlight of the SIBA project. Working with such a gifted artist—an anthropologist, scientific illustrator and educator rolled into one—has been both a privilege and pleasure. Over the course of 2019, e-mails would fly back and forth, sometimes a dozen each day, as we worked out the themes and content. I would send Merald photos of artefacts, and next thing I knew they were captured within a remarkably realistic scene. His depictions of the Lucayans are meticulous in detail: critically, they are not depicted as placid, timid shadows, but people who lived lives, who had their own histories. That these illustrations are strikingly different to what we might expect is because they debunk some of the stereotypes that still persist about the Lucayans, including the long-held assumption that they were a simple people leading a simple life. Below, the illustrations and some of the concepts behind them are explored in six selected examples. Envisioning the Lucayans: a reappraisal Lucayan histories do not start with Columbus, yet it is his words that have long defined our perceptions of them as a “gentle, peaceful, and very simple people.” (Colón, 1992) On that fateful date of October 12, 1492, after laying claim to the island of Guanahani for the Spanish crown with full pomp and ceremony, Columbus describes his reception by the native inhabitants: “ . . . they came swimming to the vessels’ boats . . . [bringing] parrots, spun cotton in little balls, javelins, and many other things; and they traded them to us for . . . small glass beads and bells. In short, they took everything and gave of what they had willingly; but it seemed to me that they were a very poor people in every way. They all go around naked, just as their mothers bore them, the women too, although I saw no more than one very young girl. All those whom I saw were young men—for I saw no one of an age greater than thirty years—very well made, with very beautiful bodies and very pleasant features. They have thick, short hair, almost like the hairs of a horse’s tail. They wear their hair cut above their eyebrows, except for a portion in back which they wear long and never cut. Some of them paint themselves dark, but they are the color of the Canary Islanders, neither black nor white. And some of them paint themselves white, and some red, and some whatever color they find. Some paint their faces and some their bodies, some only their eyes or only their noses . . . They are general of good height and have a fine bearing, and they are well made.” (Lardicci (ed), 1999) The stereotype of naked, “primitive simplicity” (Colón, 1992) has remained largely unquestioned to this day. Less Times of the Islands Fall 2020 65
Page 1 and 2:
TIMES SAMPLING THE SOUL OF THE TURK
Page 3 and 4:
Enjoying A Family Vacation is one T
Page 5 and 6:
TurksAndCaicosProperty.com Coral Sa
Page 7 and 8:
Introducing the Boathouses The Boat
Page 9 and 10:
THE LARGEST WATERPARKS IN THE CARIB
Page 11:
LEADING THE INDUSTRY IN HEALTH AND
Page 15 and 16: getting to know Carol Kubie painted
Page 17 and 18: PROVEN IN PROVO 435’ on Grace Bay
Page 19 and 20: eye on the sky Opposite page: Crepu
Page 21 and 22: Walkin May2017_Layout 1 5/28/17 5:4
Page 23 and 24: talking taíno Opposite page and ab
Page 25 and 26: Keith Tinker, then Director of The
Page 27 and 28: eplicas and packed them in suitcase
Page 29 and 30: Building Your Vision, Delivering Ex
Page 31 and 32: green pages newsletter of the depar
Page 49 and 50: feature COURTESY PROVIDENCIALES INT
Page 52 and 53: uilding block missing—visitors. W
Page 54 and 55: The longest established legal pract
Page 56 and 57: COURTESY DOUG CAMOZZI—CAICOS CYCL
Page 58 and 59: PARADISE PHOTOGRAPHY Jim Brown, who
Page 60 and 61: Trail Start Sandy Point MILE 5 3 2
Page 62 and 63: Safety Rules of the Road (The follo
Page 66 and 67: astrolabe newsletter of the Turks &
Page 68: “The Fisherfolk” depicts three
Page 79 and 80: Building Your Vision Creating Reali
Page 81 and 82: about the Islands Map provided cour
Page 83 and 84: Telecommunications FLOW Ltd. provid
Page 85 and 86: ton dresses tied at the waist for w
Page 87 and 88: where to stay Times of the Islands
Page 89 and 90: dining Times of the Islands Fall 20
Page 91 and 92: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY You Can Count On
show all

Times of the Islands Fall 2020

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?