Who More Sci-Fi Than Us, contemporary art from the Caribbean

The exhibition is curated by guest curator Nancy Hoffmann. "Who More Sci-Fi Than Us" features work by a selection of contemporary artists from the Caribbean, from the south (Antilles and Suriname) to the north (Cuba and Jamaica) and from the west (Costa Rica and Panama) to the east (Martinique and Barbados) and all the islands in between.

Nancy Hoffmann: 'With this exhibition we show for the first time in the Netherlands the broad palette of contemporary Caribbean art and artists. The exhibition focuses on a shared identity, history, economic and social conditions; a combination of factors that leads to a certain surreal way of communicating, in words and images. Or, as Dominican-American author and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz so eloquently puts it: 'It might have been a consequence of being Antillean. Who more sci-fi than us?'

'Who More Sci-Fi Than Us' tells a discursive story about the Caribbean in which a kind of corresponding culture emerges that all the islands share. In addition, we show how complex and multifaceted the region is. In fact, there may not even be such a thing as "The Caribbean. We do not want to "frame" the artists in a geographical context, but to let the story of the region play the leading role. Among other things, the exhibition tells the story of a shared history, political conditions, the role of religion and the daily life of the average inhabitant. The relevance of the Caribbean to the Netherlands is evident, with the large Antillean, Aruban and Surinamese communities in our country, among others. In the field of art, only sparse attention has been paid to these 'blood groups' in the Netherlands so far. KAdE puts them, for the first time in the Netherlands, in the context of the larger Caribbean region.

Catalog
The catalog, which accompanies the exhibition, reveals an additional reality. The area is divided by different languages and thus language barriers. The cultural differences can be traced mainly to the relationship with the (former) motherland: Spain, France, England and the Netherlands. The catalog is therefore divided into four sections, all introduced with a general text by an author from each language area: Leon Wainwright (UK), Charl Landvreugd (NL/ SU), Giscard Bouchotte (FR/ Haiti) and Blanca Victoria López Rodríguez (Cuba). The catalog also includes an interview with Simon Njami (FR) by Jocelyn Valton (Guadeloupe).
 
Participating artists:
Aruba: Ryan Oduber, Barbados: Joscelyn Gardner, Sheena Rose, Colombia: Oswaldo Macia, Costa Rica: Edgar León, Cuba: Alexandre Arreachea, Carlos Garaicoa, Yaima Carrazana, Ana Mendieta (†), Curaçao: David Bade, Tirzo Martha, Tony Monsanto, Dominican Republic: Marcos Lora Read, Jorge Pineda, Limber Vilorio, Guadeloupe: Bruno Pedurand, Guyana: Hew Locke, Haiti: Mario Benjamin, Jean-Ulrick Désert, Edouard Duval Carrié, Jamaica: Marvin Bartley, Renée Cox, Leasho Johnson, Ebony G. Patterson, Martinique: Jean Francois Boclé, David Damoison, Panama: Jhafis Quintero Gonzales, Jonathan Harker/ Donna Conlon, Puerto Rico: Pepón Osorio, Puerto Rico/ Cuba: Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, St. Vincent: Michael McMillan, Suriname: Remy Jungerman, Charl Landvreugd, Marcel Pinas, Trinidad: Wendell McShine.

Sculptures, installations, paintings, drawings, photographs, film & animation 
'Who More Sci-Fi Than Us' shows a selection of sculptures, installations, paintings, drawings, photographs, film & animation by young promising artists and more established artists. Some still live and work in the Caribbean, others have emigrated to the West.

Title 'Who More Sci-Fi Than Us'
The title of the exhibition: 'Who More Sci-Fi Than Us' is taken from a quote in the book: 'The Short But Amazing Life of Oscar Wao' by Dominican-American author and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz. Nancy Hoffmann: 'With this exhibition we show for the first time in the Netherlands the broad palette of contemporary Caribbean art and artists. The exhibition focuses on a shared identity, history, economic and social conditions; a combination of factors that leads to a certain surreal way of communicating, in words and images. Or, as Dominican-American author and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz so eloquently puts it: 'It might have been a consequence of being Antillean. Who more sci-fi than us?

About Nancy Hoffmann
Drs. Nancy Hoffmann was director/co-founder of the Instituto Buena Bista - Curaçao Center for Contemporary Art in Willemstad, Curaçao. Together with co-founders Tirzo Martha and David Bade, she focused on education, guest artists, projects and strategy during those years. Hoffmann is still doing a lot of research on contemporary art in the Caribbean and is working on a dissertation on artists' initiatives in that region. To this end, she visits a large number of (egg) countries, as well as institutions dedicated to this within and outside the Caribbean (Americas Society NYC, Museo del Barrio, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics) and retrospective exhibitions such as "Infinite Islands" (Brooklyn Museum 2008), "Krèyol Factory" (Paris 2009) and the Biennial de Pontevedra "Utrotopicos" (Spain 2010).