Colonialism
We just luuuuv art colonies. The whole idea of spending time away with other artists in a richly creative environment... well, it makes us all tingly. Taller Portobelo Norte was formalized in 2001 by Oronike Odeleye, Renee Alexander, Fahamu Pecou (yes, him again), and Torkwase Dyson as a way to strengthen the relationship between the art communities of Atlanta, USA and the Congo culture based Taller Portobelo art colony in Portobelo, Panama. The group hosts retreats, workshops, and cultural excursion trips between and within the two cities throughout the year.
The organization will be hosting a group of 6 artists ("mostly Californians," according to Oronike) on a trip to Portobelo's Black Christ Festival from 16 October to 23 October. The festival, which has been going on for 3 centuries, began when a crate containing a black sculptural figure of Jesus appeared in the bay during a cholera epidemic. The epidemic stopped after the people began venerating the figure. So of course it was time to party. And they've been partying ever since as the festival is now the town's biggest annual event.
TPN began informally in 1997 when Dr. Arturo Lindsay of Spelman College used his Lila Wallace grant to travel to Panama and study sculpture. Once there, Lindsay joined with photographer Sandra Eleta and artist Yaneca Esquina to explore African cultural retentions and to begin building a bridge between Portobelo and Atlanta. The October trip includes tours and attendance at the festival, and the group reserves 2 slots for emerging artists at a discounted rate.
4 October 2006