15.10 - 30.10.2016
THE TOBACCO WAREHOUSE, GREENOCK
CLOSING EVENT SUNDAY 30TH: 2-5PM
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
ALBERTA WHITTLE | ANNALEE DAVIS | EWAN ATKINSON | GRAHAM FAGEN | KATHERINE KENNEDY | NICK WHITTLE | RAYANNE BUSHELL RODELL WARNER | RONALD WILLIAMS | STACEY TYRELL
WITH WRITING FROM CASSIE EZEJI AND NICK WHITTLE
Rum Retort is curated by Tiffany Boyle and Natalia Palombo for Mother Tongue and brings together the work of 10 artists based in the Caribbean and Scotland. The exhibition seeks to re-trace and activate the connections between Greenock, Scotland and the Caribbean, sited in the town’s former Tobacco Warehouse. At the height of trade to the port, Greenock received upto 400 ships from the Caribbean annually, arriving with sugar and tobacco, and now like the Caribbean, is a stopping point for cruise ships. The exhibition takes place during Black History Month Scotland and is part of the Galoshans Festival 2016. ‘Galoshans’ is a local term for guising at Halloween, a time for street parades and the spiritual world, sharing much with carnival in the Caribbean.
Rum Retort spans photography, video, sound, installation and performance, from a diverse and inter-generational group of practitioners. The works presented share aspects of performativity, costume, collage, stereotypes and motifs, alongside an interrogation of the historical contexts interconnecting Scotland and the Caribbean. Rum Retort looks to establish artistic dialogues and exchange between Scotland the Caribbean, and has its roots in a curatorial research residency undertaken by Mother Tongue with Fresh Milk Barbados in 2015.
Tiffany Boyle and Natalia Palombo would like to thank all of the participating artists and writers who have contributed to this project. We would also like to express our gratitude to the following individuals and organisations for their support in realising Rum Retort: Ben Grieves, Carolyn Scott, Cassie Ezeji, Christopher Innes,Gordon Schmidt, Iman Tajik, Jude Barber, Kenneth Ramchand, Natalie McGuire, RIG Arts, Rikki Payne, Tony Badu at iWednesday, Transmission Gallery, Stills Gallery and UZ Arts.
Lead Image: Alberta Whittle, Go Home, No Home, Video Still, 2016. Copyright of the artist.
