The Art A[u]ction for Haiti Committee, in association with the Edna Manley Foundation, the National Gallery of Jamaica, Hi-Qo Galleries, Harmony Hall, the Mutual Gallery and Art Centre, and Roktowa, is pleased to present: Art A[u]ction for Haiti, a fundraiser to assist with the recovery of the Haitian art world.

Included in the auction will be prints by FIRST photographers Peter Dean Rickards and Marlon ‘Biggybigz’ Reid.

The proceeds of this benefit will support the reconstruction and revival of the Centre d’Art, and the sculptors’ collective of the Grand Rue inner city community, which had in December 2009 hosted the Ghetto Biennale in which Jamaica’s Ebony Patterson participated. A portion of the proceeds will also go the upcoming residency of nine Haitian artists, including three Grand Rue sculptors, at the Roktowa studio facility in West Kingston.

The sale section consists of works of art that will be offered at fixed price and that will be on view at the National Gallery, along with the auction preview, from Wednesday, April 14 to Sunday, April 18. Viewing and sales hours are: Wednesday and Thursday: 10 am to 4:30 pm, Friday: 10 am to 4 pm, Saturday 10 am to 3 pm, Sunday: 11 am to 3 pm.

See the National Gallery of Jamaica blog for the full catalogue.

More from FIRST’s trip to Haiti:

VIDEO: Return to the Trembling Heart: Grand Rue, Port-au-Prince
PHOTO-ESSAY: Into the Trembling Heart: Five hours in Port-au-Prince

Three months after the earthquake that devastated our neighbouring island of Haiti, 22-year-old Haitian writer/filmmaker Claudel ‘Zaka’ Chery takes FIRST on a short tour around Grand Rue, a main street running through the heart of the commercial district in Port au Prince.

Zaka is part of a collective of Haitian artists who have been chosen to work on The Trembling Heart, which is a limited edition book of sculptural artwork – just 20 copies will be created. The book is intended to serve as a historical testimonial of the cataclysmic events in Port-au-Prince following the earthquake and its’ aftermath.

Each page will be executed by some of the most respected contemporary artists in Haiti today. Jean-Euphele Milce (Alphabet of the Night, Pushkin Press) is writing 20 original short stories based on personal experiences of the cataclysm of January 12 2010. The accompanying pages will be wrought from metal (Sculptor’s of the Gran Rue, Guyodo and Cheby) Wood (Lionel St Eloi, Jean Frederic and Nathalie Fanfan) and Beads (Myrlande Constant, Drapo Artist).

During the creation of the work interviews with the artists and studio sessions will be broadcast online to build anticipation for the auction of the completed work. The proceeds of the auction will be split with 50 per cent going towards a permanent residency programme for Haitian and Caribbean cultural exchange and the remaining 50 per cent divided amongst the participating artists.

In its completed form the giant book will be a freestanding work of art which will stand on sculptural legs and be targeted for inclusion in museum collections around the world.

For more information about the Trembling Heart Project contact: Melinda@rocktower.org

More from FIRST’s trip to Haiti:

PHOTO-ESSAY: Into the Trembling Heart: Five hours in Port-au-Prince
MORE PHOTOS: Port-au-Prince: In Living Colour

Previously on Girl Friday:

March 26: More of Oreintha
March 12: Sabina
February 26: The Quiet Racquel Jones
February 19: Candice McCalla X Lime Cay
February 12: Bianca Carr
And… A Beautiful Nerd (with Oreinthia)
Also… The Girl Next Door is Dead (with Cindy Wright)
Not forgetting… Yendi Phillips
Racquel again… The Devil and Miss Jones

Previously on Girl Friday:

March 12: Sabina
February 26: The Quiet Racquel Jones
February 19: Candice McCalla X Lime Cay
February 12: Bianca Carr
And… A Beautiful Nerd (with Oreinthia)
Also… The Girl Next Door is Dead (with Cindy Wright)
Not forgetting… Yendi Phillips
Racquel again… The Devil and Miss Jones

Previously on First People

March 11: Marlon ‘Biggy Bigz’ Reid and A Picture Called Death
February 23: Rosina Casserly (on Jamaica)
February 16: Devon Gordon’s Art of Extreme Patience

Jamaica loves its tourists. Even in economically strained times, there’s no denying that the tourism industry feeds many people, and in return the industry feeds right back, much to the delight of sunseekers, Reggae enthusiasts, weedhead students and Stella’s of all shapes and sizes all looking to get their proverbial grooves back.

Not surprisingly, Jamaica’s tourists are as varied as the places they habitually return to: Italians on the South Coast, Germans in Portland, the Japanese in Kingston and timid returnee Jamaicans in the North Coast hotels.

In Negril, there’s actually a well-established community of repeat tourists who’ve been returning to the west end ever since wandering this way in the 60s when Negril was more or less just a lot of sand, coconut husks, and, of course, dreadlocked disco-dreads selling mushrooms that do bad things to the sky.

Year after year these tourists come back, regardless of the ever-reported crime and the lack of a Starbucks or a Sbarro’s. Ask one of them and almost all will tell you that even if they could have gone to the Bahamas, there’s nothing quite like the personality of this island and its people, who they watch with great interest.

And we watch back…

If you liked this, check:

March 26: Oreinthia Russell
March 12: Sabina
February 19: Candice McCalla X Lime Cay
February 12: Bianca Carr
And… A Beautiful Nerd (with Oreinthia)
Also… The Girl Next Door is Dead (with Cindy Wright)
Not forgetting… Yendi Phillips
Racquel again… The Devil and Miss Jones

If you liked this, check:

March 26: Oreinthia Russell
March 12: Sabina
February 26: The Quiet Racquel Jones
February 12: Bianca Carr
And… A Beautiful Nerd (with Oreinthia)
Also… The Girl Next Door is Dead (with Cindy Wright)
Not forgetting… Yendi Phillips
Racquel again… The Devil and Miss Jones