October 2013 started off with a short trip to Puerto Rico, where L'Artocarpe met artists from Beta Local. They have a nice residency space and are more than willing to do exchanges with us! Hurray!

Then after L'Artocarpe conference in Jamaica, was the time to fly over to Japan and meet with several artists groups as well as visiting art exhibitions. Nearly 3 weeks in November w-between the Indian summer and the snow...

Back from Japan, a short visit to Jacmel in Haiti, to be part of the fantastic open air exhibition of curator Giscard Bouchotte. We Are Open For Dreaming, the title of the show, was a response to the very provocative advert "Haiti is open for Business", which could be viewed back after the earthquake...
The exhibition has a nice range of Haitian and international artists including: Josué Azor; Mackenson Saint-Félix; Maksaens Denis; Jean-Aurel Maurice; Joël Andrianomearisoa (Madagascar - Paris); Jean-François Boclé (Martinique - Paris); Myriam Mihindou; Antoine Tempe, entre autres.
Les membres David Gumbs et Joëlle Ferly faisaient partie du commissariat et ont été invité par le commissaire. Nous l'en remercions vivement.
Mr Bouchotte is responsible for the great exhibition, Haiti Royaume de Ce Monde, which was first presented at the Agnès B gallery, and then at the Venice Biennale. It ended up in Haiti after a stop in Martinique, at the Clement Foundation. A curator on the high...

Using ship containers, displayed on the main square, the curator wanted to bring contemporary art to the greatest majority of people, who have lesser access to museums and galleries. In the line of the Ghetto Biennale, which took place over the same period in Port-au-Prince, some artists have used discarded objects to make artworks out of them. A nice way to turn unused property into art!

We ended the year 2013 in Martinique so as to catch up on the first edition of the BIAC: Contemporary art Biennale under the direction of Mrs Auguiac, under the initiative of the City of Fort-de-France. The entire show was spread out throughout the island, making it interesting to tour the various cities from North to South.

Spending a morning at the Clement Foundation to assist to the conference of art critic Dominique Berthet, as well as viewing the remarkable exhibition which featured original pieces of the great masters Picasso and Wifredo Lam, was a nice way to make the most of this trip to the sister island. Meeting on the way with other members of L'Artocarpe and colleagues from the Art school...

Then came the visit of the International Pavilion, located in Morne Rouge (North).