Curaçao artists for Shark Week
For the launch of Shark Week 2018 in Curaçao, Carmabi chose June 8, which is World Ocean Day. The event started with a happy hour and the movie ‘A Plastic Ocean’ screening on the beach.
Inside the center was a small exhibition with artworks by four local artists: Carlos Blaaker, Avantia Damberg, Serena Israel and Roberto Tjon A Meeuw. They were invited by Carmabi.
Shark Week took place from June 8 to June 17, 2018. The Save Our Sharks (SOS) project creates awareness of the protection of sharks in the Dutch Caribbean seas.
Carlos Blaaker created ‘Orisha del Mar’.
Carlos Blaaker (1961) was born in Paramaribo, Surinam, and has lived in Curaçao since 2009. He is an established artist, and his resumé includes exhibitions in the Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam and The Curaçao Museum.
As a professional artist, he values skill and workmanship. He uses a range of techniques and materials like bronze, wood, synthetic resin, metal, oil paint and clay. His muses are the people of Otrobanda, the neighborhood in Willemstad where he lives and has a studio.
In ‘Orisha del Mar’ he invites the viewer to reflect on the real predator: shark or man?
Avantia Damberg created ‘Handle with Care’.
Avantia Damberg (1977) was born in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, but grew up in Curaçao. Although she belongs to the younger group of upcoming artists, her resume includes exhibitions in Amsterdam, Paris, Tallinn, Madrid, Mexico City, and Berlin. She is a versatile artist who uses various techniques like video, sculpting, animation, installation art and text.
About ‘Handle with Care’, she says: ‘With the material I received from the organization, I decided to create something simple but still conveying a strong message: the crate implies a valuable, fragile cargo that must be handled with care’.
Serena Israel, together with her team, created ‘Protecting Hands’.
Serena Janet Israel (1971) was born in Germany and has been living in Curaçao since 2002. She is a professional mold maker and art teacher. She regularly participates in group exhibitions with inspiring pieces. She and her team produce a wide range of artistic products and souvenirs, handmade and hand-painted in Curaçao. Of all her products, the Chichi® is the most well-known worldwide.
For ‘Protecting Hands’ all members of the Art Studio made a plaster copy of their hands. The viewer sees the hands protecting the shark or trying to catch it.
Roberto Tjon A Meeuw created ‘Caught in Plastic’.
Roberto Tjon A Meeuw (1969) was born in Surinam, relocated to the Netherlands at the age of 6, but is currently living in Curaçao. He was born in the Surinam jungle and feels shaped by the damp earth he felt under his feet and the ancient trees, birds and wild animals that surrounded him. At present, he mainly creates pieces of waste material to promote awareness about the environment.
For ‘Caught in Plastic’, he used plastic pieces worn and smoothed by the sea: Where did all the microplastics go?
CARMABI Foundation
Piscaderabaai z/n
P.O. Box 2090
Willemstad
Curaçao
Dutch Caribbean
Tel: +(5999) 462-4242
Fax: +(5999 462-7680
e-mail: info@carmabi.org
www.carmabi.org
2018: Photographs and post by Josée Thissen-Rojer.