Category: Society & Politics

Supporting Artists and Celebrating the Arts

On By davidemmanuelnoelIn Society & Politics, Visual Art & MusicLeave a comment


I have now set up a go fundme account to secure funds to develop my practice and platforms to support and promote the arts. For new readers, unfamiliar with me, my practice combines my visual art portfolio with curating impactful initiatives that champion art, support education, encourage dialogue, and provide an understanding of human behavior. Part of my practice, themed ‘Eyes on the Arts’, feeds my passion for curating platforms for fellow artists and collaborating on innovative projects.

Further to my blog, this led me to create the free-to-access arts platform Occhi Arts and Entertainment , which I have used to bridge relationships with national and international stakeholders that are keen to collaborate and promote visual arts, performance, dance, independent film, literature, and music. I’ve started using this platform as a conduit to collaborate with others on projects supporting public access to the arts, preserving cultural activities in economically deprived areas, and to address global issues such as climate change and global warming. In light of the current economic challenges, and the lack of funding opportunities, particularly for artists and smaller regional arts projects, your support will aid my practice and efforts to promote independent, underrepresented, and unsigned creatives, enabling them to engage the art-loving public. To date, despite several attempts, I have received no formal arts funding or financial support but garnered the attention of fellow artists and the art-loving public. Your support will contribute to the Occhi/Eyes on the Arts initiative’s growth and the ability for the public to access emerging talent online, and at planned live events up and down the country. Making a living as an artist or supporting other artists’ careers isn’t easy. At times, it can look and feel like a challenging task but, particularly in recent years, we all understand the social, therapeutic, and economic importance this sector has.

Funding will support written and recorded online features, interviews, and reviews of creatives working in visual arts, film, music, literature, and dance on Occhi Arts and Entertainment platforms, including our Youtube and Podcast. It will also help me, with the support of others, facilitate career advice, mental health/ wellbeing support for creatives, and manage live national and international projects that everyone can enjoy!

I welcome your support and any contribution will be appreciated!

Individual donors providing £50 or more will receive a ‘Friends of Occhi’ listing on the official Occhi Arts & Entertainment website.

Individual donors providing £100 or more will also receive Occhi Arts and Entertainment merchandise (T-shirt and Cup)

Individual donors providing £250 or more will also receive Occhi Arts and Entertainment merchandise and a David Emmanuel Noel limited print of artwork of their choice from my website. *approx 80 x 80′ inches, depending on the image.

Corporate sponsorship and collaborations with companies championing the arts are welcomed. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me, if this is of interest.

Thank you!

Participating in A Global Art Community

On By davidemmanuelnoelIn Society & Politics, Visual Art & MusicLeave a comment

The challenges of the last few years are combined with the necessary focus on my practice and wider professional commitments. Despite the pandemic and its challenges, I have endured, moved forward, bridged significant relationships, and created opportunities with hope for a positive and prosperous future. Whilst have been shamefully neglectful of my personal blog site, I have documented many of my activities via my company websites; Occhi & Entertainment, Occhi Contemporary, and Occhi Magazine. You’ll find several projects I have curated and interviews with several amazing artists who have inspired me beyond measure!

In recent months, I have been privileged to once again participate in the 2022 Caribbean Fine Art Fair, and co-host a number of webinars and talks with prominent artists and academics from the African and Caribbean diaspora. Art fans from across the world were able to join CaFA 2022 at the Norman Centre, Broad Street in Bridgetown, Barbados, but also through caribbean.global .

One of the artists I was honoured to meet was Cheryl D. Miller. Cheryl D Miller is a designer, author, and theologian who is best known for her diversity, equity, and inclusion advocacy for black graphic designers in the industry and marketplace. Miller holds a Master of Science degree in visual communications from Pratt Institute and received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, with Foundation Studies completed at the Rhode Island School of Design. She also holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. An accomplished, award-winning designer and businesswoman, Miller established one of the first black women-owned design firms in New York City in 1984.

The event included a segment on NFTs by Zoe Osborne of Mahogany Culture, one of the early adopters of NFTs in Barbados and the Caribbean. She dedicated a portion of her panel discussion to exploring and clarifying facts about the new digital option for artists. For further information on the artist and the online exhibition of works, visit the caribbean.global website.

Together for Our Planet Exhibition

Further to the Occhi Arts and Entertainment/Phoenix call for artists to participate in the collaboration, we have produced a short publication featuring artists across the globe. I have also interviewed several artists and discussed their careers and exhibition entries. Further information is available on the Occhi Arts &Entertainment websites.  For further information visit the following link

 

Participation in The Association of African American Museums (AAAM) 2021 Conference

On By davidemmanuelnoelIn Society & Politics, Visual Art & MusicLeave a comment

The Association of African American Museums (AAAM) holds its 2021 conference this month. The event is designed to provide networking opportunities for young museum professionals, professional development, and online learning. Speaking about the event, Vedet Coleman-Robinson, Executive Director said, “Last year’s successful launch of the first virtual conference proved that despite our distance, we can still learn, grow, and network together virtually.   Historically, the AAAM conference is a family reunion of sorts for professionals of African and African American-focused museums as well as a wide array of cultural institutions.  Last year, we gathered and connected virtually and we all were safe, protected, and healthy.  We want to have that same outcome this year.”

This year,  I’m privileged to participate in a panel discussion, titled ‘Museum Pedagogy: Informing and Educating through a Parallel Delivery of Arts, Media, and Mentorship’. I’ll be joined by Kishan Munroe- a Bahamian documentarian, researcher, and interdisciplinary artist whose practice comprises painting, drawing, photography, film, installation art, and assemblages, and Alexis Alleyne-Caputo (Afro Diaries™ & Grace and Graffiti™) – anthropologist, researcher, and award-winning interdisciplinary artist. We’ll be exploring the importance of the arts and how artists may contribute to their communities whilst supporting worthwhile objectives of museums and educational institutes.

Registered participants will gain insight on a variety of topics surrounding the museum field from a range of museum professionals throughout the country with the conference and plenary sessions.  Keeping in the tradition of their conferences, AAAM will have special guests for their keynote address and evening receptions. This year’s event will again be virtual allowing registrants to be safe, empowered, and engaged while keeping safe and healthy.

The conference runs from August 4 -6th 2021. For further details, and to register for the event please visit the AAAM’s website.

‘Colonial Currents: Black Women, Water, Trauma, and Baptism’ At The 15th National Black Writers Conference

On By davidemmanuelnoelIn Literature & Word, Society & PoliticsLeave a comment

The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York (CBL) presents the 15th National Black Writers Conference (NBWC2020). The conference, which started on Wednesday, runs until Saturday, November 14, 2020. The event, in association with Akila Worksongs, was rescheduled from its annually-held Spring dates due to COVID-19 and will be held virtually. This year’s theme, Activism, Identity, and Race: Playwrights and Screenwriters at the Crossroads, is a new focus for the Conference that boldly affirms and celebrates how the diaspora’s playwrights and screenwriters expand society’s understanding of Black life and the human experience. Forming part of an exciting program of events, anthropologist and interdisciplinary artist Alexis Alleyne-Caputo (Afro Diaries™) will present her short film titled  ‘Colonial Currents: Black Women, Water, Trauma, and Baptism’. 

Further to her previous projects exploring issues affecting black and brown communities, Alexis Alleyne Caputo’s project draws on current pertinent and intersecting issues, underscoring racial injustice, police brutality, climate change, COVID-19, and the global momentum supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.  The short film will be followed by a Q&A, which I have been invited to participate in.

Much reflection is given on how artists, activists, and educators can respond to the conference’s overall theme of activism, identity, and race whilst widening discussion, exploring solutions and disseminating findings beyond the conference’s virtual registrants. The artist who contributed to the project were Andria Thomas, Anasthasia Grand-Pierre, Cheryl Harrell, Desiree Parkman, Kashia Kancey, Maryann A. Payne-Benjamin, M.M.N. Caputo, Na’Talya Elizabeth Duhart, Shawna Watson, Shawnnette Longley (Rimidi), and Yolande Clark-Jackson.

Speaking on the eve of the conference Alexis Alleyne Caputo explains, ”This is a response to the conference theme of  Activism, Identity, and Race: Playwrights and Screenwriters at the Crossroads. The African American experience must be recorded and viewed from a wider lens, understanding similar or shared experiences of black people across the world. Milestones in history, our response, and the narrative of the African diaspora’s story matters. This is best served via the collaboration of literary and visual minds to celebrate our being and shape our future’’.

Other conference highlights include roundtable conversations, panel discussions, a town hall, film screenings, author readings, writing and playwrighting talk shops, a local vendor marketplace, and much more. The four-day virtual gathering brings together students, writers, artists, activists, scholars, literary professionals, theater and film giants, and other literature enthusiasts from near and far. The aim is to explore the challenges, rewards, and impact of working within the Black film and theater industries. Discussions will examine the ways that race, identity, politics, and popular culture shape the production of plays, films, and television shows.

For further information on Alexis Alleyne Caputo please visit https://alexiscaputo.com/

Click here for the program for the day.  For further information and bookings for the 15th National Black Writers Conference (NBWC2020) please visit https://centerforblackliterature.com

The featured image, courtesy of Alexis Alleyne Caputo  features Anasthasia Grand-Pierre (left) and  Maryann A. Benjamin (right)

Coronavirus: Be Safe and Careful!

On By davidemmanuelnoelIn Society & PoliticsLeave a comment

Hi all! It’s been a very long time since I blogged and I’ve missed it. At the neglect of my blog, I’ve been very active editing and writing for Occhi Magazine. In the last few months we’ve reviewed some great films, directors, authors, visual artists and award-winning musicians such as Jackiem Joyner and legendary Sergio Mendes. Please visit the Occhi Magazine website for further information. I’m also pleased to say OPEN Ealing has also opened its community art centre in Ealing, London.

Unfortunately, like other venues, the community’s use of the venue has been under threat due to the coronavirus. Under the growing shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ll be confined in my studio, writing and working on some new work I hope to share with you.

In these difficult and unprecedented times I wish you and your loved ones the very best. Like most of you, I’ve witness empty shop shelves, panic buying and a great sence of fear. Please look after yourselves and each other by following recommendations proposed by the World Heath Organisation and your national health authorities.