By DAVID CAVE
This year 2009 appears to be one of great expectations and challenges: Obama fever and a global recession. It is under this air of excitement and trepidation that the Japanese photographer Shizuka Minami launched her exhibition MINAMI + Carnival on 15th January at Soft Box Studios on Alcazar Street, Port of Spain.
The exhibition comprised of sixty dry-mounted photographs that were taked during the Carnival festivities of 2005, 2007 and 2008. First impressions were positive. The variety of the exhibition left no doubt that Minami is a technically proficient photographer. There is the frozen action of BP Renegades of Panorama 2008 contradicted with the empty chairs in the Savannah. Despite these contrasts of stillness and action, Minami is able to maintain a persistent point of view throughout the dynamism of Carnival. All of Minami’s photographs are superbly colourful yet devoid of clutter. In a split second she is able to distil the chaos and cacophony synonymous with Carnival and produce a clean, harmonious image. This is true minimalism: the paradox of less = more.
The austerity of Minami’s vision is exemplified by the Dimanche Gras photograph of February 18, 2007 where a flag woman stands on the stage with the national flag raised, most likely during the playing of the National Anthem. She is virtually isolated. The media, technical staff and judges are far away, beyond the glare of the spotlight. This is not the image that would appear in a TDC brochure or on the outer pages of the newspapers of Ash Wednesday. This is the Carnival we may see but certainly do not remember.
And this is my greatest concern about the Minami Exhibition. Our cocktail sipping crowd who are desperately trying to replace wine and jam with wine and cheese seems to be cursed with a spectacular degree of amnesia. Interrogate anyone who attended this opening about the details of the work on display and chances are that the majority of the attendees would remember only that the photographer was Japanese. This is indeed sad because the focus of this exhibit should be the artwork, not the artist.
That being said, it is also depressing to know that these photographs will be buried in oblivion after the exhibition ended on 29th January, only to be accessed by a tiny minority like yours truly who share an interest in Trinidad and Tobago’s art history. Other impressive collections by photographers like Jeffery Chock and Alex Smailes are a rare sight, even in the bookstore. I therefore fear that this recent display of Shizuka Minami’s work will suffer a similar fate.
Minami’s photographs are a welcome addition to the gamut of Carnival images. They offer a fresh perspective, but somehow these pictures do not burn themselves onto our retinas. They are new but somehow not novel enough to shake us out of our complacency. Minami also places herself in a precarious position as an artist. She has to be minimal without appearing to be banal. The images are pleasant to look at, but very few of the photographs grip you. The greatest attention-grabber is the price. If you want to purchase one print of these images be prepared to shell out at least TT$900 for a small 7×10.5 print. A print measuring two feet by three feet costs TT$6,000. In the art scene these numbers are not celestial, but the photographs are shot in 35mm digital format and are therefore easily reproduced. There is also no overt guarantee on a limit to the prints, thus making their exclusivity more questionable.
It is somewhat heartening to see photography slowly gaining recognition as a genre in Trinidad and Tobago’s art landscape. Unfortunately, this Minami exhibition won’t single-handedly push this medium into the mainstream. There is still more work to be done.
