A PERSPECTIVE ON CARIBBEAN ART AT CARIFESTA XV

A PERSPECTIVE ON CARIBBEAN ART AT CARIFESTA XV

Writer and photographer Kadiejra O'Neal

Upon entering the Barbados Museum & Historical Society, one is surely met with more than just pieces of 
art, but strong examples of resistance and cultural heritage seen through the voices of the people, who all 
came together to highlight the important role culture and the arts play within today’s modern society. 

Crystal Lattices: Reflections/Refractions over XV editions of CARIFESTA opened their doors to the public 
this past Sunday as one of the many visual arts exhibitions being held in Barbados, during this years’ 
CARIFESTA XV arts and culture festival. 

The forty-six pieces exhibited by forty artists, showcase a wide range of narratives found within the 
Caribbean and her diaspora. These select works from the Barbados National Art Gallery and the Barbados 
Gallery of Art Trust,  provide a reflection of the Caribbean with not only Barbadian based artists, but also 
notable works by artists from Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica as well as Trinidad. 

This exhibition, curated by Barbadian artist and writer Katherine Kennedy, investigates symbolism and visual 
metaphor whilst allowing artists and viewers alike a chance to experience and discover our shared colonial 
histories.  

The show is separated into two galleries. Each focusing on specific themes: Roots, Reflections & Rituals and 
Globality & Fragile Futures in the Exhibition gallery whilst Reclamation, Celebration & Unity and Sunkissed 
Geographies sit in the Aall Gallery.  

These four themes govern the exhibition providing the focal point and critical dialogue needed in order to 
shape the identities that unite our region. 

The exhibition runs until October 25th, 2025. 

August 2025