You read about it in the newspapers, in the magazines and online. You even saw it on television… It’s Instituto Buena Bista’s first lustrum celebration! Five years of building, cutting, pasting and adapting.

On October 24 the celebrations of 5 years IBB got a symbolic start with 2 seminars for the students of IBB by the artists Annalee Davis (Barbados) and Charo Oquet(Miami/Dominican Republic). For two weeks the students, divided into two groups, had to work with these 2 artists.
Each seminar had its own theme and medium that was going to be presented and taught to the students.
With Annalee the students had to make a blog and a video where they not only introduced themselves but IBB and Curacao as well. During this seminar the students were confronted with the various way to do research and how to work in teams and to create a collective result or work. The blog can be visited on tumblr:
http://whoweareibb.tumblr.com/. A connection between the students of IBB and the students of BCC (Barbados Community College) was also established as the base for a future collaboration between IBB and the BCC.
In the seminar of Charo, installation art was the main theme. Not only did the students do the different exercises in how to build installations but they also learned about the history behind installation art. After the various individual exercises in the building of installations and the building of individual installations the students had to build one collective installation. With this the students where confronted with the complexities of teamwork, space and time.

The official opening ceremony of our celebration was on October 31 by a representative of Minister Jansen (Minister of Culture, Education, Science and Sport), Mr. Roland Antonius. With the presence of the friends of IBB, guests, artists Annalee Davis, Charo Oquet and Chief Curator of the Museum of Modern Art of the Dominican Republic Amable Lopez Melendez the celebration couldn’t go wrong. On this first day mister Amable Lopez Melendez gave a lecture entitled: Espectrologías & Polísintesis en el Arte del Caribe Contemporáneo, that covered the analysis of many contemporary artworks in the Caribbean especially contemporary art from Dominican Republic. This lecture was followed by a speech by David Bade and Tirzo Martha, the initiators of the IBB, reflecting on not only the heights of 5 years IBB but also the lows; the students and their talents and the future. For the initiators of the IBB this is a moment of reflection a moment to fine tune the direction of the IBB towards the future.
After the short speech from Bade and Martha it was time for the launching of a short documentary made by Omar Kuwas that gave an impression of the highlights that illustrated 5 years IBB.

The second day of celebration, November 3, was also a day filled with interesting lectures by the the 2 artists in residence Charo Oquet and Annalee Davis. Both artists gave more insight in their work and career. They both gave some extensive explanation about the themes they’ve taught in their seminars the past 2 weeks to the students. The main event of the evening was the official opening of the exhibition with the results of the 2 seminars by the 2 artists in residence and the students of IBB. The chairman of the foundation IBB, mr. Michael Newton made the official opening with some supportive and constructive words on the existence of the IBB. Both artists presented also their works they’ve donated to the collection of the IBB.
As part of this official moment a painting by Fiona Henriquez, an ex student of the IBB now studying in the Netherlands, has been handed over to the director of the Capriles Kliniek Dr. Waldi Oostburg. This as a gesture of gratitude towards the clinic for their collaboration with the IBB.
A cake in the shape of the number 5 with candles and some singing of Happy Birthday brought this special night of celebration to a conclusion.

On the last evening of the ceremonies, Friday, November 4, Amable Lopez Melendez gave another presentation, this time about more specific artworks, describing them thoroughly and abundantly as he explains how they are all collected within new artistic practices in the era of emptiness. He elaborated on many of these artists who’s works incorporated violence, war and other explicit content. This evening was more of a conference for professionals working in the field of art. The different discussions that where presented by the audience concerning this thematic brought a special energy to the evening.

As we wrap up our first big anniversary, we give thanks to all of you, press, friends, guests, students and of course staff, for supporting us.

Thank you!

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