Artist, writer and scholar Dr Andil Gosine believes since, socially, the definition of “human” revolves around some impossible ideal of European men, no one should have to prove their humanity by conforming to that standard.
Instead of trying to live up to other people’s sense of humanity, he said, people should claim themselves as animals by refusing the historical racism, classism, and other -isms that continue today.
Those concepts are the basis of Gosine’s newest book, Nature’s Wild: Love, Sex and Law in the Caribbean. And on October 13 at Nature’s Wild (Duets), a one-night show at Medulla Art Gallery, Woodbrook, those concepts will be expanded.
At Duets, Gosine is expected to read sections of his book, to which writer Andre Bagoo and educator Yvonne Bobb-Smith will respond with works of their own.
Bagoo has written a new poem specifically for the event, and
will also be reading from his fiction debut, The Dreaming – a book of short stories following a group of queer men in Woodbrook, which he described as a sequel to VS Naipaul’s Miguel Street. And Bobb-Smith will read from her upcoming autobiography.
At the show, Trinidad-born, Canada-based actor, director and comedian Rhoma Spencer will perform an excerpt from Nature’s Wild, and several pieces of art revolving around the book will
be on display.
Nature’s Wild: Love, Sex and Law in the Caribbean was published a year ago and Nature’s Wild (Duets) is the end of a series of book launches, as well as the beginning of the artistic projects that emerged from the book.
“For me, the epilogue of Nature’s Wild, the text, is a series of creative artworks in which I collaborate with different people.”
[caption id="attachment_979544" align="alignnone" width="600"] The cover of Nature’s Wild: Love, Sex and Law in the Caribbean by Dr Andil Gosine. Photo courtesy Dr Andil Gosine -[/caption]
Gosine said Duets is a way of allowing him to elaborate on the book, engaging with other artists about the ideas in it, and learning from other people’s understanding of the text.
“Part of doing this is to push the ideas further. But for me, it’s pointless to do things in isolation. It’s for the sheer joy of doing it with other people and to have this company, to develop your ideas together.
“One of the things that brought me to art is the sense of community it provided. So it’s about approaching these folks whose work I love and respect and using the text as a way to investigate an idea.”
He collaborated with the artists on all the pieces, which include three untitled beaded works by Bev Koski, an indigenous Canadian beader, in which she covered three miniature 19th-century statues of Hindu gods which were passed down through Gosine’s family.
[caption id="attachment_979542" align="alignnone" width="731"] The Hindu god Ganesh covered in beads created by Bev Koski. Photo courtesy Dr Andil Gosine. -[/caption]
Inspired by Trinidadian poet, LGBTQ+ activist and Newsday columnist Colin Robinson, who died in 2021, Godfather’s Return is a tapestry by Amber Williams
