June 01, 2018 When we first encountered Shari Petti’s video short ‘Small Lime,’ we were immediately intrigued. The series captured 20-something-year-old local Trinis, discussing everything from local culture to pop culture to politics. They were funny. They were smart. And the girl had an eye! ‘Sorf Hair,’ Shari’s 2017 Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award […]
April 26, 2018 What does luxury mean in a place where it’s only ever meant something to a very limited few? — Now add ‘local’ into that equation. Kathryn Nurse’s Immortelle Beauty isn’t about the elite or the unattainable. It’s about marrying luxury and local in a Caribbean-based skin care brand inspired by the woman […]
NOVEMBER, 2021 For your next designer ‘It’ bag, passionately handcrafted with top grain, Italian leather and adorned with brass and gold plated hardware, look no further than Vavvoune. The brand was founded in 2015 by Valerie Blaise, a self-taught, Haitian-born, Brooklyn-based artisan and designer who happened upon her love for leather by chance. Each wearable […]
April 02, 2018 The homes of artists are always so inspiring. So much to look at: paintings on the walls, drawings stuck in corners, intriguing books, movies and conversations all around you. Now imagine being the child that lives here. Filmmaker Maya Cozier is the daughter of Trinidadian contemporary visual artist Christopher Cozierand painter Irénée […]
February 23, 2018 Have you noticed the little changes in the architecture in St. James? A few new gems here and there. Some subtle beautifications in Woodbrook. And the constant, albeit quiet, plea to stop tearing down our monuments. It’s against this backdrop that we first encountered a rising, young architect with a passion for […]
September 23, 2017 Not long ago I attended a design colloquium at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, that gave me an extra shot of hope for the future of Caribbean design. The Colloquium featured presenters from across the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and beyond. We were all sharing research, ideas, theories and […]
May 27, 2017 There’s a new trend in T&T and, hopefully, across the Caribbean: green markets! Not the cliché tourist-inspired space, but burgeoning, blossoming gardens of Caribbean creativity. They’re the home of picture perfect, home grown fruits and veggies, steaming cups of old fashioned cocoa tea and breakfast delights, all made from local produce. Which […]
February 15, 2017 “This creativity is not ours it comes from somewhere else. There is a creative being, a creative universe and creative consciousness.” The Tribe Carnival brand has been a dominant force in all aspects of Trinidad carnival since 2006. In 2015 after identifying a new customer base, the band launched its third concept, […]
February 04, 2017 “This is how you know the culture isn’t dead.” That was the comment I overheard as I listened to Bishop’s Girls’ perform Parang songs at a Christmas event back in November (mental note taken and tucked into a pocket of my mind). Fast-forward to January 2017, the beginning of Carnival Season in […]
January 14, 2017 “My competition, or your competition, is not a designer who stands next to you in Trinidad. My competition is not Claudia, or Heather, or Robert or an emerging designer. My competition is the world, the whole world.” I first met Meiling in 2009, while creating her folkloric wonderland of a website. It […]
