Caribbean Unity in Action: Creativity, Collaboration, and Resilience 

As part of our partnership with the Caribbean Broadcast Union, the CCF recently hosted a press conference with the grantees from our first round of grants and members of the regional media. 

The 16 grantees, from Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, updated the media on their projects and the larger vision of their work. 

Selected under the themes Art for Social Change and Civic Engagement, and Caribbean Collaboration, the projects showcase how creativity can be a tool for transformation, connection, and healing. 

A Shared Vision of Social Justice and Civic Engagement 

Ten of the projects in the first cohort of grantees tackle social and environmental challenges. Sonja Dumas from Trinidad and Tobago is working on a children’s book series that combines Caribbean culture with eco-consciousness. Made from recycled materials, these books inspire children to see themselves in the stories while encouraging them to reimagine their world. 

Her approach aligns powerfully with Idris Veitch’s project in Jamaica, where digital restoration of historical buildings seeks to preserve stories embedded in crumbling architecture. Both projects reflect a deep desire to honor heritage while inspiring the next generation to reclaim and reimagine their cultural environment.  

Chelsea Naomi’s project focuses on the exploration of LGBTQ communities in Jamaica. Chelsea’s work highlights the power of storytelling as an act of defiance and healing—a sentiment also evident in Kingston Creative’s initiative. The team is empowering Jamaican communities to reclaim underutilized urban spaces as platforms for public art, blending cultural expression with environmental awareness. 

Sol Scene Haiti brings together Dominican and Haitian artists to use art as a tool for resilience and personal growth for young Dominicans of Haitian descent affected by denationalization. Through creative workshops, participants co-create two short films and a bilingual comic strip in Creole and Spanish, fostering cultural exchange, empowerment, and unity across communities.

Although unable to attend, Carlos Rodriguez’s Draguéalo empowers individuals to embrace their identities with pride and confidence. By celebrating the diversity of gender expression through artistic and cultural events, the initiative fosters a sense of belonging and self-assurance among participants.

At its core, Draguéalo is about encouraging participants to stand tall, celebrate who they are, and advocate for themselves and others. Rooted in a vision of social justice and civic engagement, the project uses creativity as a catalyst for self-expression, adaptability, and collective strength.

Creativity and Sustainability: A Shared Commitment to the Environment  

The Caribbean’s natural beauty and fragile ecosystems form a recurring theme across projects, including Katrina Coomb’s/ Blaqmango Consultants which brings together Jamaica’s textile artists to explore environmental concerns through fiber art, using materials sourced from local flora. 

This tactile engagement with land connects to Annalee Davis’s Chants for the Sixth Extinction project in Barbados, where soundscapes captured within limestone caves mourn the loss of biodiversity. For Annalee, the echoes of the caves become a metaphor for the Caribbean’s environmental grief—challenging audiences to listen to the Earth and heal their relationship with nature.  

Similarly, Kriston Chen’s ‘STICS project addresses sustainability through action, reimagining discarded plastic as Carnival art. Together, these projects forge a deeper awareness of the Caribbean environment, using creativity to spark conversations about conservation and sustainability. From textiles to sound, art becomes both a concern and a solution—a powerful reminder of the Caribbean’s bond with its land and seas.  

Building on this shared commitment to the environment, Kingston Creative’s Parade Gardens project in Jamaica empowers communities to reimagine urban spaces as sustainable public art. Through creative placemaking, it addresses climate challenges while fostering cultural expression and economic opportunity.

Art as a Bridge: Caribbean Collaboration Across Borders 

Six of the projects cross borders and language barriers to weave a shared Caribbean narrative. In Muestra Caribe, a non-fiction cinema initiative, film becomes the bridge that reconnects the Caribbean through stories. Focusing on shared identities and histories, the team works across Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic to build bonds that colonial systems once fractured. 

This desire to reconnect resonates with Maria Santana Candido’s Gaga project in the Dominican Republic, which celebrates Haitian cultural heritage through music and dance. Her festival not only reclaims ancestral rhythms but also challenges social divides, offering a sense of belonging to Dominicans of Haitian descent.  

Arlene Sabaris with Anticanon amplifies underrepresented voices, bringing writers from the Dominican Republic and Haiti together to publish a groundbreaking anthology. This collection showcases stories that reflect shared struggles and aspirations, fostering unity through the written word.

Connection is also a key player for Weizeman Seide or the Caribbean Culinary Community, which uses its digital platform to connect culinary professionals across the Caribbean, overcoming linguistic and cultural barriers. By fostering partnerships with local institutions, celebrating culinary storytelling, and hosting multicultural events, the initiative thrives, uniting the region through its shared culinary heritage.

Another participant who saw the need for connection, and its need across the region is Repat Stories- which amplifies the personal journeys of Caribbean nationals returning home after years abroad, showcasing the successes of return migration across the region. By exploring shared and unique experiences of migration, Repat Stories serves as a platform for connection, learning, and dialogue across the Caribbean, breaking language barriers to unite the region through storytelling.

Looking Forward: A Brighter Caribbean Through Collaboration  

Art can be the bridge that connects, transforms, and heals. By embracing shared challenges and celebrating diverse identities, these projects lay the foundation for a stronger, more united Caribbean. As Jean-Billy Mondésir from  L’Association Vers le Sud pour l’Éducation et la Culture (AVSEC)  so poignantly reflects:  “We belong to a large family, and this fund reminded us of that. It’s time to reunite, collaborate, and amplify the Caribbean’s voice.”*  

For more on the Caribbean Culture Fund and its upcoming opportunities, visitcaribbeanculturefund.org and follow the CCF on Instagram and X at @caribbeanculturefund.   

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