Blaqmango Consultants – Touching The Waters, Embracing Our Land: a multifaceted tour of Jamaica

As one of the Caribbean Culture Fund’s first grantees, Blaqmango Consultants launched Touching The Waters, Embracing Our Land—an environmental arts project that brought together three emerging Jamaican textile artists to explore the connections between nature, culture, and fiber art. Through guided site visits, community interaction, and studio creation, the artists used traditional techniques such as weaving, batik, embroidery, mola, trapunto, and finger knitting to tell stories about the county’s land, water, and memory using natural materials.

Q: What was Touching The Waters, Embracing Our Land about?

A: Over three months, the project took the artists to several important ecological and cultural sites across Jamaica: the Blue and John Crow Mountains, the White River Fish Sanctuary, the Ocho Rios Marina, and the Glen Goff community. These visits gave the artists a chance to gather natural materials, learn from local knowledge holders, and connect with community members who continue to practice traditional fiber techniques.

The project ended with a public exhibition that showcased newly created artworks by the artists alongside pieces made in collaboration with community participants. The exhibition served as a means for dialogue around environmental protection, cultural preservation, and how traditional arts can inform sustainable practices today.

Q: What inspired this project?

A:The project was designed to raise awareness about the environmental challenges facing Jamaica, while also celebrating its cultural traditions. Textile and fiber art was chosen as the medium because it is both accessible and deeply rooted in Jamaican history, with links to indigenous and African-Caribbean practices. The project gave artists a platform to reflect on environmental issues through their own creative lens, while also encouraging communities to think about sustainability in everyday life. It also connected local voices to regional conversations around climate change and cultural heritage.

Q: Who were the artists involved?

A:The project featured three Jamaican textile and fiber artists: Danaree Greaves, Ammoy Smith, and Kacy-Ann Blake. Danaree focused on the impact of plastic waste on marine life, using recycled and upcycled materials to highlight the hidden damage caused by pollution. Ammoy explored the relationship between nature and human activity through fabric manipulation and the use of sustainable fibers, often creating her own materials from natural sources to comment on climate change and technological impact. Kacy-Ann drew on local plants and animals to reflect the emotional connection between people and nature, encouraging calm and contemplation through her work. While each artist approached their theme differently, their collaboration allowed for a shared exploration of Jamaica’s environment and cultural memory.

Q: What stood out to the team during the process?

A: The project created a rare space for young Jamaican artists to explore their creative voices while addressing serious environmental topics. It provided mentorship, access to studios and materials, and chances to apply their ideas in real-world settings. The experience showed how art can be used not just for expression, but also for education, activism, and healing. It also highlighted the importance of bringing together different disciplines—art, science, and community—to better understand and respond to the ecological challenges we face.

Q: Were the project’s goals met?

A: Yes. The project aimed to inform, inspire, and engage Caribbean communities on environmental issues through textile art. It included public workshops, presentations, and informal exchanges that brought together artists, students, teachers, and audiences. These events helped foster dialogue and shared learning. The artists were also given the resources and space to develop new work, while the exhibition gave them critical visibility and feedback.

Importantly, the project directly reached young people from Downtown, Kingston. Through interactive workshops, these participants gained knowledge about sustainability and creative expression, and were introduced to fiber art as a possible career path. The initiative also created educational materials and documentation for future use, contributing to a growing body of work on environmental art in the Caribbean.

You can find out more about Blaqmango and their work by visiting https://www.instagram.com/Blaqmango