MEP Caribbean Publishers: Now open: "Sundays: a Collection of Pastime Glories" photography exhibition

This month, we're excited to support our colleague Ariann Thompson in her debut photography exhibition here in Port of Spain, Trinidad!

The exhibition event, called Sundays: A Collection of Pastime Glories features the work of Ariann, Satori Hassanali, and Ihsan Atiba, opened yesterday and runs through 14th August at the Queen's Royal College Hall.

There are also three special events: the Quorum, the Forum and the Run. The Quorum was the intimate launch of the three collections, and took place yesterday. The Forum, an open mic event, takes place this Sunday 7th August. The Run takes off on 14th August, the last day of the exhibition, and is a family day and fête match bringing together all of the "past time glories" that this exhibition celebrates. It happens at the Queens Royal College Grounds and is hosted by the QRC Sunday Sweater Football Club (QSS). Part proceeds of these events will go to the QRC Renovation Fund.

The exhibition is open to the public Monday–Saturday, 2pm–6pm. All pieces are on sale, as well as other memorabilia.

Here's some more on the artists.

The artists

Ariann Mieka Thompson: Ariann has been passionate about photography for as long as she can remember. Her love for travel, exploration and for the Caribbean has had a huge influence on her creative development. Her first formal training in photography was at St. Johns University in New York, as part of her Communications degree. In 2006, one of her photographs was chosen to be included as part of BPTT’s nationwide exhibition. In 2009, Ariann journeyed to Stellenbosch, South Africa to formally study photography and graduated with distinction. This year her work was used on the cover for the current Discover Trinidad and Tobago magazine. Ariann’s love for experimentation, building unique sets and backdrops, and the bright colours, vibrant imagery and diverse people and cultures in Trinidad and Tobago are demonstrated in this collection, which is entitled "Sundaze". She muses that while we excitedly participate in a variety of Sunday activities, the day itself passes so quickly that the memory of what we did is blurred.

Satori Hassanali: Satori has titled his collection "Sunday Sweat", celebrating the wonderful tradition of informal and formal football games held on a Sunday. He illustrates that this gathering of young and old is more than recreation and invites the attendees to be part of this experience. Satori is largely self-taught, after being introduced to art at his alma mater QRC, and has a minor in Fine Arts. His work is an eclectic collection of human figures, people, culture and environment. While this collection is presented in acrylic and oil with some work in ink, Satori is constantly experimenting and learning new forms of expression.

Ihsan Khayri Atiba: Ihsan has been expressing himself through art since early childhood. He studied Visual Arts at UWI and presently teaches in his field at the secondary school level. He is a practising artist, graphic designer and poet, though this is first exhibition since graduation.
Ihsan prefers dry media – pencil, chalk pastel and charcoal – and creates still life and abstract interpretations of the human body and its movement. He explains that generally he sets a theme for any body of work, influenced by his vision of what he wants to demonstrate. He also illustrates his concepts and ideas in graphic design projects. He often blends his writing – prose and poetry – into his artwork. Ihsan’s collection is entitled "Sunday School" and reveals that while many attend Sunday service to attain resolution and answers, he often has more questions. He is therefore presenting a collection of art and poetry thematically exploring a few of these questions.