Artist Kearra Gopee’s small space, big idea

Hassan Ali
CHENETTE doesn’t grow in Russia – the climate just isn’t right. Place is a part of process. The sunlight, among other necessary conditions for growing chenette, simply isn’t part of the environment here. Likewise, whether you’re “no place like home” or “anywhere but here,” you have a relationship with this country which moulds the way you live in it.
This relationship can be complex for our artists. Firstly, let’s note that the market for art in TT is small and it’s a quiet affair.
TT can be a great source of inspiration – there is no shortage of paintings of the country’s flora and fauna – just as it can be a source of pain because of a shortage of buyers. Unless an artist is uniquely positioned by the hard work, or their relationships, to make money from their art, it’s only common sense that their focus will likely shift from art to financial stability. Fortunately, this isn’t just a TT problem, and various programmes to assist artists have proliferated across the world, in the form of scholarships, grants or residencies.
A residency is a programme which provides lodging, food and time for the artist to work on their practice. Besides Alice Yard and a few retreats, TT has few institutions that offer residencies locally. Visual artist Kearra Amaya Gopee, 30, primarily known for their (Gopee’s chosen pronoun) video work, has a BFA in photography and imaging from New York University and an MFA from the University of California.
They’ve spent the last eight years of their life, since graduating from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU in 2017, in and out of residencies – during which time they’ve consulted with programme directors on how residencies are run – and they are now setting up their own residency in their hometown of Carapichaima. Being an "anti-disciplinary" artist, Gopee believes their own artistic practice eschews the boundaries of singular disciplines or schools of thought.
This thinking has informed Gopee's artistic practice and has brought them to the formative steps of creating a residency here – something Gopee sees as an extension of their practice. The residency will run for two years per batch – one year online and another on site at Carapichaima. There will be four participants, two local and two diasporic/regional.
Gopee’s goal is to provide a space for those with politically charged practices a space to study TT’s historic and modern sociopolitical conditions while developing a project over those two years.
The residency’s name, A Small Space, is a nod to both the size of the country and the size of the four-person residency. The name carries irony – despite the size of a place, it can be a site of great power, learning or rest for individuals who are willing to let it be one. Gopee understands that residencies can be idyllic, vacation-like periods, but doesn’t want the residency to be only this. While they want to provide a space for artists to be temporarily freed of the demands of their lives, they do not want them to be entirely divorced from their social reality. Artists are necessarily a part of the body politic, a fact which Gopee holds dear in their own practice and which informs the structure of the residency. For the first year, residents will spend their time online, in their homes, researching TT, regional and diasporic ideas and histories. International/diasporic residents will specifically receive cultural preparation – from larger items like sensitivity and respect for TT’s multicultural canvas to saying, “Good morning,” when they get into a maxi – so they can integrate into TT society and make the best of their time here.
In the second year, artists will come to TT, occupy the to-be-constructed residency grounds in Carapichaima, a stone’s throw from Gopee’s own family home. Gopee said they would be doing the lion’s share of the work of running the residency, but, because of this proximity to home, their family would also help. As for what it takes to run a residency, Gopee likens it to babysitting. One ensures that the residents are fed and happy – or, at least, productive.
Gopee, who currently lives and practices their art in Brooklyn, said funding for the residency has thus far come from their own pocket – specifically from proceeds from their art – and from fundraising events. They are hoping to garner financial support from institutions which give grants to support residencies and artist projects, preferably international institutions – poor institutional support is another hurdle local artists have to jump. Gopee describes the residency as an attempt to do something good in the world and help people out.
As for the application and admission process, aspiring residents will have to submit a portfolio of previous work, a plan for a project they will work on for the residency’s two years, and a description of how they think their work is political.
Gopee believes all action is political and only wishes to help create dialogue and foster growth with those who want to investigate the politics in their work more – whether this is in the content, the materials used to create the work (are they local or imported?) or even in how the work is distributed (in the galleries or the streets?). On political differences, Gopee said they will be drawing on yet-to-be-chosen colleagues to help review applications so that the process isn’t singularly influenced by their own political views. Residents will not be required to pay for their time. Like room and board, the cost of travel will be accommodate (so far, the residency is meant for single residents and not families).
All that is asked of residents is their earnestness to study and produce work as well as a basic respect for the country where they’re studying.
If you’d like to read more about Gopee’s vision for the residency, keep up to date with developments or if you have any questions of your own, visit their GoFundMe page at https://gofund.me/81b56d43 or follow their Instagram @kearramaya.
At the time of writing, the total funds raised stand at US$$48,707 – just shy of Gopee’s US$50,000 goal.
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"Artist Kearra Gopee’s small space, big idea"