This year’s CIBC Caribbean NIFCA Visual Arts Exhibition is full of highs, along with a few cautions.
Chief Judge Hugh Walker outlined them during his presentation at the grand opening at the Daphne Joseph Hackett Theatre.
Walker said he was impressed with the overall standard of entries from youth and schools, although he was “very disturbed” that there were only four youth entries in photography.
On the cautionary side, Walker urged participants to be wary of artificial intelligence (AI) and copyright.
“We can’t get away from AI. Generative AI, as it works within our realm, visual arts, is something that’s being used corporately, individually, and it’s used by artists outside of Barbados, et cetera. So we know that artificial intelligence, primarily generative AI, will impact the work that we’re going to see coming in. But we still need to understand how does that fit within the concept of an exhibition competition like NIFCA, where creativity is what we’re looking for,” he said.
The visual arts chief judge also cautioned against using copyrighted material, as doing so could lead to lawsuits and, even worse, reputational damage.
“When people see work or buy work that you are producing, that you want to hang on someone’s wall, that person then doesn’t want to go on Facebook or Instagram and see that same image there. So be careful about how you approach the use of these technologies, and this is a worthy discussion that we’ll have to have sometime in the future,” he said.
National Cultural Foundation Cultural Officer and Curator of the Queen’s Park Gallery Oneka Small said this year’s exhibition featured a record number of entrants, with more than 500 pieces. She added that she was impressed by the entries from nursery schools, although those were not judged.
(CA)