Trinidadian Animator collaborates to do Caribbean exhibit in Washington DC
The Inter-American Development Bank has asked Ms. Camille Selvon Abrahams, Founder and Creative Director of Animae Caribe Festival, to collaborate on an exhibition of Caribbean animations submitted to the festival over the last 15 years.
The 20 hand-selected shorts will be exhibited at the IDB Head Office Conference Centre in Washington DC from April 14 – July 2016. This will include screening works from animators like Wendell Mc Shine and Ansar Sattar from Trinidad and Tobago, Corretta Singer from Jamaica, Isis Chaviano Real of Cuba, Ted Sandiford from Saint Lucia among others. At the event in DC, Abrahams will address an audience of officials, business people and ambassadors and present a summary of the Caribbean animation community, and share the achievements in the Caribbean.
This showcase represents a milestone in the year-long campaign of celebrations for the 15th Anniversary of the Animae Caribe festival. Training workshops, exhibitions and outreach will be critical to the celebration of this historic occasion. Gaining support from the CARICOM Secretariat, and Regional institutions including the Caribbean Development Bank and Carib-Export in Barbados, this year’s festival will feature a week of international guests, animated boot camp, screenings, along with Animation and Gaming professionals from the Caribbean Diaspora who are making waves in companies including Disney, Pixar and EA Games.
The 2016 Edition from October 24-30, has a special focus on Tobago with a new concept of making the last two days of the festival an eco-friendly experience. With screenings and exhibitions planned for village communities like Castara on the south coast of the island, where communities can gain revenue from the visitors and guests attending.
About the exhibit, Trinidad Zaldivar, Chief of the Cultural, Solidarity and Creativity Affairs Division of the Office of External Relations at the IDB stated that:
“We are delighted to present this exhibit in partnership with Animae Caribe in Washington DC, with the hope of increasing awareness about the importance of supporting a vibrant creative economy, since the development of new outlets for creative production will pave the way for sustainable social and economic development for the Region.”
According to Abrahams, it was important for her to use this opportunity to place focus on female animators and to highlight issues such as autism. Kendall Boodhoo a member of the Autistic Society of Trinidad and Tobago, won an Animae Caribe Award for his animation and his will be one of the 20 selected for showing to this international audience. The aim is to share with the world the impact that animation can have on youth empowerment, gender opportunities, reverse brain drain, education and the diversification of the economies in the Caribbean region.
For those who are familiar with the history of the festival, fifteen years ago we had an empty canvas, no formal institutional training programmes, very little content on television, advertisments being created abroad etc. Today we can see University programmes in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados and Guyana. We have seen award winning animated content and intellectual properties being pitched at international Animation conferences and the opening up of outsourcing opportunities for studios in the region. This shows that with consistent support and investment we can create our own paradigm shift,” Abrahams said.
Additional information about the IDB Animae Caribe Animated Exhibition can be accessed at www.animaecaribe.com.