Mural exchange helps make 'meaningful' connections

10 hours ago

Julia GregoryChannel Islands

News image — The artists will create a mural like these painted in a 2024 Arthouse Jersey project

Georgina Barnes/BBC There are two brightly coloured murals in arches under a brown wall.
Both paintings have abstract designs with blue, green and yellow. — The artists will create a mural like these painted in a 2024 Arthouse Jersey project

Artists from Jersey, Antigua and Barbuda have been working on murals reflecting their "different island heritages" in an international collaboration.

They are set to start work on a new mural at Elizabeth Marina in St Helier between Monday 20 and Thursday 23 July before they work together in Antigua in October.

The project's theme is Safe Haven Across the Sea and three graduate Jersey artists and three students from Antigua State College are due to create murals inspired by the connections between their island communities.

ArtHouse Jersey's head of programming James Tyson said it "allows reflection on our different island heritages as well as how we shape their futures".

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Jersey artists painter Max Corbett, artist and illustrator Aimée Cast, and filmmaker Toby Norman will work with Joyce Murray-Watkins, Trinity Hughes and Tse Pigott from Antigua and Barbuda.

The exchange is a partnership with the governments of Jersey and Antigua and Barbuda, the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority and ArtHouse Jersey.

Blake Watson A woman with blonde hair sitting on the ground against a brightly painted wall smiling at the camera — Aimee Cast is one of the Jersey artists involved

Tyson said: "This wonderful exchange is the continuation of a growing friendship between Antigua and Barbuda and Jersey that has provided opportunities for people from both islands, whether in music, sport or art to meet together and to celebrate our respective cultures."

Mark Brown, who is the head of the department of fine arts and creative studies, at Antigua and Barbuda College of Advanced Studies, said the collaboration "offers our students an exceptional opportunity to engage with fellow young artists, broaden their creative perspectives, and build meaningful international connections".