Trip to Curaçao and Aruba. May 2009

Caribbean: Crossroads of the World organizational team of made a recent trip to Curaçao and Aruba at the end of May 2009. Coordinating efforts and logistics for the New York team were headed by Susan Delvalle, Director of External Affairs at El Museo del Barrio, with the host partners, three specialists in the Dutch Caribbean: art historian and curator Jennifer Smit, collector and historian Nicole Henriquez and curator and Co-Director of Instituto Buena Bista, Nancy Hoffman. A two-day research trip to Aruba was also scheduled for the group, organized by Ruby Eckmeyer, Secretary-General, Directorate of Culture in Aruba and a designated commission of artists. The trip had multiple purposes. It was organized in order to make a brief survey of art scene in Curaçao and Aruba as well as to present and promote the Caribbean Crossroads project to various audiences. We also hoped to explore the legacy of colonialism in the Anglophone Caribbean. Finally, we also sought to have a closer meeting with our invitees and colleagues in order to discuss the most recent project proposal developed by the curatorial department at El Museo with Elvis Fuentes, Curator, as Project Director.