ASIF KHAN
‘The Web’s obeah’: The opportunities and threats in using the Internet to increase the Caribbean voice. Keywords: Globalization. E-Commerce. Digital Inclusion. Cultural Policy.
Abstract: The digital divide between so-called First World and Developing nations is rapidly shrinking through the global distribution of smartphone technology, providing access to virtual realms for voicing opinions, sharing digital content and developing communities of interests. There is, therefore, at least a possibility that this shrinking technological divide can help surmount the barriers to exposure and investment currently experienced by many Caribbean artists. The Internet might serve to amplify a bigger voice for artist communities, and Caribbean arts professionals may also be better served by creating new bodies of legitimization via online resources, a technological spell or ‘obeah’. The Internet can provide a great opportunity to establish a connectedness and dynamism that has been held back from Caribbean artists by the institutions that are supposed to serve them. We cannot afford however to assume that exposure leads to sustainable cultural impact. Public money can provide the necessary infrastructure and resources with which to compete on the international stage, for example by building studios with access to super fast broadband. However, public institutions would better serve artists by setting an example through buying their artwork..
T
he digital divide between so-called First World and Developing nations is rapidly shrinking through the global distribution of smartphone technology, providing access to virtual realms for voicing opinions, sharing digital content and developing communities of interests. There is at least a possibility therefore that this shrinking technological divide can help surmount the barriers to exposure and investment currently experienced by many Caribbean artists. The Internet might serve to amplify the voice of artist communities, and Caribbean arts professionals may also be better served by creating new bodies of legitimization via online resources, i.e. creating a technological spell or ‘obeah’.
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caribbean intransit
Since writing the international visual arts strategy for Barbados, in 2009, I have kept up with a variety of threads of opinion and work produced by Caribbean artists and curators through the Internet. Sheena Rose, one of the emerging Bajan talents whom I interviewed for the strategy, is a friend on Facebook. Sheena regularly posts the musing, “What is the next project? Where is the next space? You tell me.” (Rose 2013). Rose’s comment hints at the possibilities of using social media and the Internet to turn the concept of artistic expression on its head by adopting a social or multi-agent approach to expression. In creating online fora for discussion, Rose reveals a possible work-around to the barriers encountered by Caribbean