Dominica / Special Interests / Art & Artisans

Dominican artistic endeavour may not be immediately apparent in most of the country, or even in the capital Roseau, but rest assured there are talented individuals beavering away assiduously in backroom garrets on their own interpretations of a marvellous land. There’s a lively scene, but only regularly visible in limited locations, most notably in the Old Mill, home of the National Cultural Division at Canefield just north of Roseau, Everybody’s Gallery at 87 Hillsborough Street, in a few cafe restaurants and at the Anchorage hotel.

Earl Etienne is the preeminent figure, internationally acclaimed for his adventurous work in acrylic, oils, mixed media and installations, and there are others like Louis Desire, a talented teacher and woodcarver in the African tradition, Alwin Bully, founder of the National Cultural Council, and his protégé Ellingworth Moses. Tiffany Burnett-Biscombe also has a gallery near Old Mill and runs art awareness courses for children while the legendary polymath  Dr.Lennox Honychurch, anthropologist, historian and archaeologist, is also a commissioned artist and painter of murals. Rastafarian Kelo Royer is greatly admired for his strong imagery and the Carib Indians excel in the specialist art of  “fwije”—the delicate carving into masks of the stems of the giant tree fern. The ubiquitous Carla Armour has a learned eye for arresting art too, and delights in abstract symbolism in her own work in oil and acrylics. Roger Burnett is another accomplished all round practitioner, a high class figurative sculptor in wood, bronze, clay and plaster and an admired watercolourist, his work can be seen in process at his studio in the 2.5 acre gardens at Antrim below Springfield estate on the west coast. More information about Roger can be found on his Sculpture Studio blog.

Everybody's gallery is also a developing source of up to date information. t (767) 295 7886 | www.everybodysgallery.net | info@EverybodysGallery.net