NASSAU, Bahamas — University of The Bahamas (UB) Professor Keisha Oliver is the recipient of a Clark Art Institute research fellowship. In July, she returned to the Clark campus in Williamston, Massachusetts, to continue work on an archival project that documents and recovers marginalized Bahamian art histories, The Nassau Guardian reported on Monday, August 14, 2023.
The Clark is one of a few institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Its research and academic program (RAP) hosts a distinguished residential fellowship program that welcomes top international scholars. To date, the community of Clark Fellows numbers more than 400 individuals from 30 countries.
Oliver is no stranger to The Clark after being awarded a fall 2021 fellowship where she laid the groundwork for her research project “Lost Voices in Bahamian Visual Culture”. By unearthing identities and narratives that have been erased from the historical record, her critical inquiry has been largely concerned with engendering a renewed interest in Bahamian cultural preservation and expanding its scholarship on artistic practices and traditions.
“It was humbling to receive The Clark’s invitation for a second fellowship,” said Oliver. “The support from The Clark, Williams College, museums, and institutions in New England in 2021 allowed me to recover hundreds of archival materials that have been catalogued for inclusion in a digital archive.”
The impetus for her work is rooted in how dominant narratives have perpetuated the exclusion of Afro-Bahamian artists and educators as pioneers of knowledge production. She was drawn to academic and cultural preservation because of the lack of literature and learning resources available at every level of education in The Bahamas.
Currently pursuing a dual-title PhD in art education and African American and diaspora studies at Pennsylvania State University, her doctoral research challenges the prevailing colonial frameworks within education and cultural institutions in the Caribbean. An effort critical to the region’s ongoing decolonial project as scholars, researchers, and activists grapple with the impact of colonialism on the current ecological crises.
Over the past two years Oliver’s practice of archival methods, narrative inquiry, and participatory research has engaged her students, artists, historians, and Bahamians across the diaspora.
“As The Bahamas celebrates its 50th independence this year, we must consider the fate of our cultural and environmental existence that is threatened by rising sea levels and fading generations,” said Oliver. “Preserving our cultural and indigenous identities will ensure that if displaced from our islands, the memory of who we are and how we evolved will not be lost.”
See complete article in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/bahamian-scholar-keisha-oliver-returns-to-clark-art-institute-as-a-research-fellow/
