Looking for a gift for the person who has everything in your life? We have the perfect coffee table book to share as an heirloom gift to the tastemaker in your life. Curated by Malene Barnett, an acclaimed artist of Jamaican and Vincentian descent, Crafted Kinship: Inside the Creative Practice of Contemporary Black Caribbean Makers marks the first time Caribbean makers have collectively shared the intimate stories of their art-making processes and the profound influence of their countries of origin. The featured artists work across various mediums, defying traditional labels and reshaping the boundaries of art and design
Heritage Decor Books: Crafted Kinship Honors Black Caribbean Makers
“Many threads connecting the Black diaspora continue to grow through art, objects, and spaces. Each work weaves together historic legacies that create new futures. This book will lead you to deeper conversations about the history and culture of the Caribbean and encourage you to consider becoming a custodian of the archives.” —Malene Barnett, from her introduction
Photos by Alaric Campbell
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Barnett’s journey to curating Crafted Kinship began during her graduate studies in ceramics and a Fulbright trip to Jamaica in 2022. This project aimed to uncover and share the stories behind the clay objects made during the colonial period, which were often sold in markets as a means for enslaved individuals to buy their freedom. Her studies led her to seek a deeper understanding of her grandmother’s migration and the cultural influences that shape her own artistic practice.
Photos by Alaric Campbell
Barnett found that existing literature largely focused on finished works rather than the creative processes themselves. To fill this gap, Barnett brought together a group of makers for Crafted Kinship who shared these thematic concerns. Like Barnett, these artists resist being confined to a single discipline—an inherently Western concept—embracing instead a multidisciplinary approach that reflects a broader cultural tendency to engage with various forms of expression, an integral aspect of the Black experience.
Photos by Alaric Campbell
Crafted Kinship showcases how these artists are reexamining their place in society and tracing their histories to imagine new Black futures. By documenting and sharing their stories, Barnett highlights their efforts to use historical contexts as starting points for creative exploration and social commentary.
Among the artists featured in Crafted Kinship are:
- Anina Major (New York, NY): A Bahamian visual artist reclaiming the significance of straw basketry through ceramics.
- Morel Doucet (Miami, FL): A Haitian artist and educator whose work provokes viewers to interrogate truth, reality, and what lies beneath the surface.
- April Bey (Los Angeles, CA): A Bahamian interdisciplinary visual artist whose work explores themes of African diasporic speculative futurism.
- La Vaughn Belle (St. Croix, Virgin Islands): A multidisciplinary artist from St. Croix interrogating colonial legacies through archival sources.
- Sonya Clark (Amherst, MA): A textile artist and educator of Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Bajan heritage exploring power, race, and gender using meaningful materials like hair.
- Anishka Clarke and Niya Bascom (Brooklyn, New York): Interior designers whose studio (Ishka Designs) honors a blend of Jamaican and Guyanese history through sustainable practices.
- Nina Cooke John (Montclair, New Jersey): A Jamaican multidisciplinary artist spanning collage, architecture, and public art whose work claims space for Black stories.
- Ouigi Theodore (Brooklyn, NY): A Haitian fashion designer, artist, and the founder of the Brooklyn Circus whose work is anchored in storytelling and collaboration.
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