Image and Iconography of the Caribbean

By placing collected visual data including sketches, lithographs, paintings, maps and other artefacts of culture alongside text, representations of the past are systematically examined and interpreted. This is a simultaneous study and reversal of the colonial gaze, drawing on material from the fifteenth century to the present to examine how the Region is perceived or imagined by those who were born and live within. It crosses disciplinary boundaries of historiography, archaeology, art history, anthropology, linguistics and gender studies. Concerned with the broader Caribbean, the research focuses on Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Haiti, St. Lucia, Barbados and Trinidad. The methodology and data collection are concentrated on still images but is now extended to videotaped material. It attempts to provide curricula material for courses in gender studies, creative arts, cultural studies and other university-based Caribbean content courses regionally and internationally and will be supported by user-friendly manuals and reference guides.