Women of North East Trinidad shared images of life through their own eyes at the Nalis Media Room on June 20, at the launch of Our Community, Our Vision, Our Voices, a photovoice exhibition.The collaborative project, by the Institute for Gender Development Studies and the East Port-of-Spain Development Company, was co-ordinated by Kishi Animashaun Ducre, PhD, 2011 Fullbright scholar at UWI and assistant professor of African American studies at Syracuse University.Mothers from neighbourhoods in East Port-of-Spain, Mon Repos -St Barb's, Beetham Gardens, San Juan, Never Dirty in Morvant, and Port–of-Spain South were trained by Fullbright scholar Gigi Gatewood, who also curated the exhibition.Ducre greeted the guests who had gathered for the exhibition, and explained that photovoice was a "democratising" process, "a means to bring community voices into the discussion of planning and development."
The images showed stark reflections of want, neglect and crime, but also captured scenes of home, family, hope and natural beauty.Ducre said there had been a common refrain among the participants: "The innocent should not have to pay for the guilty."Representing the participants, Urika Rogers said people in their areas often lived at the hands of "corporate and political victimisation," and that they were "stigmatised on the basis of geographic location."She said through the photovoice experience, the women had developed "co-operation, and a sense of appreciation and respect for each other."The exhibition runs until August 5, and is open to the public during normal library hours.
