Cartographies of Loss

2022 Bermuda Biennial

Cartographies of Loss
2022
Film and poetry

The Brackish Pond Literary Collective
Est. 2021, Bermudian

Created by Bermudian writers Yesha Townsend and Kristin White, The Brackish Pond Literary Collective is a space to celebrate and expand upon Bermuda’s literary tradition. The collective, which aims deepen understanding of our island’s history and culture and to support the continuance of the Bermudian literary tradition, is named for Bermudian hero, author and abolitionist Mary Prince, whose memoir begins “I was born at Brackish Pond”.

An inquiry into the navigation of cultural memory, they describe Cartographies of Loss, as “a study of two parts. The first, an essay for academic publisher Routledge, explores the gaps in our cultural memory to form an understanding of the fissures that appear in the Black Bermudian experience.

The second part, produced for the 2022 Bermuda Biennial, features an original poem, a film and an interactive art installation which focus on forgotten sites of memory across the island. The essay will explore what has been. The exhibit will ask what could be.”

Sites include Gates Bay, Ordnance Island, Gibbets Island, School Lands Lane, Foot of Crow Lane, Southampton and Dockyard.

The 2022 Bermuda Biennial A New Vocabulary: Past. Present. Future., sponsored by Bacardi Limited, is on display at Bermuda National Gallery through to the end of the year.