Detail from ‘Warao Cosmology Mythic Ecology’
"Place of Beginnings: The World Views of The Amerindians of Cairi and
of Medieval Europe" by John Stollmeyer is a set of three new installations
which explore concepts of mapping c.1500 CE in the Gulf of Paria and its surrounds,
including Trinidad, in the Main Gallery at CCA7, Centre for the Contemporary
Arts. The title of the exhibition is drawn from Arima, which means
"place of beginnings" in the Karinya language. The multimedia
installations are (1) Cairi (island), as seen from what is now called
Calvary Hill, Arima; (2) Warao Cosmology Mythic Ecology, with its north
point located in Naparima Hill, Trinidad; and (3) Columbus' World View,
extrapolated from medieval maps and Columbus' writings, locating the Garden
of Eden at the Orinoco Delta. Stollmeyer has created these murals specifically
based on his research of correspondences relating to Trinidad and its perceived
importance to different peoples from c.1500 CE.
The mural, Columbus’ World View is based on the information that on 31 July 1498, Columbus on his third trip to the Caribbean, sighted an island with three mountains and named it Trinidad. The following day, when Columbus sailed into the Gulf of Paria, he had to make sense of two anomalies. Firstly, his navigational readings were picking up the Earth’s equatorial bulge and found that his compass now pointed north-east instead of north. The second anomaly was that he found himself to be in freshwater. This was because it was rainy season and the Orinoco River was in spate. These two anomalies lead him to believe that he had found the Garden of Eden. Bible scholars of Columbus’ day said that the Garden of Eden was in a far eastern land where a mighty river came down from the hills of paradise. From all this he imagined that the Earth was shaped "like a woman’s breast" on which rested the "Terrestrial Paradise". Being captivated by friendly natives, the exuberant vegetation, the benign climate and the extraordinary landscape he called the area, "Tierra de Gracia" (Grace Land). Later he wrote, "God made me the messenger of the new heaven and the new earth of which he spoke in the Apolcalpyse of St. John (Rev. 21:1) after having spoken of it through the mouth of Isaiah; and he showed me where to find it".
Also on exhibit in the Main Gallery is a 14-foot diptych by Tina Spiro. "The Seville Diptych" (1992) is a dramatic depiction of the arrival of Columbus on the North Coast of Jamaica (Xaymaca) in 1494 in the vicinity of what is now known as "Seville", an area which was then inhabited by the Taino (Arawak) peoples. Concurrent exhibitions of contemporary items and historical artifacts on loan from Santa Rosa Carib Community in Arima and The Archaeology Centre, Department of History at the University of the West Indies/St. Augustine, are also on exhibit.
"Place of Beginnings:
The World Views of The Amerindians of Cairi and of Medieval Europe"
was
displayed in The Main Gallery at CCA7 from 14th August - 1st November, 2003