On opening day, 8 May 2026, speaking with the 4 Caribbean artists participating in the Grenada Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, a common feeling emerged — one of excitement, gratitude, discovery, inspiration, connection, and personal transformation, and an eye-opening experience that affirmed the value of Caribbean creativity within a global artistic space.
Russell Watson, Edward Bowen, Jeverson Ramirez and Arthur Daniel spoke warmly about the importance of regional unity within the integrated pavilion, celebrating the opportunity for artists from Grenada, Trinidad, and Barbados to share space, stories and creative energy with international artists. There was a strong sense of pride in representing Grenada and the wider Caribbean on an international stage, as well as the personal growth, reflection, and renewed creative energy that the biennale experience has sparked in each of them.
The Grenada Pavilion is commissioned by Susan Mains. The artist interviews have been edited for clarity.
Russell Watson is a Barbadian-based multidisciplinary artist. “It’s just very inspiring to be surrounded by so much work from so far afield, like there’s so much representation from across the world. And you know, with exhibitions like this, to see certain thematic consistencies that are moving globally. It is gratifying, you know, to recognise that the trends that are evolving in my work are tuned into a larger global ethos. And so being here, being able to see the work, being able to interact with artists from across the world, really confirms a lot of that. So, it’s a wonderful experience.”
In terms of similarities:
“I think there is a global concern with our deteriorating relationship with nature, as evidenced by the rapidity of our destructive impact. I see a lot of artists who are trying to explore that phenomenon in its relationship to our deteriorating relationship with our metaphysical work. There are a lot of kinds of meeting points of spirituality and environmentalism that I’m seeing.
I just interpret the medium, the volume of video that is here is an indicator that, you know, video as a medium of contemporary or not just of its, you know, traditional role in cinema. It’s encouraging to see that my predilection for that medium is something that is shared globally, and this exhibition at the highest level of contemporary art…video has really found its place.”
About being part of the Grenada Pavilion:
“I was here at the biennale the very first year that Grenada was here [2015], and it was astonishing that Grenada was present. I was really, really surprised by it. And I have followed the Grenada Pavilion’s consistent presence at Venice. When Susan [Mains] approached me to set up being involved this year, what she expressed was their desire to open what they had been accomplishing at Venice to regional participation and what it signals to me is… a future forward to commitment to regional integration. Seeing ourselves not necessarily as the same, but certainly as occupying the same space and capable of sharing space. I hope that this trend with the Grenada Pavilion continues and perhaps more importantly, expands to include deeper and richer support of participation from the other states.”
Jeverson Ramirez is a gifted steel pan player and recording artist from Grenada. “Venice is beautiful. It’s my first time here, and I was really excited to be called to be a part of it. I was up for the challenge, I was up for the game. But coming here, it was a different feeling. It felt like home, it felt welcoming, it felt great. But just to be able to bring my music, bring our Grenadian flavour, our energy, my essence, my love for music here, was really important to me. Because we get to share our energy with this side of the world. I’m just looking forward to the reaction from the people, them enjoying what we do, and again, just sharing my heart with them through my steel pan and through my singing.”
About being part of the Grenada Pavilion:
“I think it’s great, I think it’s great. I mean, as I heard somebody say the other day, that the water in the Caribbean doesn’t divide us, it connects us. I’m happy that we have other Caribbean islands with us. And even international artists with us, I mean, I think we’re sharing a space, and we’re sharing a [physical] space with Guatemala as well. Yes, so that’s also cool… that we get in there, get close together and get to share ourselves together, share our work together.”
In terms of similarities:
“We share history, like the history is very much similar in the Caribbean, in the slavery, the plantations, the making of cocoa, sugar, bananas, all the nutmegs, all of those things. And it trickles down into our behaviour, our culture, the things we think about, the things we do, things we hold dear. I think we all have something to say, which is, I think, it’s great that we do it together.”
Edward Bowen is an artist based in Trinidad. “Well, you know, a great surprise to begin with, you know, when I got the word. I didn’t believe it. I mean, it’s not every day that somebody invites you to go to Venice to show your work. So, I was kind of like, really happy about that. And then me coming here, kind of like meeting, being with the crew has been a total pleasure. And then, you know, having everything set up nicely and, you know, the crowd and the whole business of being in Venice…going to have a chance to soak up, you know, our global perspective is extremely rare.
The last couple of days, it’s just like being a sponge, you know, and just kind of soaking it up, because you just can’t make sense of, you know, 10,000 images, but it all goes in the inside. And that’s what I like more than anything else. After 40 years of painting, [being here] I am completely overwhelmed. I needed this. I’m actually looking forward to going back and getting on to some more work.”
About being part of the Grenada Pavilion:
“It’s a great honour. Basically, this time around, Grenada is trying to be inclusive. It’s brave. Doesn’t happen often in the arts, you know, maybe in music it happens, you know, because music has more, if you like, fluidity in a kind of way. I think it’s brave, you know; I like to be part of that. It’s an initiative; hopefully, it can be developed. We need to be less territorial about our ideas of inclusiveness. And we need to be a little bit more democratic when it comes to looking at the arts and a little bit more scholarly.
Hopefully, when I go back to Trinidad, I can get behind some people, and with [having this] experience, it’s a great time for Trinidad. We have a lot of artists capable of some great work.”
Arthur Daniel is a Grenadian photographer and videographer. “Coming here with an open mind, not knowing what to expect, not knowing how big this show is and what it means, I must say I’m truly honoured to be here, and I must give thanks to Susan [Mains] and everyone that gave me the opportunity, as well as all the sponsors and everybody that rallied with me to be here.
Just being here in Venice, walking along the pathways… and ending up in all the different pavilions, it’s a mystery and excitement that has me so in the moment. I’m just in the moment where I am with the artists, with the art. And it becomes another dimension when you actually meet the artists, and they explain certain things. When I go to the people displaying art, not just on a wall, but you can take photos and create a space with photos. And you can take anything and create a space and tell a story. But because it’s art, it will connect with somebody in some way. I’m realising, being here, that my art is fitting in a space where it’s unique and people are connecting in ways that, in their own personal way, I cannot comprehend.
Yesterday we got 16,000 steps. I got home, and I was not tired. I was ready to go again. It feels like my spirit and my inner being are being fed by the inspiration. It’s being fed by that. It’s a weird feeling. All the years I ate food, but you’re not hungry. Something is being fed by the energy and the inspiration.”
About being part of the Grenada Pavilion:
“My experience now, I must say that I feel like I have leapfrogged a couple of generations. I think I have matured very quickly in a very short space of time, understanding the art space. Mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, I have grown 10 times fuller being here. For me, it’s less about being happy about my work being displayed. I am more happy that I’m getting experience so I could share to others in the Caribbean and in Grenada, to make them aware of what really art is.
Now I’m opening up to thoughts and understandings of things that I never thought about. Some people say it could be interdimensional energy. It could be spiritual energy. It could be cosmic energy. It could be the earth speaking to you. I don’t know. But I know it’s something. But one thing I must say is that being here signifies to me and shows me that there is a higher power. There is somebody in control. And this art is a way of communicating messages in any kind of way. Some messages could be very current. It could be inner messages. It could be people’s stories. But it’s all stories. And if you really open and just take your time and slow down and just wander along without worrying about what’s happening tomorrow, what’s happening about life, I think this is what biennale is, and this is what people would experience.”
For the artists at the Grenada Pavilion, being surrounded by artists and ideas from across the world created many moments of reflection about identity, spirituality, nature, history and the role of Caribbean voices within the global art conversation.
Grenada Pavilion
