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Leandro Soto "Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add colour to my sunset sky," resonate these words of Rabindranath Tagore, India's national poet, and an artist in his own right, into the works of Leandro Soto, multidisciplinary visual/installation and performance artist. "I am deeply inspired by India and the work of Tagore," the artist says. "He combines the beauty of the verse with the knowledge." "I am traveller," Soto professes, his eyes gleaming from the round Gandhiesque bespectacled frame, recounting that his journeys have been a key and critical influence in his creative thought process. Growing up in Cienfuegos, a coastal city in south Cuba, Soto had his first stroke of inspiration when he was five. "I seem to be surrounded by spirits and energies, which used to guide me and I started painting," he recalled, sitting cross-legged, as cool breeze kissed the wind chime...

Mother nature’s wonders seldom cease, neither do they cease to awe and floor us ­ literally and figuratively. Tucked into the central region of the eastern Caribbean island is the lush green tropical expanse in “de heart uh Barbados” and in its sanctum sanctorum is embedded a limestone cavern, a marvel of nature’s beauty. Amid breathtakingly stunning tropical flora, sprayed by occasional showers, emit the aroma of the earth lies Harrison’s Caves, home to myriad stalactite and stalagmite formations that are nature’s living and ever-evolving work of art. A motorised tram awaits at the entrance known as the Boyce Tunnel, named after equipment operator Noel Boyce, who was the first member of the construction team to break through the bedrock. Subdued lights embedded in the rock formations welcome the visitors, it can be an adventurous ride into a theme park, only that instead of ‘monsters’ popping out from the crevasses, the myriad shapes soothe the eyes and leave the interpretati...

We passed the hues of the last sunset of 2013 and its colours transcended to first dawn of 2014.  Arts & Education  continues on the path of artistic stimulation, constant discoveries and a creative journey. We would like to take this opportunity to showcase the editor's picks for the year, and to thank our readers for their continued support. Wish you all a blessed 2014. ❏ Intarsia - Painting with wood The atmosphere under the crisp Caribbean sunshine at Barbados Crop Over craft market was reminiscent of fun and frolic. Tucked away from the excitement, Mario Smith displayed the intarsia art he creates. Necessity is the mother of all invention, it is said, and Smith, who worked as a joiner - making doors, windows, and kitchen cupboards - had to stay home after his son was born. ❏ Art of Sushi - The edible Zen garden It's as austere as its land of origin, yet complex and intriguing, pressed, meticulously laid out, rolled and neatl...

To walk into the studio of Rafza Nehaul is to walk into a bazaar in the bylanes of India lively, vibrant. The colours and pungent aroma of the spices can get any olfactory to break into a party on the move ... yet her works stand frozen, capturing those elements. Nehaul’s work and media, in some essence, are a confluence of the world’s largest democracy. “I was awed with India when I went there,” Nehaul, a former science, biology and mathematics teacher, said. This visit commenced a love affair with the country’s colours, people and life, and became a series of India-centric pieces the maharaja (king) in his opulence, and the ‘big fat Indian wedding’ with the brides in their glittering finery taking the centrestage. Her travels to India were, in essence, the heady mix of spices, ground on stone to release their essential oils and then mixed to tantalise the tastebuds. “There are so many colours to inspire, and the spirit of the people is awe-inspiring,” Nehaul re...

Most potent things come in small packages, it is said, which might hold true for a landmass that can be traversed in half a day, point to point. The potency of creative juices is both intoxicating and a heady cocktail of cultures and media. Barbados, like the sister islands in the Caribbean, is one such melting pot, where the key ingredients of creative acumen, sprinkled with a liberal dose of inspiration are brewing under the crisp Caribbean sunshine. "There is a lot of talent here (in Barbados) and across the region," says Martina Pilé, president of Arts Council of Barbados. Pilé, a trained ceramist, who has made Barbados her home for the last 27 years, delves in various media, from painting, sketching and her island-found love, calabash - a fruit and a medium of expression. "We need avenues to showcase the talent," the newly installed president of the Arts Council said, adding that it is her dream to expand the scope of work of th...

She has been described as elegant, ravishing, sensational, or beautiful, and it is very seldom that a machine is deemed as romantic or even orgasmic. But this is no ordinary machine - Concorde, a precise, heady mix of beauty, technology and style. The British Airways G-BOAE (Alpha Echo) sits in its omnipresent charm and aura and generates myriad emotions at first sighting. The pencil-shaped supersonic flying machine is out of a science fiction flick, and it actually flew in the stratosphere. Described as the design classic of the 20th century, Concorde, which in French means harmony or union, was the creation of a path-breaking collaboration between British Aircraft Corporation and Aérospatiale. The harmony, not only among the collaborators, but in their successful marriage of an engineering marvel and captivating design is evident in every inch of this lean, mean flying machine. The 202 foot 4 inch machine incited emotions as kids would have in a candy store - visit...