The Cayman Islands Biennial is a tri-island multi-venue art project, with the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands as the primary organizer, that showcases the latest developments in the contemporary art scene every two years. This year’s Biennial responds to the monumental upheavals that took place in 2020, including the worldwide impact of the coronavirus pandemic, ongoing concerns relating to climate change, social justice movements, and questions of identity and belonging.
The Cayman Islands Biennial includes artists residing in the Cayman Islands and artists of the Caymanian diaspora. Ebanks and Tatum were both born in Grand Cayman. Ebanks is represented in the permanent collection of the Cayman Islands National Museum and the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands. He also has been the recipient of the McCoy Prize, which is a national award from the Cayman Islands for excellence in the arts. Tatum was honoured in 2016 with an international travel grant from the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands to attend the Caribbean Linked IV residency program in Oranjestad, Aruba. He was also the first graduate scholar sponsored by the Peter N Thomson Family Foundation in Grand Cayman to pursue an MFA program.
Read more about Ebanks and Tatum in this article on the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands' website.
Images: (top) Simon Tatum, Davin Ebanks, and an installation shot of the Cayman Islands Biennial; (image at top of text) Davin Ebanks, Passages: Negro, Azul, Blanco, cast glass, 21 x 9 inches each, 2021; (bottom image) Simon Tatum, Trophy, mixed media sculpture, 2021.