Seemed like once upon a time not too long ago, there used to be a story about some artist’s new exhibition on this newscast like every other week. But like NGOs, USAID, housing factories and foreign funded workshops, the art exhibitions have receded into the history of newscasts past, and they exist now only as media artefacts. And that’s why Belizeans probably know more about Michael Phelps’s gold medals than they do about the travelling art exhibit called “Landings.”

And more than just paintings on a wall, Landings is a loose affiliation of young contemporary artists from Latin America and the Caribbean who are organized by Belizean curator and art impresario Joan Duran. In the past 5 years. They’ve had 8 exhibits of contemporary, cutting edge art all over the world at some of the finest gallery spaces imaginable. And for Landings 9, they came back to Belize. But since there’s no fine gallery space here, Landings 9, was what they call an exhibit of ideas, pretty words for a talk shop. It ended today with a press conference, where there was more talk – and we joined in.

Yasser Musa, Artist
“What is Landings and I believe the best way I can do that is by presenting Landings in the concept of numbers. Landings involves 9 exhibitions. It is a project that has taken fives by the time it will be completed next year March. Landings involves over 50 artists from three regions; the Caribbean, Central America, and the Yucatan Peninsula. It involves artists that come from over fourteen countries. And finally, and my favourite statistic and number of Landings is that over 150,000 visitors have attended our exhibitions over the past four and a half years.”

And this massive project is – believe it or not – all driven from Belize. The Captain of the Enterprise is Belize’s Cultural Ambassador, Joan Duran – the transplanted Spaniard who’s called Belize home for the last 40 years. And for him it is more than art it is a war:

Joan Duran, Cultural Ambassador
“We are not artists, we are warriors. Yes we are warriors of our ideas. I think we artists slash warriors are very smart people because we have ideas that somehow transcend into the society. So these ideas should not be put in this kind of highway to the heaven of New York, Tokyo and London. These ideas and these efforts should be put in a kind of a picado in the bush in a kind of a dirt road that somehow one day will become a highway.”

And that highway is being paved by these young artists from Latin America and the Caribbean. They have “landed” in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Washington DC, Cuba, and Taiwan.

Joan Duran,
“Art is an important component of our societies here in Finland and in Burundi and it is important and we don’t treat it in Belize and in the countries around us, they don’t treat art as something that is important, that is vital for its own survival. So whose supposed to fight for us? Engineers, the guys from public works, health workers? No, we are artists are those that should supposed to be fighting and fighting it means to create.”

For Curator Duran, they are spreading art as a gospel

Joan Duran,
“At the end of the ends always art prevails and has a charm to shape history and to inspire people.”

And if you’re wondering, where Belize fits into all this, flip through the glossy catalogue and you’ll see a couple faces and scenes that look familiar. Belizean artists have been a part of every Landings, but this is not about a country, it is about a region, and that’s what these artists have been sitting in this room discussing all this week.

Yasser Musa,
“This week was not about looking back, creating nostalgia, that’s important, but this week was about how we have to move into another orbit, into another realm of our art, contemporary art of our region.”

Landings 10 – which is the last in the series of exhibits – will be held at the Meiac in Badajoz Spain. It opens in January 2009.