About Us
Caribbean InTransit is a creative ‘meeting place’ designed to foster collaboration among Caribbean artists, cultural producers, students, scholars, activists, and entrepreneurs. The platform encourages the exchange of thought-provoking ideas and works within a vibrant community. The name “InTransit” reflects the historical and contemporary movement of Caribbean peoples, offering opportunities for growth and self-discovery. Our approach to exploring Caribbean arts and culture is inclusive, incorporating artistic practices and beliefs beyond the Caribbean to enrich and broaden perspectives.
As an open-access academic journal, Caribbean InTransit is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license and ensures a rigorous blind peer review process for its submissions. We welcome essays, artworks, poetry, and other art forms in English, French, and Spanish, promoting a global conversation on Caribbean identity, arts, and culture.
About the FOunder
Dr. Barrow Maignan is a Fulbright Scholar, Social Entrepreneur, Arts Management Consultant and Visual Artist. Her passion and vocation are to realize real social transformation through arts-based socio-economic interventions. She has worked across the Caribbean, in the US and Africa in cultural programming and as a consultant in the Creative Industries for the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), CARICOM and Broward County Florida. She founded Caribbean InTransit in 2010, a non-profit with a volunteer team of more than 33 professionals operating across 13 countries spearheading the production of an open-access peer-reviewed journal, arts festivals, research projects and the This is ME program.
Dr. Marielle Barrow Maignan served as Coordinator of a Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund at a Development Bank from 2018- 2021. She led a an impressive team of motivated professionals which developed and coordinated programming for the bank’s 19 Borrowing Member Countries including design of programming, managing grantee projects, engagement with a range of stakeholders and mobilizing additional resources for the fund.
Dr. Barrow- Maignan spearheaded the inception of the Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund at the Caribbean Development Bank transforming the fund into a program that executed over 8 accelerators in multiple sub-sectors across CDB’s 19 Borrowing Member Countries leading to university programs in at least 7 institutions across 5 countries. Sub-sector accelerators included Festivals and Carnivals (2), Festival Tourism, Data Collection with a focus on Intellectual Property, Music, Animation and Gaming, Film, Visual Arts (2) and Fashion (2). Establishing the CIIF Community of Practice Guidelines as an intellectual policy based policy to guide interactions, she introduced a range of Knowledge Products including Creative Industry Profiles for 10 countries, Intellectual Property Toolkits by sub-sector, as well as a panel series, CIIF Creative Talk and CIIF Connect Events. Continuing in the vein of designing strategic ecosystem architecture, Caribbean InTransit addresses critical gaps through its programming.
History
Caribbean InTransit began in 1996 as a corporate-sponsored exhibition featuring ten emerging artists in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Over time, it evolved into a dynamic space for classes, conversations, and art events, including jazz performances. Today, it has become a critical hub for social change through creativity, offering a platform for Caribbean creatives in visual arts, culinary arts, performing arts, literature, and architecture.
We have continually expanded our programming, which now includes a bi-annual peer-reviewed journal, a newsletter, panel discussions, a roving arts festival, and creative entrepreneurship initiatives. These programs specifically target at-risk youth and individuals living with HIV/AIDS, promoting social change through art and creativity.
Our Vision
To foster a community of research and entrepreneurship related to artistic endeavors emerging from Caribbean cultural expressions of identity.
Our Mission
Values of Caribbean InTransit
● Inclusivity : We value the integration of diverse cultural practices and perspectives, embracing not only Caribbean but also global artistic traditions and beliefs.
● Collaboration : We prioritize strategic partnerships with universities,cultural organizations, policymakers, and other stakeholders to enhance the impact of our programs and initiatives.
● Creativity and Innovation : We believe in the transformative power of creativity and innovation to address social issues and drive positive change in Caribbean communities and beyond.
● Social Responsibility : We are committed to using art and culture as tools for social change, focusing on at-risk youth, people living with HIV/AIDS, and other marginalized groups.
● Academic Excellence : Our open-access journal and rigorous academic peer-review process uphold the highest standards of scholarship, ensuring that our platform remains a credible and valuable resource for cultural and
artistic discourse.
● Empowerment : By fostering entrepreneurial spirit among artists, we aim to create opportunities for economic growth and professional development, allowing Caribbean creatives to thrive.
Objectives:
- To showcase the ongoing works, thoughts and underlying principles of artists, cultural producers and entrepreneurs concerning particular subjects.
- To record the interactive interface among artists, entrepreneurs, students, cultural professionals, scholars and the community at large.
- To operate as a site of networking and sharing between artists, cultural administrators, entrepreneurs and communities.
- To highlight the experiences and best practices of artists, entrepreneurs and cultural activists.
- To create a critical interface which utilizes the interrogation of culture as a site of learning and development to impel social and political change in the Caribbean and beyond.
Guiding Values
Commitment to Mission: We are dedicated first and foremost, to the fulfillment of our mission to serve Caribbean artists, academics and publics through (accessible) arts education and to the integration of the Caribbean community through the arts.
Critical Importance of the Arts: We see the creative arts as an essential form of human expression and innovation, which is of critical importance to the development of all people and all aspects of society.
Respect for Humanity: We will not promote messages, objects or substances that endanger the health and safety of any person or group of persons.
Professional Practice and Integrity: We are committed to establishing and upholding the highest standards of professional practice and ethical conduct; performing our professional duties with honesty and integrity.
Excellence: We are committed to excellence in all aspects of our communications/presenting works of art, and in the performance of all our duties.
Diversity: We are committed to featuring diverse artistic perspectives and forms of expression, as well as reflecting the diversity of the peoples and cultures throughout the Caribbean region and diaspora.
Ongoing Learning and Transformation: We will regularly review our practices, challenges, effectiveness and obstacles, and have mechanisms to incorporate lessons learned into future practice.
Responsiveness: We will be responsive to changes in the arts and arts management, as well as to the needs of Caribbean artists and our other audiences.
Code of Ethics
Every staff member, board member, volunteer, and any other person acting on behalf of/representing the Caribbean InTransit must agree to:
- Encourage systemic and sustained support for the arts within the public and private sectors.
- Create and maintain a corporate culture that is socially-responsible, community-focused, service-oriented and people-driven.
- Interact with all internal and external clients with courtesy, respect and fairness.
- Practice understanding and appreciation of diversity.
- Conduct professional matters within the letter and spirit of all applicable laws and governmental and institutional regulations.
- Exercise and encourage adherence to intellectual property and copyright laws.
- Respect and uphold clients rights to privacy and confidentiality with regard to information sought and received.
- Avoid the use of sexually explicit or wantonly violent images and language on the website and in all communications.
- Refrain from activities where one has a real or perceived conflict of interest and inform members of the Caribbean InTransit administration if such a conflict arises. This includes non-disclosure of information discussed at meetings, disclosed via emails, other documents or phone conversations unless explicitly invited to do so by the President, Editor-in-Chief, or agreed upon during meetings.
- Not seek private interests or personal gain to the detriment of the organization, including clients, colleagues, and partnering institutions.
- Keep from making statements and representations that are knowingly or intentionally false, misleading or inaccurate.
- Maintain the highest standards of financial accountability to Caribbean InTransit staff and relevant stakeholders.
- Maintain and ensure growth in the knowledge and skills of Caribbean InTransit employees and representatives through professional development, as well as supporting aspiring members of the arts management profession.
- Foster an environment of mutual support, communication, resource-sharing, and collaboration with individuals and groups committed to arts education.