Jamaican to exhibit artwork at prestigious exhibition in Italy
A JAMAICAN film-maker will present his work at the Venice Biennale in the national pavilion of Finland. Born and raised in Kingston, Christopher Lorenzo Thomas began his filmmaking career as an amateur photographer before falling in love with movies.
“I used to go with my friends to watch films at Carib all the time when I was younger. It was during that time I decided my dream was to put Jamaican stories up on the screen,”Thomas says.
This love led him to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in media and communication at The University of the West Indies and a Master of Art in filmmaking at the London Film School. While living in London for four years, Thomas worked as a cinematographer on numerous music videos and short films which went on to win top awards at noteworthy European festivals such as Encounters Short Film Festival in the UK and Concorto Film Festival in Italy. It was during this time in London that Thomas met his future wife and eventually moved to Finland to live with her.
“The last place I ever saw myself living in was Finland. To be honest, I didn’t even know where it was on the map until I moved here. Starting over was scary, but the love of film-making is universal and eventually I found like-minded people and opportunities like I did in the UK” he explained.
Living in the predominantly white northern European nation was a unique experience for
Thomas and he began making his own films about the migrant reality.
His films have been shown at Finland’s renowned
Tampere
Film Festival and Sweden’s Uppsala International Film Festival in 2015 and 2016. He was then asked to join the The Miracle Workers Collective, a transdisciplinary and transnational community of artists, film-makers, writers, performers, and activists. Their inaugural project, A Greater Miracle of Perception, was commissioned and produced by Frame Contemporary Art Finland, an advocate for Finnish contemporary art, to be exhibited in their national pavilion during the Venice Biennale. La Biennale di Venezia, otherwise known as the Venice Biennale, is an Italian cultural foundation that began in 1985. The event is often referred to as the ‘Olympics of Art’ where countries from around the world send their best contemporary artists to exhibit work to a global audience. The international art exhibition is a microcosm of the art world where artists, curators, critics, buyers and art lovers descend upon the historical heart of Venice. The 57th Venice Biennale in 2017 saw over 500,000 visitors within the 30 national pavilions and venues located throughout the city. Thomas’ own films explore themes of immigration, integration, education, and the dynamics of seeing and being seen. According to him, these subjects were a perfect fit for the Miracle Workers Collective. In Venice, the collective’s video installation will present several disparate short films that explore the notion of national representation and belonging.
“My goal is still to put Jamaican stories up on the screen,” Thomas said, adding, “I plan to use the connections I have made so far to make my dream a reality.”
The artwork debuts on