art Archives • The Bliss Movement

Barbados’ Holetown Festival

Each year in mid-February, Holetown celebrates the anniversary of the first settlement in Barbados by hosting the annual Holetown Festival. A mix-mash of tourists and locals crowd the streets to get a glimpse at all of the local products on offer in a long jumble of tents. As you make your way through you'll pass bands playing local bajan music and can enjoy the tastes and smells of bajan foods like fish cakes, macaroni pie, and lots of barbecue chicken. Warning to the vegetarians attending the festival: it can be difficult to find vegetarian or vegan foods but t[...]

Barbados, Caribbean

The Man Behind the Stone

If you walk along a particular stretch of beach, from Paradise to Batts Rock, you'll come across a number of coral stone statues, each of different shape and size. Clearly made by hand, stones delicately balance atop one another in such a way to make an intriguing piece of art. These stone statues appear along the beach, placed individually or in groups. I noticed them on my first afternoon at the beach and they always made me wonder what their story were. A few days ago, my questions were answered. As the sun began to set over the sea a man made his way down t[...]

Alberta, Canada

Canadian Winter Festivals: Ice on Whyte

Ice on Whyte is an Edmonton-based winter festival where artists come together to develop some incredible pieces of art made entirely out of snow and ice. This year was the 10th annual Ice on Whyte Festival, located just off the popular and bustling Whyte Avenue, and the first one I had ever been to. Featuring beautiful ice sculptures crafted by artists from around the world, Ice on Whyte also offers family skating time, "frozen yoga", activities for children, entertainment, hot chocolate, sticks of maple syrup taffy on snow, ice carving competitions and more, with[...]