Antigua and Barbuda Is Turning Doors Into Art for a Week of Galleries, Food, Fashion, and Live Painting – Caribbean Journal

Painted wooden doors will stand across Redcliffe Quay, each one carrying a different view of Antigua and Barbuda. Artists will open their studios. Painters will compete before a live audience. Food, fashion, poetry and visual art will spread across galleries and public spaces throughout the destination.

Antigua and Barbuda Art Week is returning from Nov. 11–18, bringing an expanded program of exhibitions and cultural experiences designed to connect visitors directly with the artists of the twin-island nation.

The fourth edition will introduce a major public art installation, a retrospective devoted to the late artist Maria Ross Iztueta, additional exhibition spaces and a broader calendar extending beyond traditional gallery viewing.

The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority unveiled the program at Quay Studio in historic Redcliffe Quay, framing Art Week as both a cultural celebration and an increasingly important part of the destination’s tourism calendar.

“Today’s visitors are looking for authentic experiences that allow them to engage and participate rather than simply observe,” said ABTA Chief Marketing Officer Charmaine Spencer. “Antigua and Barbuda Art Week offers those opportunities by connecting visitors directly with our artists, our culture and our communities.”

A Public Art Exhibition Built Around 28 Doors

The centerpiece of the 2026 program will be Dual Thresholds, a public art exhibition developed by Quay Barracks Art Galleries.

The project will transform reclaimed wooden doors into freestanding artworks inspired by the people, landscapes, culture and daily life of Antigua and Barbuda. The completed installation will include 28 double-sided doors, each painted by an artist from Antigua or Barbuda.

Spencer and visual artist Dylan Phillips offered an early look at the project during the launch, unveiling two vividly painted doors created by Phillips and Heather Doram.

The use of reclaimed doors gives the exhibition a physical connection to Antigua and Barbuda’s architectural history, while the double-sided format allows every participating artist to tell a story across two surfaces.

The finished works will be displayed in a public setting rather than confined to a conventional gallery. Visitors will be able to walk between the doors, view each work from both sides and encounter the installation as part of the wider Redcliffe Quay experience.

Dual Thresholds will debut during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which Antigua and Barbuda will host from Nov. 1–4. The installation will then open for broader public viewing during Art Week.

The international gathering will give the project an early audience of visiting leaders, delegates and media before it becomes one of the defining exhibits of the weeklong arts festival.

ABTA is asking businesses, contractors and members of the public to contribute suitable wooden doors for the project. Donated doors will be delivered to the galleries at Redcliffe Quay before being assigned to participating artists.

Remembering Maria Ross Iztueta

Art Week will also feature a retrospective exhibition celebrating the life and work of Maria Ross Iztueta, who lived from 1934 to 2024.

The exhibition will be presented at The Barracks Gallery and will serve as the featured gallery presentation of the 2026 festival.

Curator Stephen Murphy announced the retrospective alongside the artist’s daughter, Amaya Ross, during the media launch.

“Maria Ross made an incredible contribution to the art community in Antigua and Barbuda,” Murphy said. “This exhibition provides an opportunity to introduce her work to new audiences during Art Week.”

The retrospective will give residents and visitors an opportunity to consider Ross Iztueta’s work as part of the broader artistic history of Antigua and Barbuda. It will also place a senior figure from the local arts community alongside the contemporary artists participating in the festival’s newer installations and live events.

The inclusion of a retrospective adds historical depth to a program otherwise filled with active studios, public installations and artist competitions. Art Week will look at the destination’s artistic past while creating space for the current generation of painters, designers, poets and other creatives.

Art Moves Beyond the Galleries

The 2026 edition will extend throughout Antigua and Barbuda through a series of exhibitions and participatory events.

Art in the Quay will return to Redcliffe Quay, one of the most historic commercial districts in St. John’s. The area’s courtyards, stone buildings, boutiques and waterfront setting will once again become part of the festival experience.

The Art and Cultural Village will also return, bringing multiple artistic disciplines into a shared public venue. Open studios and galleries will host Meet the Artist sessions, giving visitors an opportunity to speak directly with participating creatives and learn more about the ideas and techniques behind their work.

A returning Art Trail will guide visitors among exhibitions, studios and other participating locations. The addition of a new Art Trail Passport is intended to encourage people to visit more sites across the program rather than experiencing Art Week through a single gallery or event.

The passport concept gives the festival a more exploratory character. Visitors will be able to follow the route through St. John’s and beyond, discovering artists in the places where they work and seeing more of Antigua through its creative communities.

Food, Painting, and Fashion

Art Week will also bring the visual arts together with Antigua and Barbuda’s culinary culture.

Flavours & Canvas will pair painting with an immersive food experience, creating an event in which participants engage with both culinary and visual arts.

The format reflects the wider ambitions of Art Week. The festival is being designed around participation rather than passive viewing, with visitors invited to paint, taste, meet artists and travel between venues.

The Art Battle will return as a live painting competition, putting artists before an audience as they create finished works within a limited period. The event adds an element of performance to the week, allowing spectators to watch each painting develop from its opening strokes to the completed piece.

Fashion presentations will broaden the program further, joined by additional exhibitions set to be announced before November.

The result will be a festival encompassing painting, sculpture, fashion, food, poetry and public art, with each discipline offering another interpretation of Antigua and Barbuda.

A Story Told in Colour

This year’s campaign carries the theme “Every Destination Has a Story. Ours Is Told in Colour.”

The theme was introduced during the launch through the premiere of the first Meet the Artist video, featuring Heather Doram. Poet O’dane Doyley also delivered a dub poetry performance created around the campaign.

Artists Emile Hill, Stephen Murphy and Dylan Phillips spoke during the event, encouraging other creatives to participate in the November program.

The campaign places local artists at the center of the destination’s story. Rather than presenting Antigua and Barbuda only through beaches, resorts and sailing, Art Week will highlight the people interpreting the islands through paint, poetry, design and other forms.

The festival offers another way to experience St. John’s, Redcliffe Quay and communities across the country. A gallery visit can lead into a conversation with an artist. A walk through a historic district can become part of an art trail. A reclaimed door can carry an image rooted in village life, architecture, music or the sea.

A Growing Cultural Week

Antigua and Barbuda Art Week has expanded with each edition, giving artists more places to show their work while adding new reasons to travel to the destination in November.

“[This] launch begins our journey to Art Week in November,” said Maria Blackman, ABTA’s marketing communications manager and the lead of the Art Week committee. “Over the coming months, we will introduce participating artists, announce additional experiences and continue working with partners to encourage participation from the creative community, the tourism industry, the business sector and the general public.”