EAT ah FOOD - 2016 Project

PROJECT: eat ah food - Topical silkscreen tee-shirts

theme: Tongue in cheek local saying

funding: My own

duration of project: One month

———————-

The term EAT AH FOOD has been with us for some time. It is a colloquialism featured in the language of Trinidad and not so much,Tobago during the 2000's to today. Specifically it relates to those who have money and those who do not. The Term came up on political platforms and Radio Talk Shows to vigorous debate. All of those 'eating ah food' are doing so at the expense of those doing what they can to live within their means and follow the rules of society. The Eat ah food(er) is a person who is doing whatever it takes to get ahead. It is a person without conscience - or/and also, no political affiliation apart from the politics of opportunity. I chose to create a series of tee-shirts with the slogan Eat ah Food to focus on this very popular palance.

I was invited to be part of a POP-UP Shop event at Erthig Road Belmont in 2016 and decided that a Graphic Design project would suit the space that I was given.

I used the services of a young Screenprinting Specialist with the revolutionary name of Che Yallery. He had done another project for me for an NGO and everything came in on time and at a good cost. For this occasion Che sourced the tee-shirts and also some bags that I wanted to include. However, the ones that I was seeking were made of cardboard and of a specific shape, but neither of us could find them anywhere. It would have meant my doing them by hand and the deadline did not permit. I was familiar with the location at Erthig Road. I had gone to look at the building with my mother a few years before. Granderson Printery was once a very active black Trinidad family's establishment. They printed all the documents and the first book for the Coterie of Social Workers (Established in 1921)We had gone at the time because there was still left over materials there, but the owner who by then had retired some time ago could not continue by himself. Alice Yard is now located there and that is a story for another time.

The Cloth is also located at Granderson Printery.You walk into that two story building in Belmont and you cannot help but feel the history coursing through it.

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