The launch of Duppy, a groundbreaking publication co-edited by British-Jamaican filmmaker and artist Joseph Douglas Elmhirst and academic Jovan Scott Lewis, marks a significant cultural intervention, offering a tangible archive that bridges past and present Caribbean experiences. This ambitious project, named after the Jamaican term for a ghost or spirit, is deeply rooted in Elmhirst’s personal discovery and artistic philosophy, aiming to subvert conventional Western perceptions of Jamaica and the broader Caribbean diaspora.
A Grandfather’s Echo: The Genesis of a Project
The genesis of Duppy can be traced back to a profoundly personal revelation in 2018 when Joseph Douglas Elmhirst stumbled upon a 1977 episode of the BBC documentary series Everyman. This particular installment featured his maternal grandfather, Reverend David Douglas, a Jamaican Pentecostal pastor then living in Watford, England. Elmhirst had never before seen a photograph of his grandfather, let alone witnessed him speak. The documentary chronicled Reverend Douglas’s earnest struggles to establish a place of worship and community amidst the challenges faced by Caribbean immigrants in the UK during the late 1970s.
This period was a particularly fraught one for the Windrush generation and their descendants. Having arrived in Britain from the Caribbean between 1948 and 1971, many faced systemic racism, housing discrimination, and profound cultural alienation. They often struggled to find employment commensurate with their skills and faced hostility in their daily lives. In this climate, institutions like the Pentecostal church became vital social, spiritual, and political anchors, offering solace, community, and a platform for organizing. These churches were more than just places of worship; they were de facto community centers, offering support networks, cultural continuity, and spaces for collective action in an often-unwelcoming society.
What particularly resonated with Elmhirst was his grandfather’s unexpected political agency. "The first thing my grandfather said in the documentary was a quote by James Baldwin, and that really shocked me as I had assumed he would be much more conservative," Elmhirst shared, reflecting on the profound impact of this discovery. "To learn that he was really engaged and actively trying to create political spaces for Caribbean people in the UK was inspiring. I’ve been very lucky to inherit that documentary as a filmmaker." James Baldwin, the seminal American writer and civil rights activist, was a fierce critic of racial injustice and societal hypocrisy, known for his incisive essays and novels that explored race, class, and sexuality. For Reverend Douglas, a Pentecostal pastor, to invoke Baldwin immediately signaled a profound engagement with liberation theology and social justice, challenging Elmhirst’s preconceived notions of his conservative faith background. This confluence of faith and political activism became a foundational pillar for Elmhirst’s artistic practice, setting him on a path of constant dialogue between the past and the present.
From Film to Print: Elmhirst’s Artistic Evolution
The discovery of his grandfather’s documentary proved transformative, shaping Elmhirst’s artistic trajectory and imbuing his work with a deep commitment to exploring memory, history, and diasporic identity. The BBC’s Everyman series, which ran from 1977 to 2000, was renowned for its in-depth, often challenging explorations of moral, spiritual, and social issues, making it a significant platform for capturing the nuanced realities of British society, including immigrant experiences. The fact that Reverend Douglas’s story was deemed worthy of inclusion speaks volumes about the societal relevance of his struggles and the broader issues affecting Caribbean communities at the time.
Prior to Duppy, Elmhirst had already begun to carve out a distinct cinematic voice, demonstrating his interest in intergenerational narratives and the immigrant experience. His debut short film, Mada, for instance, intricately wove together the lives of three generations of a Jamaican family over a span of three days, exploring the subtle yet powerful ways history and heritage shape contemporary existence. His second short, Burnt Milk, delved into the profound alienation felt by an immigrant in 1980s London, depicting her visceral visions of her homeland in Jamaica – a poignant reflection on displacement and the enduring ties to one’s roots. These films laid the groundwork for Duppy, establishing Elmhirst’s consistent thematic focus on the echoes of the past within the present and the complex tapestry of Caribbean identity.
Duppy: A Resonant Title and Collaborative Vision
The choice of "Duppy" as the publication’s title is deeply symbolic and culturally resonant. In Jamaican folklore, a "duppy" refers to a ghost, spirit, or malevolent entity, but it also carries connotations of ancestral presence, unseen forces, and the lingering influence of those who have passed on. By embracing this term, Elmhirst and co-editor Jovan Scott Lewis signal the publication’s intent to engage with the spectral, the forgotten, and the unrecorded aspects of Caribbean history and memory. It’s an invitation to confront the "ghosts" of the past – both literal and metaphorical – and allow them to inform the present.
Jovan Scott Lewis, an esteemed academic whose work often focuses on economic anthropology, Black geographies, and the Caribbean diaspora, brings a rigorous intellectual framework to the project. His collaboration ensures that Duppy is not merely an artistic endeavor but also a significant scholarly contribution, grounding its creative explorations in critical theory and historical analysis. Together, Elmhirst and Lewis envision Duppy as a living archive, a site for creation where history is actively engaged with, challenged, and reimagined, moving beyond static narratives. This approach is crucial to their shared mission: "to subvert a Western idea of what Jamaica or the Caribbean is," as Elmhirst articulates, by presenting multifaceted, nuanced, and self-determined perspectives.
Weaving Narratives: The Publication’s Diverse Contributions
Duppy is a rich tapestry of voices and artistic expressions, carefully curated to foster a dynamic dialogue across temporal and geographical landscapes. Among its compelling contributions are speculative correspondences penned by Elmhirst’s mother, Miss Ronnie. These letters, bridging generations and continents, offer an intimate and imaginative engagement with familial and collective memory, blurring the lines between personal history and broader diasporic experiences. They exemplify the publication’s embrace of alternative forms of historical record-keeping, where emotional truth and imaginative reconstruction hold as much weight as empirical fact.
The publication also features an insightful interview between artist Alvaro Barrington and fashion designer Jawara Alleyne. Both highly influential figures in their respective fields, Barrington is known for his vibrant, multidisciplinary art that often explores themes of identity, migration, and popular culture, while Alleyne’s fashion challenges traditional Caribbean aesthetics with innovative designs. Their conversation, therefore, likely delves into the intersection of art, fashion,body, and Caribbean identity, exploring how these creative practices can serve as powerful tools for self-expression and cultural assertion, pushing back against reductive stereotypes.
Further enriching the narrative is a series of conversations with community leaders, including Richard Currie, who is a prominent advocate for Indigenous rights in Jamaica. Currie’s inclusion highlights the often-overlooked history of Indigenous peoples in the Caribbean, particularly the Maroons. The Maroons, descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped and formed independent communities in the mountainous interiors of Jamaica, successfully resisted British colonial rule for centuries, establishing treaties that recognized their autonomy. Currie’s activism draws attention to their ongoing struggles for self-determination, land rights, and cultural preservation, reminding readers that Jamaica’s history is not solely defined by the transatlantic slave trade but also by resilient Indigenous and Afro-Indigenous resistance.
Visual Storytelling: Challenging Perceptions Through Photography
The photographic commissions within Duppy are central to its mission of challenging conventional representations of the Caribbean, deliberately weaving together different temporalities and pushing boundaries.
Reclaiming Hidden Histories: A Hidden Man
One powerful series, A Hidden Man, by Jamaican-based artists Danielle Myers and Kadeem Rodgers, pays homage to the paintings of Trinidadian artist Boscoe Holder. Holder (1921-2007) was a multifaceted talent – a painter, dancer, musician, and choreographer – who moved fluidly between the Caribbean, New York, and London. His art, particularly his depictions of male bodies, often contained subtle yet unmistakable semi-homoerotic undertones, which, in the conservative social climate of his time, were rarely exhibited or openly discussed. Myers and Rodgers felt compelled to revisit this aspect of Holder’s legacy, recognizing the enduring relevance of his artistic courage.
Their decision to recreate these paintings in a modern context is an act of profound artistic and social reclamation. By reinterpreting Holder’s vision for a contemporary audience, Myers and Rodgers directly confront the "conservative notions that led to them being hidden away," as Elmhirst explains. This series not only celebrates Holder’s pioneering spirit but also opens up vital conversations about LGBTQ+ visibility and acceptance within Caribbean societies, challenging deeply entrenched cultural norms and fostering a more inclusive understanding of regional identity. It’s a powerful statement on how art can both reflect and actively shape social progress.
Land, Memory, and Identity: What Remains
Another compelling photographic series, What Remains, by photographer and filmmaker Luca Khouri, explores the intricate relationship between people and the land in Jamaica. Khouri’s languid photographs depict women moving through evocative Jamaican landscapes, sites imbued with both personal and collective memory. The series is particularly notable for its inclusion of portraits of trans women, continuing Khouri’s long-standing commitment to documenting marginalized communities.
This focus is especially critical given the significant challenges faced by trans individuals in Jamaica. Despite growing international advocacy, Jamaica remains a country where LGBTQ+ individuals often experience severe discrimination, violence, and social exclusion, with trans women being particularly vulnerable. Khouri’s work thus serves as a powerful counter-narrative, presenting trans women not as victims but as integral, resilient, and beautiful parts of the Jamaican social fabric, challenging dominant, often heteronormative, representations of the nation. By embedding these portraits within the natural landscape, Khouri subtly asserts their inherent belonging and connection to their homeland, enriching the visual lexicon of Jamaican identity.
The Power of Print: Materiality as a Message
Beyond its compelling content, Duppy is a profound statement on the significance of the physical medium itself. For Elmhirst, the publication is "an attempt to reclaim the tactile forms of cultural production that underpinned intellectual life in the Caribbean and its diaspora." His research, undertaken with Jovan Scott Lewis, involved delving into the archives of historical newspapers and journals.
Among these inspirations were the West Indian Gazette and Savacou. The West Indian Gazette, founded in 1958 by the Trinidadian-born communist and Black nationalist Claudia Jones, was a pivotal publication in post-war Britain. Based in Brixton, it served as a vital voice for the burgeoning Black British community, providing news, political analysis, and cultural commentary that was largely absent from mainstream media. It played a crucial role in fostering a sense of identity and solidarity among Caribbean immigrants and in organizing political resistance against racism and discrimination. Savacou, on the other hand, was an influential literary and cultural journal launched in 1970 by prominent Caribbean intellectuals such as Edward Kamau Brathwaite. It became a crucial platform for critical thought, poetry, and art from across the Anglophone Caribbean, shaping the intellectual landscape of the region and its diaspora.
Elmhirst notes, "There was so much dialogue happening in print, but over the last thirty years we’ve moved away from the medium." In an era dominated by digital ephemeral content, Duppy deliberately embraces the permanence and tangibility of print. This choice is particularly salient for a region like Jamaica, which, despite its rich oral traditions and complex history, possesses a relatively sparse recorded historical archive. "In a country that has such a complex history as Jamaica, but so little recorded history, it feels really important to create something tangible," Elmhirst emphasizes.
The materiality of Duppy is further enhanced by its thoughtful design, conceived by Bryce Carrington. The publication features hand-drawn typography and illustrations that subtly reference nzu chalk, a white chalk traditionally used in spiritual practices across Nigeria and the Caribbean, particularly in West African Vodun, Santería, and Palo Mayombe. Nzu is used for drawing ritual symbols, connecting with ancestors, and invoking spiritual presence, making its visual allusion in Duppy a powerful nod to indigenous spiritual traditions and the unseen forces of memory.
Moreover, the publication’s newsprint format is a deliberate aesthetic and conceptual choice. While it might seem counterintuitive for a cherished cultural artifact, the fragility of newsprint itself carries a profound message. "I wanted the fragility of the newsprint to reflect the fragility of preservation in that region," Elmhirst explains. This design choice transforms the act of reading into an act of care, implicitly asking the reader to acknowledge and actively participate in the preservation of these narratives, mirroring the ongoing struggle to safeguard Caribbean histories and cultural heritage.
For Elmhirst, who has spent the majority of his professional life in filmmaking, the tactile nature of Duppy held a deeply personal significance. "I admired the physical relationship my friends who are painters and sculptors have with their work," he recounts. "You can’t hold images on a screen, and I didn’t realise how emotional I would find it, to be able to finally hold something I created in my hands." This sentiment underscores the profound human need for tangible connection, a quality that Duppy powerfully embodies in its mission to make unseen histories felt and held.
Broader Implications: Duppy as a Cultural Nexus
Duppy is more than just a publication; it is a cultural nexus, a testament to the enduring power of memory, and a blueprint for future cultural production within the Caribbean diaspora. Its intergenerational and multidisciplinary approach ensures that it speaks to a broad audience, fostering dialogue between artists, academics, community leaders, and the wider public. By creating a tangible archive that centers Caribbean voices and experiences, Duppy actively engages in what can be termed "archival activism," challenging historical omissions and constructing new narratives from within.
The publication’s emphasis on decolonizing narratives and subverting Western hegemonic views of the Caribbean is a critical contribution to global cultural discourse. It highlights the richness, complexity, and internal diversity of Caribbean identities, moving beyond simplistic or exoticized representations. By giving space to marginalized voices, from LGBTQ+ communities to Indigenous advocates, Duppy champions inclusivity and ensures that the multifaceted tapestry of Caribbean life is fully represented.
Ultimately, Duppy serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of cultural preservation, not merely as an act of looking back, but as a dynamic, creative process that continually informs and shapes the present and future. It sets a precedent for how artists and intellectuals can leverage personal history, collaborative effort, and innovative design to produce artifacts that are both aesthetically compelling and profoundly impactful, ensuring that the spirits and stories of the Caribbean continue to resonate for generations to come.
Duppy is now available for pre-order via its official website and will also be accessible through a curated network of stockists worldwide, including the National Gallery of Jamaica (Jamaica), Black Cultural Archives (London), ALÂRA (Lagos), Librairie 1909 (Paris), and Fiend (Melbourne), ensuring its global reach and accessibility to diverse audiences.
