'Families without fathers', by Rachael Minott (a visual-poetic reckoning with paternal absence)

Returning to Fathermen's ongoing concern with what Tracey Reynolds has termed the 'absence/presence dilemma' (2009) that surrounds black fatherhood, in this post we share a visual-poetic reflection on Jamaican paternal concerns by Jamaican-born artist Rachael Minott, entitled 'Families without fathers' (2013).

The narrator in Rachael's piece, who is her own father, echoes the words of Jamaican social worker Amy Bailey who once deemed her island 'the land of dead fathers' (covered in an October 2015 post on this blog). The mission of Fathermen has been to contend with such experiences and narratives, to understand how Caribbean men (and their kin) build fatherhood from the ground up, against pervasive notions of Caribbean paternal absence. Such challenges, set in motion by plantation histories and recurring throughout the region, remind of the legacies, longings and possibilities of fathering in our Caribbean presents/futures.

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Families without fathers
Rachael Minott (5.9.2013)

"My practice is an exploration into the concept of Jamaica as a matriarchal society, and more specifically it as a consequence of the abdication of men's roles as fathers. Although Jamaica's classification as a matriarchal state is debatable, statistically, with women making up 80% of the countries of business people; a quarter of a million women as the single heads of families and a female Prime Minster; Jamaica is often viewed as such 

Some academics that examine the country, blame this "matriarchal" society for the high levels of crime, and social disruption in the country, and believe that while women seem to be excelling, the men are diminishing. But there are countless reasons as to why these men are abdicating their roles. Some academics believe they can pinpoint it to the 'stud' culture developed during the slave trade. Others see the influence of the drug cartels from South America and Columbia who draw the men in with the promise of 'fast money'. Others look to the 80s and the abandonment of the concept of 'illegitimate children' and the acceptance of most men having multiple families. Whatever the cause maybe the symptom is a country left with generation after generation of men being raised by women and who lack male role models. It falls into a cyclic pattern of not having a father, so not becoming one. 

I wanted my practice to illustrate my research and so I used the manner of strange objects to depict the various causes for this matriarchal society"

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Rachael is an artist and curator who sits on the UK Museums Association Board and her works have featured in the 4th Ghetto Biennale in Port au Prince, Haiti 2015 and the Jamaica Biennial 2017.

More on Rachael's artistic and curatorial works

• Website
• Art History Undisciplined

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