Racquel Rowe

Sea Bath

A Barbadian ritual of care and transmission, filmed through a diasporic lens.

Description of the exhibition

In her dual projection Sea bath (2023), Racquel Rowe depicts a traditional Barbadian ritual in which individuals bathe in the sea. The artist and her mother are pictured washing themselves in their own time, cared for by the buoyant, saline water, with sailboats and other vessels dotting the horizon line.

This representation of the Black Atlantic, looking at the complex relationships between Black bodies and water, compliments Landscapes in motion, presented at the Espace Quatre Cents. The body is made more present here, and becomes a focal point that draws the viewer into the performativity of this intimate moment.

Invoking a tradition passed down within the family—a physical communing with water that her grandfather partakes in twice a day, morning and evening, rain or shine—Rowe transmits this embodied practice as a form of self-care. Through these communally shared and connective gestures, she expands and contracts time through her framing of the land in Barbados and its salty bordering waters as a site of cultural and generational history.

Artist biography

Racquel Rowe

(Born in Bridgetown, Barbados – Lives in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)

Racquel Rowe is an interdisciplinary artist whose work is continuously influenced by different aspects of history, matrilineal family structures, diasporic communities, and her upbringing in Barbados. Her practice includes performance, video, photography, painting, drawing, and installation. Her work has been shown in Barbados and throughout Canada, including solo exhibitions at Forest City Gallery (London) and Tom Thompson Gallery (Owen Sound).

Practical Information

Regart — Contemporary Art Center

Gallery – Video Projection
6018 Rue Saint-Laurent, Lévis, QC

• Transit: STLévis bus routes nearby
• Parking: street parking + nearby public lots
• Accessibility: step-free entrance; indoor exhibition