Hurricane season in the Atlantic basin (including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea) officially runs from June 1 to November 30. However, forecasters within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service are predicting above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin for 2025.
Hurricanes have long been a part of life in the Caribbean. This publication entitled “Hurricane Season” features artworks by six artists from across the Caribbean and its diaspora, which address the climate crisis and the impact of the warming of ocean waters intensifying the severity of storms and hurricanes.
Firelei Báez, an artist born in Dominican Republic and now based in New York City, creates large-scale installations such as “roots when they are young and most tender” using the blue FEMA tarp with beautiful designs. Light coming through the perforated cuts and slits in the tarp create almost magical atmosphere underneath. Thus the experience of sheltering underneath a blue tarp during a hurricane is transformed into something else, a space reminiscent of both sky and ocean. Instead of feeling terror, the space gives a sense of the wonder, beauty, and resilency of Caribbean people.
In Teresita Fernández’ series entitled “Puerto Rico (Burned)”, burned marks and cut papers are used to invoke the aftermath of a hurricane on the landscape.
During hurricane season, many communities can lose so much. Even an entire community can be blown away. “Artists who engage weathering as an approach to the climate crisis—those who acknowledge grim realities while allowing space for necessary and urgent action—can shake viewers awake from crippling feelings of powerless.” (Mia Laufer, in chapter on “Weathering,” pp. 36)
