A rare opportunity - Cambridge Caribbean Scholars view art books of Wifredo Lam

The Wren Library in Trinity College, Cambridge, has been open to visitors since 1695 and for centuries people have visited to admire the beauty of Sir Christopher Wren’s architecture and the Library’s wonderful collections.

One of those collections is a set of books illustrated by Wifredo Lam, widely known as the greatest Caribbean artist, which until this year was incomplete. In July, Professor Jean Khalfa, Fellow for Postgraduate Studentships at the College, visited Paris to bring back the only missing book and kindly invited winners of the Cambridge Caribbean Scholarship, a programme of awards offered by the Cambridge Trust in partnership with the University of Cambridge and Trinity College, together with members of the Selection Panel for a rare opportunity to view the collection.

Professor Jean Khalfa, Fellow for Postgraduate Studentships at the College, who kindly hosted the tour explained that the collaborations between the Cuban-born surrealist artist and poets of the period such as Aimé Césaire are truly joint works with the art influencing the poetry and vice versa.

The Group saw more than half a dozen works in large format printed with specialist techniques and displayed on tables in the historic setting of the 17th century Wren Library by its Librarian, Dr Nicolas Bell.

The students who joined the tour - Felicia Collins, Kesna Fairclough and Zack Myers - all commenced their academic studies at the University of Cambridge this term. Felicia, from Guyana, is undertaking a Masters degree in Conservation Leadership and Kesna, from Jamaica, is studying for a PhD in Scientific Computing, both with the support of a Cambridge Caribbean Scholarship. Zack Myers from Bermuda is supported by a Vice-Chancellor’s & King’s College Scholarship and is studying for a PhD in History at King’s College.

The Cambridge Caribbean Scholarships, established by the Trust in 2023, pay the full cost of PhD or Masters degrees, and are offered to students from the Caribbean whose study and research is likely to make a positive impact in the region.

The first two recipients of the scholarships took up their places in the 2023-24 academic year, and today there are seven students currently in residence supported by the programme, four of whom are studying for PhDs and three undertaking Masters degrees.

The students come from a wide range of Caribbean countries including Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, and Haiti, and are undertaking studies in a wide variety of subjects including Conservation Leadership, Land Economy and Scientific Computing.

The Cambridge Trust is most grateful to the panel of academics who serve on the Selection Panel for this scholarship; Professor Johnhenry Gonzalez and Dr Natalia Bruitron from the University of Cambridge, Professor Verene Shepherd from the University of the West Indies (and Cambridge Trust alumna) and Professor Richard Drayton from King’s College London. Dr Shelley Singh-Gryzbon, recently appointed at the Department of Chemical Engineering in Cambridge, will become a member of the Selection Panel in 2025 and joined the viewing of Lam’s works.