A Caribbean flavour is coming north in the form of two visiting artists and five local artists with roots from the same region.

The exhibition, entitled Artists of the Caribbean, is being held at the Bermuda Society of Arts hosted by the West Indian Association of Bermuda. It will open on Friday evening in the Onions Gallery and is on until June 8.

Trinidadian LeRoy Clarke and Bajan Faith Allison Headley are the visiting pair whose work will be on show along with local artists Allison Phillips, Manuel Palacio, Glen Wilks, Vernon Clarke and Frank Dublin.

The idea of putting on the show came as an initiative by the executive of the West Indian Association, said Owen Martin, WIA head of the Art Show Committee.

"I was part of a sub-committee looking at ways to re-energise the membership and refocus the association," he said.

"As with most organisations that have been around for over 25 years, membership involvement and participation has declined and the sub-committee was looking at ways to turn that around.

"The association has put on a number of cultural events in the past including local plays and repertoire from the Caribbean. However, we had never showcased our artistic side. It was also evident that there were a number of artists in Bermuda with Caribbean roots who were individually doing great work, including numerous commissions, so, the idea was born to showcase Caribbean art, and we wanted to show the range of talent by having contemporary artists from the region exhibit as well."

Mr. Martin said the idea was more of a desire to showcase the wide range of talent present in Caribbean art than about awareness.

"There was already awareness, but more in the context of each individual artist's work," he said. "What I hope this show achieves is to make everyone appreciate the contribution that Caribbean art is making to contemporary art. I believe the infusion of colour by other artists not only in Bermuda, but around the world has been influenced by Caribbean art and its growing popularity."

The show has been in the planning stages for over a year and Mr. Martin said: "There is a lot more planning involved than I initially realised.

"Fortunately, I was assisted by a fantastic committee of outstanding individuals with a wide range of organisational, marketing and communication skills. It takes cohesive teamwork to pull something like this off."

When asked was there anything else in common with the artists other than a similar heritage, Mr. Martin said: "A common love of art!

"That may sound lame, but to speak to each artist you could feel their passion and commitment to their craft and unending quest to get even better."

Mr. Martin said when it came to choosing from the array of Caribbean artists, he chose LeRoy Clarke and Allison Headley on the advice of a local artist.

"Once I read his profile I knew he was the perfect choice," said Mr. Martin.

"This was confirmed when I visited his home in Trinidad at Christmas and saw his work first hand.

"Ms Headley was recommended by a prominent art critic in Barbados, and her work brings a different dimension to the show."

Of the show's timing Mr. Martin said: "It was fate! We were constrained by the availability of space at the BSoA and of course we wanted it to be part of Heritage Month, so we were ecstatic when the time available coincided with Heritage Month. It made us feel that it was supposed to happen."

While the artists are on Island they will be speaking and or visiting several schools.

"While we honour our sports heroes, people like artists are often overlooked resulting in the youth not appreciating the talent, commitment and dedication required to be successful," he said.

"I hope that after hearing from these artists more young people will consider developing their artistic side as an alternative to some of the destructive activities that have been on the increase in Bermuda.

"In addition, this is first time that all five local artists will be exhibiting together and they have had enthusiastic support for the show."