Antigua and Barbuda Art Week 2025: Celebrating Culture in Colour

From 26 November to 2 December 2025, the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda will once again come alive in a dazzling celebration of creativity. Now in its third edition, Antigua and Barbuda Art Week (ABAW) continues to grow as one of the region’s most vibrant cultural festivals. The 2025 theme, “Culture in Colour”, embraces expression in its fullest sense: art that is both rooted in local heritage and open to global influence.

This is not just a festival but a movement that transforms the islands into living galleries. Over one week, visitors and residents alike are invited to experience art, fashion, music, spoken word, and performance in unexpected places, from quays and ports to airports and gardens.

Highlights and Events

Opening Night – 26 November

The festival begins at the historic Redcliffe Quay with live art demonstrations, music and performances under the Caribbean sky.

Exhibitions and Installations

The visual arts programme will feature leading local artists such as Mark Brown alongside students from the Antigua and Barbuda College of Advanced Studies. Their exhibition, Vernacular, explores local identity through paint, fabric and found materials.

Student Art Competition

Young artists aged seven to seventeen will showcase their creativity under the theme Life in Antigua and Barbuda. Winning pieces will be displayed at V. C. Bird International Airport, greeting travellers with a powerful first impression of Antiguan creativity.

Experiential Art Evenings

Events such as Canvas and Cocktails and Mandalas and Mojitos combine art-making with music, mixology and food, creating spaces where creativity and community meet.

Art and Culture Bus Tours

On 28 and 29 November, guided tours will take students and adults through galleries, studios and artisan workshops across the islands.

Fashion and Performance

Designer Garrett Javan’s highly anticipated ZOIGE showcase on 30 November will bring art to the runway in a celebration of Caribbean design.

Throughout the week, visitors will also encounter public installations and murals under the initiative Heart for Art, as well as open studios and exhibitions across both islands.

Culture in Colour

The theme Culture in Colour invites artists and audiences to see colour as both palette and metaphor. It speaks to identity, to diversity, and to the rhythms of Caribbean life. In a country already known for its turquoise seas and pink-sanded beaches, this festival reaffirms that the true colour of Antigua and Barbuda lies equally in its creative people.

More than fifty artists from Antigua, Barbuda, the wider Caribbean and the diaspora are expected to participate. Their works will tell stories of heritage, ecology and imagination, turning everyday spaces into sites of cultural dialogue.

Why It Matters

Antigua and Barbuda Art Week represents far more than an annual event. It is part of a broader movement to strengthen the region’s creative economy and affirm the role of art in national identity.

• For artists, it provides a platform to exhibit, collaborate and connect with regional and international audiences.

• For cultural tourism, it redefines what visitors experience by placing art in everyday environments, from airport halls to public squares.

• For young people, it offers access, mentorship and inspiration through workshops and competitions.

• For communities, it connects art with local enterprise and heritage, demonstrating how creativity can support sustainable development.

  
  

Practical Information

• Dates: 26 November – 2 December 2025

• Venues: Redcliffe Quay, Heritage Quay, V. C. Bird International Airport, Dr Alister Francis Campus (Golden Grove), and open studios across Antigua and Barbuda

• Admission: Many events are free, while select experiences require reservations or tickets

• Artists: Over 50 confirmed participants across visual, digital, performance, and fashion disciplines

• Updates: Follow @AntiguaBarbudaArtWeek on social media or visit visitantiguabarbuda.com

  
  

Reflections

Antigua and Barbuda Art Week 2025 reaffirms the region’s creative pulse. It bridges tradition and innovation, offering a model of how art can move beyond gallery walls into public and personal spaces.

For those passionate about Caribbean art, whether artists, curators or educators, ABAW 2025 is both a celebration and a reminder: creativity remains one of the most vivid expressions of who we are, and of how we see ourselves in the world.