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African and Caribbean Art Gallery To Open at Bed-Stuy's Calabar Imports

By Camille Bautista | August 25, 2016 3:00pm
 Artwork by Cyd Scotton on display at Calabar Imports. A new gallery is slated to open inside the Calabar Imports shop on Tompkins Avenue this fall, according to owner Atim Annette Oton.
Artwork by Cyd Scotton on display at Calabar Imports. A new gallery is slated to open inside the Calabar Imports shop on Tompkins Avenue this fall, according to owner Atim Annette Oton.
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Calabar Imports Bed Stuy

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — A new gallery is popping up on Tompkins Avenue this fall, sharing its space with locally-owned shop Calabar Imports.

Calabar Gallery in Bedford-Stuyvesant is set to open in September at 351 Tompkins Ave. near Madison Street, following in the footsteps of the chain’s Harlem location, according to owner Atim Annette Oton.

“I thought, what kind of work would speak about Brooklyn, would speak about New York, would speak about the world?” Oton said. “It’s sort of what I think Bed-Stuy is in a sense — local and global at the same time.”

Exhibitions featuring African, Caribbean, and African-American artists are slated kick off at the roughly 400-square-foot space on Sept. 18, starting with the theme “Brooklyn is the World.”

Other topics throughout the year include “Black Lives in Words and Images,” “NATURE: Environment: Earth” and “Harlem and Brooklyn Dialogues.”

Calabar Gallery in Harlem opened in 2015, Oton said, also sharing its space with a shop at the location.

In 2004, Oton and her mother launched Calabar Imports, a store with imported clothing, accessories, jewelry, décor and more from Africa, Asia, and South America.

In addition to Bed-Stuy and Harlem, outposts can be found in Crown Heights and Boerum Hill.

Oton describes the shops as “community spaces” that engage locals, adding that the new Bed-Stuy art gallery is part of that outreach. 

The Tompkins Avenue location will also host talks and panel discussions.

The gallery is putting out a call for artists to submit their work for this year’s six exhibitions. For more information, visit the Calabar Gallery website.