Douen Is­lands is an on­go­ing col­lab­o­ra­tive project that draws on folk­lore–specif­i­cal­ly the myth of the child spir­it–as a re­source to ex­plore per­son­al and col­lec­tive anx­i­eties and to in­ves­ti­gate the com­plex­i­ty of iden­ti­ties in the present-day con­text of T&T. The project thrives on in­put from a range of cre­ative peo­ple, in­clud­ing writ­ers, artists and mu­si­cians.Douen Is­lands was launched in 2013 by lead col­lab­o­ra­tors, po­et An­dre Ba­goo and graph­ic de­sign­er Kris­ton Chen. The group's first prod­ucts were an e-book and a se­ries of videos.

The next chap­ter in the project's de­vel­op­ment is a com­po­nent of the lead-up to this year's Bo­cas Lit Fest, which will run from April 23 to 27. On Sat­ur­day April 12, as part of the 2014 NGC Bo­cas Lit Fest pre-fes­ti­val pro­gramme, the Douen Is­lands col­lab­o­ra­tors will present an ex­per­i­men­tal read­ing event, Douen Is­lands: In For­est and Wild Skies.

The event will fea­ture po­et­ry from An­dre Ba­goo and Shiv­a­nee Ram­lochan and prose from Sharon Mil­lar. The pre­sen­ta­tion will al­so in­clude mov­ing im­ages by Kris­ton Chen and sitar record­ings from Shar­da Patasar.Douen Is­lands: In For­est and Wild Skies will take place from 8 pm at Al­ice Yard, 80 Roberts Street, Wood­brook. – Mar­sha Pearce

IN­FO: douenis­lands.tum­blr.com