A little over a month ago, I was privileged to get acquainted with the incomparable trans-disciplinary artist, Billy Gérard Franck, introduced to me by the one and only Judith Van Der Kooij, Advisor of International Cultural Cooperation at DutchCulture and board member at the Thami Mnyele Foundation, of which Franck received the 2026 Residency Award, alongside fellow Richard Kofi, from the Museum of Black Futures.

Billy Gérard Frank(Grenada, 1972) is an artist and filmmaker whose research-based practice interrogates personal and collective historiography relating to memory, exile, geopolitics, post-colonial, race and queer decoloniality. His work challenges and deconstructs normative narratives, using speculation and new imagery to suggest counter-histories. Franck was pant of the collective that represented Grenada at the 58th Biennale di Venezia in 2019, and was subsequently chosen to solely represent the island at the 59th Biennale di Venezia in 2022.

Frank is also the co-founder of the Nova Frontier Film Festival & Lab, which showcases and incubates the work of filmmakers and artists from and in dialogue with the Global African Diaspora, the Middle East, and Latin America. He is a professor in Directing and Design at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University and an acclaimed lecturer at institutions including NYU, the School of Visual Arts, and York University in the United States.

Since our first meeting, Billy and I met on multiple occasions, including during his open studio in late June 2026, which marked the end of of his 3 months residency. Our genuine connection and the nurturing conversations we shared quickly morphed into gages of bigger dreams. Who knows what the future holds!? For now, I am happy to share some of the kindred snapshots documenting the fateful synchronicities paving our unfolding journey. 

More at the links here below: 

@billygerardfrank.com
@novafrontierfilmfestival
@judithvanderkooij
@thami.mnyele.foundation
@richardkofiart
@museumofblackfutures