Ras Ishi Butcher, born in Barbados in 1960, is recognized as a leading artist in the Caribbean.He was a member of DePAM (De People’s Art Movement) during the 1980s. He has received numerous awards including a purchase award at the first Art Collection Foundation Exhibition and two gold medals at the Santo Domingo Biennial (1992 and 1996). During the 1990s he pursued advanced studies at the Instituto Superiore de Arte in Havana Cuba. Major exhibitions include VEXX with Ras Akeym at the Queen’s Park Gallery (Barbados, 1989), “Isolation”, his first solo exhibition held at the Barbados Museum (1995), Islington Art Factory (London, 2004), the Bag Factory (Johannesburg 2005) and most recently the “Secret Diaries” series at the Pharmacy Gallery Barbados, and as part of a retrospective exhibition at the Bahamas National Gallery in 2010. His work is represented in many private and public collections including the Barbados National Collection. Ishi currently teaches in the Bachelor of Fine Arts programme at the Barbados Community College.