A Guide to the Visitor's Evening Routine

Pax Guest House, Mount Saint Benedict

Tunapuna, Trinidad

Duration of stay: 14 nights

Fact: Pax (meaning 'peace'), is the oldest purpose-built guest house in Trinidad, situated 800 metres above sea-level

1 Catch the last PAX maxi taxi up Mount Saint Benedict (this departs at 6pm)

2 Return to room, deposit the heavy load from the day and go to the communal showers to refresh

3 Back to room - upload digital images and audio files from the day onto laptop (depending on how well-intended you feel, title and tag all documentation with name and date)

4 Meanwhile, plug-in the electric insect deter rant and spray the room with anti-mosquito spray, closing all windows and doors

5 Hear the maid walking down the corridor (the ice jangles in the rum punch like a warning signal), put on something decent and await the welcomed beverage. She will knock on your door

6 Settle down with your 'holiday' book and the rum punch. You will soon become ac costumed to the sound of the gong ('dinner is served') and the cacophony of diners below

7 Drift off, this is the coolest month of the year. A sheet will be sufficient

Improve Your Lot!

AN INTERBORO PROJECT

The Yard

Alice Yard in Trinidad is a domestic exterior space, recently reinvented to host, instigate and inspire artistic production. It continues the cultural tradition of this space representing an area of "play and imaging".

I live in the North East of England, where the vernacular architecture (the Tyneside flat) reigns the streets of Tyne and Wear.

"A unit of Tyneside Flats may at first glance resemble conventional single fronted terraced houses, but is in fact two and sometimes 3 dwellings, one above the other. They have separate front and back doors and back yards with no internal communication between the households."



Thinking about the reinvention of my yard...

My yard is usually quiet, though the sound of kids hanging around and local 'domestics' are not uncommon. It is partially overlooked by neighbours (a ready-made audience) and everyone keeps themselves to themselves. Due to the often unpredictable and usually cold climate, my yard is only in periodic use during Summer. The walls and concrete floor show evidence of previous outbuildings - the coal shed, the outside loo, the cellar. How has the Tyneside yard evolved as an urban space? Was there a time when neighbours freely opened their back gates, or have back doors always been bolted and curtains only ever twitched? Did Britain' s historic street parties ever make their way around the back and into the yard?

How does the history of the yard determine the use of this space for artistic production?