While I work on some urgent publication deadlines and some new blog posts (and mark papers!), here is another text from my personal archives: the first of a two-part excerpt from my PhD dissertation "Between National and Market: Art and Society in 20th Century Jamaica" (Emory University, 2011). The excerpt is from the Introduction. Part... Continue Reading →
The End of an Era
This is a sad moment in Jamaica's cultural and artistic history. I understand that the house of David Boxer, the late art historian, artist and collector, is slated for demolition, to make way for what will probably be another run-of-the-mill apartment complex, of which Kingston hardly needs any more. For those who did not know... Continue Reading →
The Wheels of History: Museums, Restitution and the Caribbean – Part 2
This is the second of a two-part post on the restitution debate and its significance to the Caribbean. The first part explores the general context and this second part explores the implications for the Caribbean. The Caribbean was one of the first world areas to be colonized by Europe, and was completely transformed in the... Continue Reading →
The Wheels of History: Museums, Restitution and the Caribbean – Part 1
This is the first of a two-part post on the restitution debate and its significance to the Caribbean. This first part explores the general context and the second part specifically looks at the Caribbean. It is a time of reckoning for museums: museums are increasingly pressured to come to terms with their historical origins,... Continue Reading →
The Elephant in the Museum
Late last month, on December 28 to be precise, I visited what is now branded as the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, a suburb of Brussels. My visit, during a family vacation to Belgium, came just a few weeks after the museum had reopened, after being closed for about five years for extensive renovations. The 86 million... Continue Reading →
Notes on Jamaica’s Art Histories # 2: African-Derived Sculpture from the Colonial Period
My previous post in this series, which can be read here, was aimed at rekindling the critical discussion on Jamaica's art histories. As I argued then, the problematic of Jamaica’s main art historical narrative cannot be addressed by merely identifying and correcting the obvious gaps and oversights, or simply updating it to the present day... Continue Reading →