Greg Bailey – Mushroom Clouds (2020), oil on canvas, 71 x 88” (photo: Veerle Poupeye) This article was originally published in the Jamaica Monitor of May 23, 2021. More images have been added. On December 10, 2020, I attended an exhibition opening, my first since our first Covid-19 lockdown started. The occasion was And I... Continue Reading →
Before It’s All Gone: Preserving Jamaica’s Architectural Heritage
Cast iron building on Orange Street - photo: Paul Hamilton This post was first published as a two-part article in the Jamaica Monitor, on May 2 and May 9, respectively. It is published here as it was in the Monitor, but with more images added. Part 1 A few weeks ago, the Burnett Webster house... Continue Reading →
Panopticon: Standing in the Pandemic
Dumain Bent - Hell is Other People (2020), Mixed media installation, size irregular, c 9 x 5' Below is my foreword for the exhibition Panopticon: Standing in the Pandemic, which was curated by the students in my Introduction to Curatorial Studies course at the Edna Manley College. The exhibition is on view until May 10... Continue Reading →
Provocations: Friends and Combolo?
The National Gallery of Jamaica used to be criticized severely for catering primarily to an inner circle of favored artists, collectors and other associates. Annie Paul was once one of the National Gallery's fiercest critics on that count and she took on the Chief Curator David Boxer on many occasions. Since 2016, Paul sits on... Continue Reading →
Parliament Buildings, Power, and Empowerment
The "Out of Many, One People" Design for Jamaica's new Parliament building (image source: JIS) Reposting this from 2020, as it is again part of the discussion: Two years ago, the Government of Jamaica, launched a competition for the design of a new Parliament building, to be located in National Heroes Park. The winning proposal,... Continue Reading →
Provocations: Decolonize this Place!
For a number of years now, the Institute of Jamaica, which is the parent organization of the National Gallery of Jamaica and other Jamaican museums, has been hosting an annual Heritage Fest, as part of the Ministry of Culture's Heritage Month observations. This is normally a live event but since the Institute of Jamaica and... Continue Reading →