Vale Royal in better days (image source: Wikimedia) Just over a week ago, the collapse of the Vale Royal portico, on the day of local government elections in Jamaica no less, caused a viral furor on social media. The collapse was beyond embarrassing, in terms of how it reflects on Jamaica’s heritage management and also... Continue Reading →
The Power of an Image
Giovanni Marrozzini - President and Secretary of a New Farmers’ Cooperative Created with Microcredit, Abam village, Cameroon, 2010 For some years now, a remarkable black and white photograph of two older black women, dressed in work clothes and each brandishing a machete, while holding hands, has been circulating on social media. That the women are... Continue Reading →
The Future Files: Brad Pinnock
Brad Pinnock - Stupid Box, 2022, video installation, at New Local Space, Kingston This new series puts the spotlight on the exciting young artists who have emerged in Jamaica in recent years, many of them as graduates of the Edna Manley College. The features will be based on studio visits (virtual and actual) and interviews,... Continue Reading →
Letter from Haiti: Cross-Residencies and Cultural Institutions
Detail of a work by Patrick Villaire at his studio (photo: Veerle Poupeye) This post was first published in the Jamaica Monitor of February 6, 2022. It is now reproduced here with a few updates and corrections. The occasion for my trip to Haiti, which ended on February 4, was my role in the Caribbean... Continue Reading →
Bewigged – Greg Bailey’s Post-colonial Paraphernalia
Greg Bailey - Lady Locks (2021) I am privileged to have been invited to curate the debut solo exhibition of the Jamaican artist Greg Bailey is entitled Post-Colonial Paraphernalia. The exhibition explores the lingering effects of colonial symbols and and features ten new oil paintings and one drawing. The exhibition is on view at Creativ... Continue Reading →
Notes on the Columbus Statues of the Caribbean
Ernesto Gilbert - Columbus (1887), Columbus Park, Santo Domingo (Photo: Veerle Poupeye, all righs reserved) This post is extracted from an ongoing and as yet incomplete research project on monuments and statues in the Caribbean. There is hardly an island in the Caribbean that does not have a Columbus monument and some have more than... Continue Reading →