Veerle Poupeye's blog about art in the Caribbean and beyond
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 →
The "Out of Many, One People" Design for Jamaica's new Parliament building (image source: JIS) 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, which was announced in April 2019, was the design titled "Out of... Continue Reading →
This post is adapted from the paper I have recently presented at the "Regional Workshop on the Conventions on the Illicit trafficking of Cultural Objects", which was hosted by the Jamaican Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport. This workshop was held at the Jamaica Pegasus, from March 2-5, 2020. Among the topics for discussion... Continue Reading →
Some time in late 2018, the National Gallery of Jamaica decided to cancel the Jamaica Biennial, of which two editions had been held, in 2014 and 2017. The Jamaica Biennial was the re-conceptualized successor to the National Biennial and, before that, the Annual National Exhibitions. While still hamstrung by the expectations and entitlements that had... Continue Reading →
It's a well-know dilemma: the support of the State is almost always needed to establish and maintain cultural institutions, irrespective of whether these are part of the public sector or privately initiated, and of whether they are publicly funded, in full or in part, or merely get in-principle support and blessings. In Jamaica, public cultural... Continue Reading →
It appears that sometime in June this year, there were two major staff appointments at the National Gallery of Jamaica (NGJ): O'Neil Lawrence, who previously served as Senior Curator, was promoted to Chief Curator, and Dr Jonathan Greenland, who had been acting as Executive Director since shortly after I left, became Senior Director. This first... Continue Reading →
