Visitors at the Art of Reggae exhibition opening, February 19, 2023. Pat Chin, of VP records, is the third person from right. (Photo: Veerle Poupeye) This post was published in its original form in the Monitor Tribune of February 26 and March 5, 2023. Part 1 The Art of Reggae exhibition, which features the top... Continue Reading →
Provocations: The NGJ As a Politicized Venue?
I had initially posted this to my Facebook timeline yesterday, where an interesting discussion ensued. Given the import of the matter, I am reposting it here in this more permanent forum. I was just at the National Gallery of Jamaica for a panel discussion related to the current Reggae Poster exhibition. If I counted correctly... Continue Reading →
The Art Year in Review: The National Gallery of Jamaica
At the opening of the Jamaica Jamaica! exhibition in February 2022 This post was initially published in two parts in the Monitor Tribune of January 15 and 22, 2023. It is published here with a few minor changes. Internationally, 2022 has been a fantastic year for the artists of the Global Caribbean, with an unprecedented... Continue Reading →
Freedom of Expression and Censorship in the Arts
This post was originally published, in three parts, in the Monitor Tribune of September 17 and October 15 and 23,2022. Freedom of expression is considered a basic human right, and is in fact enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a related... 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: “The National Gallery Nah Keep Again?”
At the opening of the Jamaica, Jamaica exhibition "The National Gallery nah keep again?", said one artist scathingly; another quipped if "the National Gallery had been postponed?"; and yet another marveled at how a postponement announcement could also be a museum's first public announcement about a particular exhibition. They were all responding to the National... Continue Reading →