National Gallery of Jamaica
The National Gallery of Jamaica will be closed in observance of Good Friday on March 29, 2024 and Easter Monday on April 1, 2024. We will resume our usual operations on Tuesday April 2, 2024.
Artwork: Osmond Watson – Jah Lives, 1984
This Sunday, March 31, 2024, to mark the closure of our current exhibition, The Face Us, the National Gallery of Jamaica will be hosting The Face of Us x Music. It will be a fun filled family event featuring musical entertainment and children’s activities.
For those interested in storytelling melodies, come and be enthralled by acclaimed musician Seretse Small, accompanied by Othniel Lewis and Yinga at 1:30 p.m. as they play a set inspired by the exhibition.
For those looking for something fun for the children, you may register your child, on the day, at the receptionist’s desk for one of the following children’s activities:
The event is free of cost and doors will open from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
The National Gallery of Jamaica, along with all divisions of the Institute of Jamaica, will be closing at 12 noon today, March 20, 2024, to facilitate a Staff Awards Ceremony in celebration of the hard work and continued dedication of our employees.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
As our 50th anniversary year progresses under the theme of Continuity … A Legacy of Artistry, the National Gallery of Jamaica invites the public to three (3) events in March that will facilitate engagement with our current temporary exhibition titled The Face of Us. Scheduled to close on March 31, 2024, The Face of Us explores Jamaican identity and social dynamics, through the lens of Portraiture. It features a selection of thirty-nine (39) artists from Jamaica and its diaspora, who have used notable approaches to portrait art, to examine the personal and social responses of Jamaicans, to experiences that occurred in the years 2020 to 2023.
The dates and times for the upcoming events are as follows:
Friday March 22, 2024
11:00 am
A special guided tour of The Face of Us exhibition, by NGJ Senior Curator Monique Barnett-Davidson.
1:30 pm
An artist’s talk entitled “A Look At Us”, moderated by Renee Kitson – multi-creative and lecturer at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. Kitson will be dialoguing with six (6) of the artists featured in The Face of Us exhibition, briefly exploring their creative practice and how that had informed their selected artworks. The panelists will be Kimani Beckford, Camille Chedda, Shediene Fletcher, Maurice Hibbert, Rohmearo Mcfarlane and Kokab Zohoori-Dossa.
Sunday March 31, 2024
11:00am
“Gallery Treasure Hunt” activity for children aged 5 to 7 years old. A maximum capacity of thirty (30) spaces available; registration at the NGJ front desk.
1:30pm
Musical performance by Jamaican Musician Seretse Small, who attended the Jamaica School of Music and Berklee College of Music in the 1980s and ’90s, laying the groundwork for his diverse musical journey.
He is acclaimed for his ability to weave heartfelt narratives through song and instrumental composition. Small’s artistry is influenced by the intricate melodies and harmonies of musicians like Earl Klugh and George Benson combined with his profound love for film scoring. This unique blend of influences will be a central feature of his performance at the National Gallery.
Celebrated as a jazz guitarist, Small likens his musicality to that of a griot – a West African term for ‘storyteller’. As a performer, he has graced major jazz festivals throughout the Caribbean, including in Jamaica, Grenada, and St. Lucia, and toured globally from 2003 to 2005 with Grammy-winning reggae artist Sean Paul. In this upcoming performance, Seretse Small will be accompanied by Othniel Lewis on the keyboard, and Yinga on the violin, promising an afternoon where music and storytelling beautifully converge.
2:30pm
“Collage-A-Thon” activity for children aged 8 to 12 years old. A maximum capacity of thirty (30) spaces available; registration at the NGJ front desk.
Entry fees to the Gallery will be waived on March 22nd and March 31st; admission to these events will be free of charge. The NGJ anticipates that these activities will expand on the positive public reception that The Face of Us exhibition has garnered, since its opening last year on December 10. The Gallery looks forward to engaging with first time viewers of the exhibition, as well as with repeat visitors and patrons.
For more information on these upcoming events, ongoing exhibition The Face of Us, or any other public programming at the National Gallery of Jamaica, you can call (876)922-1561 /3 or (876)618-065 / 5. Be sure to subscribe to, and follow, the National Gallery of Jamaica on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and YouTube, as well as our blog on WordPress. Interested persons can also email the NGJ at info@natgalja.org.jm.
The National Gallery of Jamaica celebrates the year 2024 as the 50th Anniversary of its establishment, first opened to the public on November 14, 1974 at the historic Devon House. At that time, the management team was tasked with three key objectives:
Five decades later, the present NGJ management and staff remain steadfast in the commitments that characterised its establishment. Additionally, the Gallery has persevered through the changing dynamics of the Jamaican society and cultural infrastructure, all the while expanding its collection, exhibitions and public offerings and continuing to evolve to serve its various publics, including our audiences in western Jamaica, with the establishment of National Gallery West in 2013.
With so much achievement and growth to reflect on, the management and staff of the NGJ will be dedicating all of its public programming and communication for the year 2024, to the observance and celebration of the NGJ 50th Anniversary. Themed “Continuity … A Legacy of Artistry”, the Gallery will be directing its energies to pay homage to past accomplishments, while simultaneously reinforcing our commitment to even greater accomplishments in the future.
Key events in our public programming for the year have been scheduled as follows:
Visitors and supporters can look forward to more details on these and other initiatives in support of the NGJ 50th Anniversary. We are excited to move forward into 2024 with the theme NGJ 50: Continuity… A Legacy of Artistry and look forward to engaging with our various publics locally and internationally, in the celebration of this milestone.
The National Gallery of Jamaica wishes to announce that it will be closed on Wednesday February 14, 2024 in observance of Ash Wednesday. We will resume our usual operations on Thursday February 15, 2024.
National Gallery of Jamaica 