Heritage Week is approaching and our parent ministry, the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport is celebrating it under the theme One Love, One People, One Heritage. The National Gallery of Jamaica (NGJ), a division of the Institute of Jamaica (IoJ) will be further focusing its theme as Reflections of Our Heritage: Art, Identity, and Legacy, a series of events that will span three (3) days from Tuesday October 15, 2024 through to Thursday October 17, 2024. This commemorative week will include two (2) talks as well as tours at 12 Ocean Boulevard.
As we embrace and reflect on Jamaican heritage during this week, we focus on the importance of oral traditions as well as the visual aspects of our rich musical culture. The NGJ has invited two artists, Matthew McCarthy and Richard Nattoo, who were featured in our recent 50th Anniversary exhibition, Continuity, to discuss these topics. The artists, whose works and processes are steeped in culture and storytelling, will speak to local culture and its relation to their art practice.
The offerings for the week are as follows:
Storytelling by the Artist Nattoo – Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 1:00 pm: Engage with renowned Jamaican artist Richard Nattoo as he shares stories behind his work, focusing on themes of ancestry, folklore, international reach and the oral traditions that have been a vital part of Jamaican culture.
Vinyl Art Story with Matthew McCarthy – Wednesday, October 16 at 1:00 pm: Matthew McCarthy, whose work often explores Jamaican music, will conduct a session on the art of vinyl design. He will share his journey and the significance of vinyl art in Jamaican culture, especially its ties to the island’s vibrant music scene.
Complementary Guided Tours – Thursday, October 17, 2024 at 10:00 am, 12:30 pm and 3:00 pm: The National Gallery of Jamaica will have guided tours of its Galleries. Our expert guides will provide insights into the exhibitions, linking the artworks to Jamaican heritage and culture. This tour will deepen guests’ understanding of how art captures the essence of Jamaica’s cultural identity and history. Tours are one hour long.
Join us for this exploration of Jamaican heritage through art and art practices. This series of events are at no charge and are open to the public.
Phone lines at the National Gallery of Jamaica are currently down. We are working with our service provider to restore them as soon as possible and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
To get in contact with us you may send an email to info@natgalja.org.jm.
Join us this Sunday October 6, 2024 as the National Gallery of Jamaica (NGJ) in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in Jamaica, opens the Japan x Jamaica International Photo Exhibition Photo One Love. The exhibition opening will take place at 12 Ocean Boulevard with formalities commencing at 1:30 pm. Admission will be free for the duration of the day.
The Japan x Jamaica International Photo Exhibition Photo One Love commemorates the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Jamaica in the Friendship Year 2024. Sponsored by the Photographic Society of Japan (PSJ), it features four (4) leading Japanese photographers—Anju, Hinata Haga, Kazuo Suzuki and Harvey Yamaguchi—whose works portray aspects of Japan through landscape photography, lifestyle snapshots and photographs of cultural events and characters. The exhibition also reflects on the sister relationship between the Westmoreland parish of Jamaica and the Tottori prefecture in Japan, portraying children from both countries.
In a true celebration of the bilateral relationship between Jamaica and Japan there will also be a sister exhibition held in Japan which will feature Jamaican photographers and portray aspects of Jamaica and our culture.
Doors will open from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm and we hope to see you then.
Continuity,the National Gallery of Jamaica’s 50th Anniversary exhibition, closes this Sunday September 29, 2024 with Continuity + Music and all are welcome to join. The closing event will begin at 1:30 pm at 12 Ocean Boulevard and features a performance by Black Zebra’s Wayne McGregor and David Lazarus. Following the musical performance there will be two complimentary tours of the exhibition to round off the day.
(From the left) Wayne McGregor and David Lazarus of the Black Zebra band
Black Zebra is a band that crosses all genres of music from reggae to blues, rock and jazz. The band has been a fixture on the local live music scene since the early 2000s, playing to a wide cross section of audiences from the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival to popular Kingston venues such as Redbones, The Regency and 22Jerk, among others.
Doors will be open from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm and admission for the event is free of cost. Parking will be available at the lot beside the NGJ building.
We’re pleased to announce that phone lines at the National Gallery of Jamaica are back up and running. After facing issues following the passage of hurricane Beryl, our team has worked assiduously with our service provider to restore connectivity, and we are once again able to take your calls.
Thank you for your patience and understanding. Please feel free to reach out to us at your convenience.
The National Gallery of Jamaica is excited to officially introduce Ashley James, PhD, as the Guest Curator of the Kingston Biennial 2024. Anticipated to be a closing highlight of the NGJ’s 50th anniversary year, the Kingston Biennial is set to open on December 15, 2024. The exhibition, titled Green X Gold, will concern environment, nature, and land, with its name and themes inspired in part by the ecological symbolisms of the Jamaican flag.
The Kingston Biennial is the flagship exhibition of the National Gallery of Jamaica, highly anticipated by audiences at home and abroad. In 2019, it was reconfigured into a thematic and guest-curated exhibition, wherein a critically-acclaimed curator, external to the NGJ, is invited to lead the exhibition’s artistic direction. Working in collaboration and consultation with the NGJ’s Chief Curator O’Neil Lawrence and his Curatorial Team, the Kingston Biennial guest curator is also responsible for developing the exhibition’s theme, and selecting the artists and their works. Artists selected for the exhibition are Jamaican and larger Caribbean creative practitioners based locally and in the diaspora. Many will recall the Kingston Biennial exhibition of 2022 – themed “Pressure” – which was curated by US-based Jamaican academic and curator David Scott, PhD.
Dr. Ashley James (Photo credit: Don Brodie)
The 2024 Kingston Biennial guest curator, Ashley James, Ph.D., was born of Jamaican parentage and currently holds the post of Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. There, James has curated the critically acclaimed group shows Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility (2023) and Off the Record (2021), and co-curated Deana Lawson: Centropy (2021). Prior to joining the Guggenheim, James served as assistant curator of contemporary art at the Brooklyn Museum and has contributed essays and research for many books, magazines, and catalogues. James holds a Ph.D. from Yale University in English literature and African American studies.
For the 2024 Kingston Biennial, James has derived the theme Green X Gold, which excavates the many meanings, ideologies, and mythologies put forward through depictions of the land and sea. James notes that ideas of environment, nature, and land are of course applicable to a wide range of discursive frameworks across interests and across the globe, yet its historical and geographical contingencies render them especially and acutely germane to Jamaica and the broader Caribbean region. The presentation will center artists who assume a critical, refractive, or otherwise inquisitive relation to environment and its depiction.
The title derives from the “green” and “gold” of the flag, symbolising bountiful land and the bright sunshine, respectively, something known to most Jamaicans. James also notes that “green” and “gold” may also connote currency and precious metals, speaking to themes of commerce, resources, and value. The connective “X” speaks to ideas of mapping, enmeshment and multiplicity.
As she prepares for the project ahead James has stated:
I am thrilled to have been chosen to lead this year’s Kingston Biennial, working in concert with the excellent team at the National Gallery. A focus on contemporary Caribbean art begets unique art histories and ideas and I look forward to the manifold conversations that will arise from the gathering together of an exciting constellation of artists making work in the Caribbean and its diaspora, and especially in Jamaica. It is an honour for me as a contemporary curator and as a Jamaican-American, in equal measure.
The theme developed by James is one that the NGJ believes is timeless and pertinent to some of the works featured in the NGJ 50th anniversary exhibition. Senior Director, Mrs. Nadine Boothe-Gooden has said that:
The Kingston Biennial 2024, themed “Green X Gold,” delves into the intricate interplay between ecology and culture, encapsulating Jamaica’s rich natural environment and its cultural heritage. The theme lends itself to a plethora of interpretations and even global relevance, while referencing the Jamaican flag.
This year’s biennial seeks to inspire artists to explore and reinterpret these themes through diverse mediums, fostering a deeper appreciation and understanding of Jamaica’s unique identity. By engaging with “Green X Gold,” artists and audiences alike are encouraged to reflect on the balance between progress and preservation, innovation and tradition. The Kingston Biennial 2024 not only showcases the artistic talent of the region but also serves as a call to action for sustainable practices and cultural reverence, emphasising that the preservation of natural and cultural resources is essential for “Continuity” of future generations.
The NGJ Management and Staff look forward to working alongside Dr. Ashley James during the 2024 Kingston Biennial, as an opportunity to deepen intellectual and artistic discourses associated with the Jamaican flag’s symbolisms around nature, in relation to ideas of nationhood. Additionally, the NGJ looks forward to collaborations with the artistic community for the Kingston Biennial, to deepen public engagement on these topics and general appreciation of contemporary Jamaican art practice.
National Gallery of Jamaica 