Special Viewing of Spiritual Yards, with Nexus Performing Arts Company

 

The National Gallery is pleased to present a special viewing of its current exhibition, Spiritual Yards: Home Ground of Jamaica’s Intuitives – Selections from the Wayne and Myrene Cox Collection, on Sunday, January 15, 2017. The Most Honourable Edward Seaga will deliver remarks and the collector Wayne Cox will be in attendance. The critically acclaimed Nexus Performing Arts Company will offer an exclusive musical tour of the exhibition.

The Spiritual Yards exhibition, which opened on December 11, 2016, consists entirely of works of art and documentary material from the art collection of Wayne and Myrene Cox, a specialized collection of Jamaican Intuitive art. The exhibition explores the “spiritual yard” tradition in Jamaica, which is an important yet insufficiently documented part of Jamaica’s popular cultural heritage, and focuses on ten Intuitive artists who produced sacred images and objects for such yards and in most instances. The December 11 opening function also featured a musical tour of the exhibition presented by the critically acclaimed Nexus Performing Arts Company, whose deeply moving performance brought to life the cultural significance of the exhibition and the messages contained in the artists’ work. The performance was so powerful that it was decided to offer it a second time on January 15, 2017.

The National Gallery of Jamaica will be open from 11 am to 4 pm on January 15, 2017 and the function and musical tour will start at 1:30 pm. Admission will be free and the public is invited. Spiritual Yards continues until January 29, 2017. The exhibition catalogue is available for sale in the National Gallery gift shop.

Special Sunday Programme on April 3, 2016

Since the last Sunday of March 2016 is Easter, and a public holiday, there will be no Last Sundays on that day. We will instead offer a special Sunday programme on April 3, the first Sunday in April. The programme for April 3 features a musical performance by Sherieta and four exhibitions. This includes Selections from the Permanent Collection, Recent Acquisitions and a small tribute exhibition to Barrington Watson. April 3 will also be the last chance to view the critically acclaimed Explorations IV: Masculinities exhibition, which has been held over and closes on that day.

A passionate performer with a powerhouse voice, Sherieta was a semi-finalist in the BBC’s 2007 The Next Big Thing competition. Sherieta tells vivid and deep stories through her songs. This she attributes to, “trying to figure out the answers to life’s most challenging questions.” Sherieta is a proficient songwriter who not only writes her own songs, but has penned lyrics for a number of Jamaican artistes including Etana (Warrior Love, Trigger), Tarrus Riley (Let Peace Reign), Marcia Griffiths (Beer and a Girl), and Romain Virgo (Beautiful).

Last Sundays: November 25, 2012

 

Join us on Sunday for our monthly Last Sunday opening hours, 11 to 4. The free tours and children’s activities will focus on our permanent collections, including the pre-twentieth century collections, the Edna Manley and Kapo Galleries and the AD Scott Gallery. Free admission + special discounts in our gift shop.

World-A-Reggae (September 30-November 10, 2012)

The National Gallery of Jamaica is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition, World-A-Reggae: The 100 Best Entries from the First International Reggae Poster Contest, which will open to the public on Sunday, September 30 at 11 am.

Established and organized by the Jamaican, US-based poster artist Michael Thompson and the Greek poster artist Maria Papaefstathiou, the First International Reggae Poster Contest was launched in December 2011, on the theme “Towards a Reggae Hall of Fame: Celebrating Great Jamaican Music”, and the call for entries was circulated globally, mainly by means of social media. By the deadline for entries in April 2012, the organizers had received a total of 1142 entries by 678 designers from 80 countries, on themes inspired by, and in tribute to, Jamaican music.

Alon Braier, Israel – 1st place winner

Barrington Watson Retrospective Held Over Until April 29 – Special Opening Hours on April 22 and 29

The National Gallery of Jamaica is pleased to announce that Barrington: A Retrospective, an exhibition of more than 250 paintings, drawings and original prints by Jamaican master artist Professor the Hon. Barrington Watson, OJ, will be held over until April 29. The exhibition was originally scheduled to close on April 14.

In light of the success of our recent test of Sunday opening hours, furthermore, the National Gallery will exceptionally be open on Sundays April 22 and April 29, from 11 am to 4 pm on both days. This will give viewers who have not yet seen the Barrington Watson retrospective additional opportunity to view this important exhibition before it closes.

NGJ Tests Sunday Opening Hours

The National Gallery of Jamaica will be open to the public this Sunday, March 25 as part of a programme to test the viability of regular Sunday opening hours.

On this ‘test Sunday’ the Gallery will open from 11 o’clock in the morning until 3 o’clock in the afternoon and will offer free tours (regular tours start at 11:30am and 12:30am respectively and a special children’s activity tour at 1:00pm) as well as musical entertainment.  Participation in activities will be on a “first come, first served” basis – the maximum number of persons on a tour is 30.

The National Gallery is currently exhibiting the Barrington Watson retrospective, which features paintings and works on paper from the late 1950s to the present, exploring the major themes in the artist’s work.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday!