The National Gallery of Jamaica will be closed on Thursday May 23, 2024 in observation of Labour Day. We will return to our regular opening hours on Friday May 24, 2024 at 10:00 am.
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Labour Day Closure
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Early Closure: March 20, 2024
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.
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:
- Conservation through the acquisition of artworks;
- Recreation, through exhibiting works for accessible viewing by the Jamaican public
- Education, through programming, scholarship and community building.
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:
- The Face of Us exhibition will continue to be on view until March 31, 2024, with additional programming for February and March to be announced.
- June 30, 2024 to September 29, 2024 – The exhibition entitled Continuity: NGJ 50th Anniversary Exhibition will highlight contemporary Jamaican artworks which demonstrate continuing trajectories with works from the permanent collection.
- September 12, 2024 to October 6, 2024 – Japan/Jamaica Photographic Art Exhibition A collaboration between the NGJ and the Japan Embassy in Jamaica, there will also be a reciprocal exhibition of Jamaican photography scheduled to be hosted in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
- November 10, 2024 – Devon House: Revisited – An artistic intervention at the NGJ’s former home.
- December 15, 2024 – 2024 Kingston Biennial Slated for December, the NGJ’s flagship biennial exhibitions create a platform for international exposure and fertile interactions for Jamaica’s creatives and even expanded continues the Gallery has persevered through the changing dynamics
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.
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Closed for Ash Wednesday
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.
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The NGJ 2023 Year-End-Review
As we progress into 2024 at the National Gallery of Jamaica, we simultaneously capture a moment to share with you some reflections on a few of the outstanding moments of 2023 at the NGJ. The importance of this should never be undermined, as we set our eyes on maintaining best practice efforts and work towards realising new goals.
2023 featured many events and engagements. Some honourable mentions include our participation in the annual Taino Day festivities, with the IOJ Education Outreach at Seville St. Ann (May); outreach activities at the Campion College’s Heritage Day event (October), as well as the annual staging of in-house workshops, Writivity (August) and the Teacher’s Seminar, (October).
October 2023 (Heritage Month) was also a period of increased presentation opportunities, as we participated in:
- The Ministry of Culture Gender Entertainment and Sport’s Cultural Heritage Sensitization for the Jamaica Customs Agency;
- The UWI Mona Library’s Preservation and Awareness Week
- The Excelsior Community College’s Library Week discussions on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the work of cultural institutions.
However, there are four (4) moments in particular, that we would like to highlight as occasions that demonstrated the vitality of the wider arts community, and the special supportive role of the NGJ in that regard.
The International Reggae Poster Competition Charity Auction
In February 2023, the NGJ opened the 29th Art of Reggae Exhibition, in collaboration with the International Reggae Poster Contest (IRPC), for the benefit of The Alpha Institute. The exhibition displayed the top 100 posters of the contest, as well as a series of 9 prints – entitled The Queens of Reggae Series – created by the contest’s co-organiser Maria Papaefstathiou. To close the exhibition, the NGJ hosted a charity auction on July 1, selling 33 IRPC posters at JMD$302,000, and seven (7) of The Queens of Reggae posters at JMD$91,000. An additional fourteen (14) posters were sold post-auction, raising another JMD$162,000.
In total, fifty-four (54) posters were sold, amounting to JMD$555,000, and it was with great pleasure that the NGJ staff and management facilitated the official handing-over of the funds, to The Alpha Institute on September 24. With such a culturally rich country as Jamaica is, it was an honour for the NGJ to be able to support the growth of the performing arts education, in its capacity as a promoter of artistic heritage and practice.
On National Heroes Day, October 14, three (3) figures of the Jamaican art scene received recognition at the annual Ceremony of Investiture and Presentations of National Honours and Awards. This was particularly noteworthy, as two of the awardees were not artists, but art administrators.
The NGJ’s former Senior Director, Ms. Roxanne Silent – who had served in various capacities prior to leading the NGJ – received The Badge of Honour for Meritorious Service. Mrs. Diane Fredricks OD, was awarded The Order of Distinction in the Rank of Officer (OD), for her “contribution to the development of the business of art and artists in Jamaica” through her acquisition and management of the Hi-Qo Art Gallery. The late Neville Garrick CD was awarded The Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander (CD), for his “contribution to Jamaica’s music, art and culture locally and internationally”. Sadly, Mr. Garrick passed away shortly after, in November.
Basil Watson: The Public Vote
The NGJ and the wider Jamaican visual arts community had cause to celebrate achievements overseas in 2023, when in November, Jamaican sculptor Basil Watson won The Public Vote for the Most Popular New Sculpture, shortlisted for the 2023 Public Statues and Sculptures Association (PSSA) Marsh Award. The award had been granted for his work The National Windrush Monument (2022) for which he was commissioned, and was a testament to the Jamaican idiom ‘We likkle but we tallawah’.
Watson’s story is one that comes full circle, as his parents, Jamaican master painter Barrington Watson and Gloria Thompson, were part of the early Windrush generation. The two had met en route to England via banana boat in 1952, and later returned to Jamaica following Independence in 1962, when Basil was four (4) years old. His family history no doubt played an important role in his creation of the sculpture, and was something that many Jamaicans, at home and abroad, could relate to.
Basil Watson’s Windrush monument is currently located in Waterloo Station, London.
The Face of Us
At the NGJ’s most recent open call exhibition, – The Face of Us, which opened on December 10 – the management and staff were amazed at the excitement that the show was received with. We noted with pleasure, the enthusiasm and blossoming camaraderie of the 39 featured artists at the opening, and even before that, at the exhibition’s media launch on Sunday, December 3. The Face of Us opening saw 433 people walk in through our doors – a sight that reinforced our deep gratitude for the continued support from our patrons. The exhibition continues until March 31 this year, and we anticipate seeing more of you visiting the Gallery and enjoying the artworks as well as our improved Coffee and Gift Shop offerings.
We thank each and every visitor, subscriber, partner and all other associates, for making 2023 another productive year at the National Gallery of Jamaica. Let us endeavour to make 2024 a year of continued innovation and achievement for Jamaicans in the arts, as we make great strides together, for the promotion and enrichment of our culture.
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New Year Closure
The NGJ and its offices will be closed on January 1, 2024 in observance of New Year’s Day.
National Gallery of Jamaica 