National Gallery of Jamaica – Kingston
July 28th – September 30th 2013
Opening: Sunday 28 July 2013 – 10am-4pm
With: Deborah Anzinger, Varun Baker, Camille Chedda, Gisele Gardner, The Girl and the Magpie, Matthew McCarthy, Olivia McGilchrist, Astro Saulter, Nile Saulter and Ikem Smith.
It’s a pleasure to be part of the New roots. I will present some new works for the collection « Fragile Jamaica ». Welcome.
In keeping with its mandate to identify and support new and young artists, the NGJ is excited to unveil a show that will surprise, challenge and hearten the arts community and broader society. The exhibition is designed to identify and encourage new directions in the Jamaican art world. It features art in both conventional and new media – painting in various media and on various surfaces, digital photography, video and animation, and jewellery – and a variety of genres and styles, from the documentary to the fantastic. There are no deliberate common themes in the exhibition but the title New Roots was chosen, with some ironic intent, to signal how the work reflects the current cultural moment- a moment of undeniable crisis, globally and locally, in which the older, postcolonial search for cultural affirmation (and “roots”) has been replaced by a new willingness to acknowledge and embrace uncertainty and instability, at the personal and the collective level. Notably, the exhibition also reflects a new willingness on the part of the artists to intervene actively in the social environment, in a way that reflects genuine social responsibility, empathy and respect for others, and a sense of humour.
New Roots is team-curated by the NGJ’s curatorial department, led by Executive Director Dr Veerle Poupeye, Senior Curator Nicole Smythe-Johnson and Assistant Curator O’Neil Lawrence. The opening ceremony will be a part of our Last Sundays programme and will feature a performance by Kat CHR and opening comments by Petrona Morrison, Director of the School of Visual Arts at the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts. Doors will open at 11am, the programme will commence at 1pm and the gallery will remain open until 4pm. Patrons can also expect the now customary free admission and free tours and children’s activities associated with our Last Sundays programme. We look forward to hosting you and introducing this exciting group of artists.
