The National Gallery of the Cayman Islands’ (NGCI) latest exhibition, supported by Butterfield, was inspired by a reflection on the title of artist Paul Gaugin’s painting Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? (1897), questions which for exhibition curator Natalie Urquhart seem as pertinent to our current condition as they were over a century ago. “The Cayman Islands are in a state of flux,” she says. “The rapid socio-economic advances that have transformed our islands from maritime society to financial mecca in less than fifty years have had enormous repercussions on our wider culture, its expressions and material testimony. It is not surprising that much of our art community is grappling with the notion of what it means to be ‘of’ Cayman in 2015 and questioning what the future might look like in their work.”

The twenty two artists selected for the exhibition, nine of whom are exhibiting at the National Gallery for the first time, include Shane Aquart, Wray Banker, David Bridgeman, Matt Brown, Randy Chollette, Aston Ebanks, Davin Ebanks, Kerwin Ebanks, Meegan Ebanks, Sean Ebanks, Kaitlyn Elphinstone, Frank E. Flowers, Jamie Hahn, Ben Hudson, Greg Lipton, Elena McDonough, Pippa Ridley, Judy Singh, Gordon Solomon, Nasaria Suckoo Chollette, Simon Tatum and Elina Zavala.

These artists were invited to explore the impact that this cultural shift has had on their sense of self, and on the wider concepts of collective identity. Some create from a deeply introspective viewpoint via memory, family, language and personal mythology, while others address the wider, often highly contested, notions of immigration, political status, ethnicity and race, rights of citizenship, urban development, and erosion of tradition.

Says Ms. Urquhart, “The artists in this exhibition are voicing issues that many of us can relate to: concerns about development, the economy, human rights, environmental sustainability, over-reliance on social media, and so on. Their work offers a critical space through which to begin dialogue about some of these challenges.”

The two-month exhibition will be supported by a varied programme of lectures, screenings and events relating to the topic which will kick off on the evening of 10 September. For a full schedule visit www.nationalgallery.org.ky/exhibitions or call (345) 945 8111.