Art Discussion. Refreshments. Free Admission.

Natalie Urquhart, NGCI Director

Photograph by David Goddard

1 May 2014

5:30 PM – 6:30 PM

Join NGCI Director and Curator Natalie Urquhart as she discusses the story of Jamaican art. The lecture will take place in the National Gallery Dart Auditorium.

Late Night at the National Gallery

Art. Film. Refreshments. Free Admission.

Artwork: Ras Dizzy by Judy Ann MacMillan, 1974.

From the collection of the National Gallery of Jamaica

9 May 2014

5:00 PM – 9:00 PM

NGCI will be open to the public with special late night hours on Friday, 9 May 2014 in celebration of the exhibition titled Jamaican Art: 1960s and 1970s. In addition to the exhibition the Gallery will be screening two award-winning documentary films about Jamaican culture (details below). Admission to the screenings and to the exhibition is free. Donations welcome.

Jamaican Art: 1960s & 1970s – This exhibition, in partnership with the National Gallery of Jamaica, examines developments in the art of our closest neighbour.

This period of Jamaican history was a time of dramatic social and cultural change in which notions of nationhood were actively explored, and challenged, in local cultural production. The artists of the mid-20th century nationalist school such as Edna Manley, Alvin Marriott, Albert Huie and David Pottinger, continued to build on their original interests with modernist depictions of iconic local subject matter. However, they also responded to the cultural and artistic changes that took place around them, as evidenced by the introduction of abstraction which pushed their work in new directions. Similar developments could be seen in the work of artists who had emerged in the periphery of the nationalist school, such as Carl Abrahams and Gloria Escoffery, both of whom found their unique artistic voice in the post-Independence period and added to the growing diversity of Jamaican art.

The exhibition will run until 15 May 2014.

Bad Friday: Rastafari After Coral Gardens

Showtime: 9 May 2014, 5:30 PM at the NGCI Dart Auditorium

Directed by: Deborah Thomas/ John L Jackson/ Junior W.

Genre: Documentary

Bad Friday: Rastafari After Coral Gardens is a documentary film which focuses on a community of Rastafarians in western Jamaica who annually commemorate the 1963 Coral Gardens “incident”, a moment just after independence when the Jamaican government rounded up, jailed and tortured hundreds of Rastafarians. It chronicles the history of violence in Jamaica through the eyes of its most iconic community, and shows how people use their recollections of past traumas to imagine new possibilities for a collective future.

RiseUp

Showtime: 9 May 2014, 7:00 PM at the NGCI Dart Auditorium

Director: Luciano Blotta

Genre: Documentary

There is a place where music is not just entertainment. It’s a way of life. Far from the tourist resorts, RiseUp travels to the heart of Jamaica and its flourishing underground music scene. On an Island where reggae is considered the voice of the people and an outlet for survival, three aspiring artists – Turbulence (a charismatic lyrical master from the ghetto), Ice Anastasia (the privileged uptown artist), and Kemoy (a shy angelic songstress from the country) – seek to “rise up” into the legendary eminence of their iconic predecessors). Deep in the ghettos where reggae was born, music continues to be a key form of expression for ghetto youths, who face crippling inequalities, poverty, and violence. The film features music from many other notable artists.

The films Bad Friday and RiseUp are part of the Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase (TCFS) and have been kindly loaned to the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands by the Cayman National Cultural Foundation, the organising committee for TCFS.

Become a Member of the National Gallery and enjoy exhibitions the best way possible. Membership includes:

– An invitation to members’ preview evenings for each new exhibition

– Exclusive invitation to our members’ Christmas Party

– National Gallery electronic newsletters and bulletins

– A 10% discount on all classes and workshops

– A 10% discount in the Gallery Gift Shop

– Exclusive insights from Gallery experts into art collecting

– Member recognition in the National Gallery’s Annual Report

– Opportunities to meet local and international artists

– Free admission to Family Fun mornings

– Unlimited access to our exhibitions, library and the Gallery garden

Most importantly your funds help us to try to reach everyone in the Cayman Islands through the arts.

Membership renewals can be done on-line or by getting in touch with one of our Gallery staff members at [email protected] or (345) 945 8111.