National Gallery to Host Natural History and Environment Symposium

A symposium that explores the island’s natural history and environment will be hosted by the National Gallery of Jamaica (NGJ), downtown Kingston, on Sunday, April 27, beginning 1:00 p.m.

The symposium, titled ‘Dialogues on Paradise’, is free and open to the public. It is organised by the NGJ, a division of the Institute of Jamaica.

It is a part of the public programming for the Kingston Biennial 2024: Green X Gold Exhibition, which opened on December 15, 2024, and is set to run until June 30.

The exhibition was conceptualised by Dr. Ashley James of New York City’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

It draws inspiration from the book ‘An Eye for the Tropics’ (Duke University Press, 2006), written by acclaimed art historian Krista A. Thompson, who is the Mary Jane Crowe Professor of Art History and affiliated faculty in the Department of African-American Studies and the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University in Illinois, USA.

She will open the symposium with a presentation, followed by a conversation with NGJ Chief Curator, O’Neil Lawrence, during the first session.

Attendees will also hear from a panel of artists, including Deborah Anzinger, Oneika Russell and Robin Farquharson, whose pieces are on display in the Kingston Biennial Green X Gold exhibition.

Mr. Lawrence told JIS News that the participating artists will discuss their artwork within the context of the Kingston Biennial, “enriching the event’s discourse on art, ecology and national identity”.

He explained that the panellists will reflect on how their artistic practice either aligns with or challenges the exhibition’s theme, offering deeper insight into their creative processes.

Mr. Lawrence, who is also co-creator of the Kingston Biennial, indicated that patrons attending the symposium will have the opportunity to engage with the artists and explore the exhibition’s theme.

“So far, we have had a film screening, and this symposium is one of the major ways we are interacting with the public and inviting them to come in and interface with the exhibition again,” he said.

Mr. Lawrence expressed the hope that attendees will leave with a deep understanding, not only of the exhibition’s conceptual framework but also of the artists’ motivation and inspiration.

The National Gallery of Jamaica is the largest and oldest public art museum in the English-speaking Caribbean, with locations in Kingston and Montego Bay.