Photo Exhibition Highlights 50 Years of EU-Jamaica Relations

A photographic exhibition chronicling 50 years of diplomatic relations between Jamaica and the European Union (EU) is now on display at the National Library of Jamaica.

The exhibition, which will be open to the public until the end of July, highlights key moments from the past five decades of EU-Jamaica cooperation.

It includes images from the signing of Jamaica’s first aid and trade agreement with the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1975; the inking of a cooperation agreement in 2018, through which the EU provided $3 billion to improve access to justice for Jamaicans; and the EU’s donation of 29 ventilators to the island during the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Also chronicled in photographs are the 2020 launch of the Spotlight initiative aimed at combatting violence against women and girls and the 2013 breaking of ground for an EU-funded housing development for former sugar workers in Golden Spring, St. Thomas.

EU Ambassador to Jamaica, Her Excellency Dr. Erja Askola, and students from the Franklin Town Primary School in Kingston visited the National Library to view the exhibition on Monday (June 23).

In an interview with JIS News, Ambassador Askola, thanked the National Library for its vital role in preserving the rich historical legacy of the EU-Jamaica partnership.

“I think the exhibition displays, really well, the historical roots but also what we are doing today and how our partnership has evolved… from doing mainly development cooperation in health and education and infrastructure to a more modern partnership where we also have trade agreements. So, we are working in different areas and this photo exhibition shows all these different stages,” the EU Ambassador said.

She pointed out that the exhibition concretises the work of the EU, thereby allowing ordinary Jamaicans to understand the role that the organisation has played in Jamaica’s development.

“If we only speak in abstract terms about our partnership, our broader publics will not understand what we really do in practice. So, I think this exhibition shows, notably, what we are doing on the ground, what we are doing in practice,” Dr. Askola said.

She emphasised that the EU has and continues to do positive work in underserved communities, schools and in partnership with key agencies such as the Forestry Department.

“At the moment we are working on initiatives that will help Jamaica and Europe advance our common values and priorities in areas such as increasing trade and investments; combatting climate change; working on green transitions; working on digital transitions; bringing Wi-Fi access, for instance, to schools, to underserved communities… these kinds of things,” the EU Ambassador pointed out.

She also highlighted the EU’s partnership on work being undertaken to expand and modernise the Kingston port, noting that “these are the kinds of projects that we will be working on in the years to come”.

In her remarks, National Librarian, Beverley Lashley, informed that the exhibition was curated by Senior Director of User Services and Conservation, Tricia Lawrence Powell, in collaboration with the Jamaica Information Service (JIS).

She explained that it was first displayed at the European Day reception, held in Kingston on May 9 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the historic Schuman Declaration that gave birth to the EU, and 50 years of strong relations with Jamaica.

“So, now we’ve moved it into the public space, where persons can come and view the exhibition. We are also thinking of a travelling exhibition. So, we’re going to recreate the exhibition and have it travelling around the public libraries throughout Jamaica,” Ms. Lashley shared.

Jamaicans interested in viewing the photographs may visit the National Library Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.