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Barrington Watson Retrospective Held Over Until April 29 – Special Opening Hours on April 22 and 29
UPDATE: To mark the special occasion of the last day of the Barrington retrospective, all admission fees will be waived on April 29. The National Gallery of Jamaica is pleased to announce that Barrington: A Retrospective, an exhibition of more than 250 paintings, drawings and original prints by Jamaican master artist Professor the Hon. Barrington [...]
Call for Entries 2: 2012 National Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition
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NGJ Tests Sunday Opening Hours
The National Gallery of Jamaica will be open to the public this Sunday, March 25 as part of a programme to test the viability of regular Sunday opening hours. On this ‘test Sunday’ the Gallery will open from 11 o’clock in the morning until 3 o’clock in the afternoon and will offer free tours (regular [...]
Call for Entries – 2012 National Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition
We are hoping that this year’s National Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition will be extra-special, as part of our Jamaica 50 observation. Click Here to Download Entry Form & Rules The National Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition is our annual cooperation with the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission.
Barrington Watson to do Book Signing at the Olympia Gallery on February 25
The National Gallery of Jamaica and the Olympia Gallery are pleased to announce that Professor the Hon. Barrington Watson, OJ, will be available to sign copies of the catalogue publication Barrington: A Retrospective (2012), on Saturday, February 25, from 12 noon to 4 pm. This event will take place at the Olympia Gallery, 202 Old [...]
Video Documentary – Barrington: A Retrospective
For educational purposes only. This exhibition has been kindly sponsored by Jamaica National Building Society, Scotia Private Client Group, Island Car Rentals, Gleaner, Stewart’s Automotive, Pan-Jamaican Investments, Mayberry Investments and Wysinco.
Opening Function – Barrington: A Retrospective, January 8, 2012
Dr Edward Watson, brother of Barrington Watson, speaks on behalf of the Watson family at the opening of Barrington: A Retrospective on January 8, 2012.
Barrington Watson – Out of Many, One People (1962)
His Grace Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, and Mrs Sentamu visited the NGJ, and its current Barrington: A Retrospective exhibition on Saturday, January 28. Among the many things they viewed, were a text panel and preparatory drawings for Out of Many One People (1962), a lost painting by Barrington Watson. On the next [...]
Barrington: A Retrospective – Annex Exhibition at the Bank of Jamaica
The second of the two annex exhibitions of the NGJ’s Barrington: A Retrospective (January 8-April 14, 2012) exhibitions is at the Bank of Jamaica. Barrington in the 1970s chaired the Bank of Jamaica’s art acquisitions committee and produced two commissions for the central bank. One is the sculptural installation Trust (1975) which was produced in [...]
Barrington: A Retrospective – Annex Exhibition at the Olympia Art Centre
One of two annex exhibitions to Barrington: A Retrospective (January 8-April 14, 2012) is on view at the Olympia Art Centre. This annex exhibition,which is titled Our African Heritage, presents a specific subset of Barrington’s history painting, where the artist explores our African heritage. This annex exhibition is organized around the massive mural Our Heritage [...]
Don’t Watch Smile Orange - If You Want to Learn Jamaican Slang
Having watched most of the Jamaican Slang Classics like "Rockers", "The Harder They Come", "Shottas", "Third World Cop" and "Dancehall Queen", I was looking for a Jamaican movie. While at a local Caribbean restaurant, I picked up Trevor Rhone's "Smile Orange".
"Smile Orange" is set in a Jamaican beach hotel and pokes fun at the tourist trade in Jamaica. It focuses on both the visitors and the local Jamaicans. "Smile Orange" is mostly the story of the mischievously slick waiter, super stud, Ringo Smith (played by Carl Bradshaw - "Third World Cop") , who has made a profitable art of servility. Ringo acts as a waiter, lover, teacher and joker. "Smile Orange" is not a movie for someone interested in learning Jamaican Patois/Jamaican Slang. Sadly, even when the Jamaicans speak among themselves, they are largely speaking in Standard English. There are a few scenes of Patois such as when Ringo's mother shows up at the hotel, but for the most part, this is not a film for the student of Jamaican Slang. You are not likely to learn new vocabulary words or new expressions, so as the title of this article says, Don't Watch Smile Orange if You Want to Learn Jamaican Slang. Now, here is the BUT! "Smile Orange" is a great film to understand the side of Jamaican Culture that most people are exposed to, the resort culture. When most people go to Jamaica, they usually stay at resorts in places like Montego Bay, Negril or Ocho Rios. Very few people go to Kingston (sadly). "Smile Orange" shows the way skin complexion plays a role in the positions of power in Jamaican society, the way people from the countryside traditionally have been exposed to a different way of life than those from the cities and what happens when country folks make it to the city, and the interaction of Jamaican men with women from abroad. I've heard many stories of women from Europe, Canada, and The States meeting Jamaican men along the beaches near resorts and having different degrees of romance. "Smile Orange" is the best movie to really see how this uniquely Caribbean dynamic works, so I highly recommend the film if you want to get some insight into Jamaican culture beyond Rastafari, Reggae, Ganja and Crime. Oh, by the way, "Smile Orange" is also a funny movie, so sit back, study and laugh. Ras Zuke is the author of The Rastaman Vibration - The Definitive Source for learning about Jamaican culture, Reggae Music and how to To learn more about Jamaica, Dancehall Reggae, Reggae, Jamaican Culture and how to Speak Jamaican Patois, visit http://www.speakjamaican.com.
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Jamaica and its rail road history
Update: June 20, 2011
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The Thirteenth Annual Tea Party
Date: Sunday, July 10,2011
Time: 1:00pm to 5:00pm
Place: Beverly Hills Country Club, 3084 Motor Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90064.
Tickets:$55.00
RSVP: by July 2nd to Dorothy Mcleod at 323.692,0423 or dorothy@jamaicaculture.org
Special Guest: Actor/Comedian: Rawle D. Lewis of Cool Runnings fame Read More »
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Caribbean American International Festival
Update: April 16, 2011
Celebrating Caribbean heritage month at the Harry Chapin Lakeside Amphitheathre, Eisenhower Park East Meadow Long Island & Saturday, June 18, 2011 Download PDF »
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Guest Editorial: Professor Saine Uncovers A New Jamaica
January 27, 2011
Jamaica: Not as seen on Western News Media. Read More » View Source »
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A little walk down Jamaica's Memory Lane
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20th Annual Jamaica Ocho Rios International Jazz Festival 2010 "JAZZ-THE-REAL-DEAL"
June 12-20,2010
The 20th Jamaica Ocho Rios International Jazz Festival is being staged by the Sonny Bradshaw Foundation, Myrna Hague being one of three directors, as its major fund-raising event. The intention is to raise money to support young musicians, preferably trumpeters, who are serious about their craft. Both the foundation and the 2010 staging of the festival will be launched on April 28. Read More »
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Sonny Bradshaw: "dean" of Jamaican music
October 16,2009
Sonny Bradshaw deserved fully the names “dean of Jamaican music” and the “musician’s musician” by which he was widely known. Although he is associated mainly with the trumpet, Bradshaw also played the piano, clarinet, trombone and saxophone, and was a noted composer, arranger, producer, radio broadcaster and music journalist, creator of commercials and a teacher. He was awarded his country’s Order of Distinction for his contribution to Jamaican music. Read More »
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Rex Nettleford- Guardian of our crossroads
February 10,2010
The first time I met Rex Nettleford was when he came to our Kingston high school in 1968, around the time of the Rodney uprising, to speak to our sixth form about black power. I don't remember what he said, because I didn't understand it. Read More »
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Icon lost -Mr. Golding and Mrs. Simpson Miller mourn Nettleford
February 3,2010
Jamaica lost one of its most revered cultural figures last night when Professor Rex Nettleford, vice-chancellor emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and founder of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC), died, just hours before he would have celebrated his 77th birthday. Read More »
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RIP REX- Cultural icon Prof. Nettleford dies in US
February 3,2010
PROFESSOR Rex Nettleford, one of Jamaica's brightest sons and a cultural icon, died in the George Washington University Intensive Care Unit last night, six days after he collapsed in his hotel room in Washington and four hours before his 77th birthday. Read More »
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Albert Hie is dead
February 1,2010
JAMAICAN master painter Albert Huie died in Baltimore, Maryland yesterday after a long illness. He was 89. Read More »
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Jamaica Music Museum- a sample of what can be
Janurary 17,2010
Herbie Miller stands near the middle of Jamaica's musical chronology in words, images and artefacts along the side of a partition at the Institute of Jamaica, downtown Kingston, and said "I like to call this our 22 yards of Jamaican music history." Read More »
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Non-exclusionary approach taken to museum, Dermott Hussey donates entire collection
January 17,2010
The last and latest Jamaican music genre in the mini-exhibition on Jamaican music is dancehall. It is written that "perhaps the most controversial and polarising genre of Jamaican music, dancehall, currently dominates the island's musical landscape" Read More »
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The Story of George Stiebel, Jamaica first black millionaire
There was every indication at a very early stage that George Stiebel was destined to lead an intriguing life. Read More »
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Portland's love story
November 14,2009
Patrice Wymore Flynn has two great loves: her late husband, the actor Errol Flynn, and her adopted home, Portland. Read More »