![]() With the formalising of this relationship came Crown, Christianity and Colonisation, three C's that ensured that an essentially alien imported peoples would be assimilated into British citizenship as much through psychological, as physical force. But it was the British who eventually maintained colonial rule of Jamaica. The Portuguese, Spanish, French, and British all vied for economic and political supremacy in the West Indies. Jamaica was peopled by indentured labourers from East India and China and Europe, then later in greater numbers, by Africans supplied through the slave trade. In time, as these areas of production expanded, it became necessary to import labour. Few artifacts remain as evidence of the Amerindian culture however the National Gallery of Jamaica has salvaged a small collection of domestic items and carved icons (Zemes) that represented their Gods.įrom the 17th century, European colonisers recognised the value of islands like Jamaica and within decades established settlements and plantations to provide for the European market goods such as sugar, rum, tobacco and spices. Jamaica's art history is a narrative that traverses continents and centuries beginning with the Taino Indians who gave Jamaica its indigenous culture but were almost all wiped out by diseases during the colonial period. Similarly, 'identity' has an urgency and a relevance which is literally worlds away from the. We are the latest chapters of our current existence, and as such, we are scarcely able to deny or downgrade its centrality and its importance in our lives. Instead, it presents itself as earlier episodes of a current existence. in addition, we need to also acknowledge influences from Africa and the wider black diaspora.Īs Black-British curator, Eddie Chambers, of Jamaican parentage, noted: "For black people, 'history' refuses to be a lifeless and dull conglomeration of boring dates and events. That means it is difficult to speak about Jamaican art without also considering European art and its conventional styles such as impressionism, post impressionism, cubism, expressionism. ![]() So an appraisal of Jamaican art from 1922 to the present provides an understanding of the socio-political history of our own culture as well as that of others. From colonialism to post modernism, Jamaica's art movement has been integrally linked to events and styles elsewhere.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |