National Gallery to stage discussion on Edna Manley's 'Bogle'

In celebration of National Heritage Month 2010, the National Gallery of Jamaica is pleased to present a panel discussion to accompany its current exhibition, 'Edna Manley's Bogle: A Contest of Icons', on Thursday October 28, 2010, starting at 12:30 p.m. This panel discussion was rescheduled from its original date of October 14.

The 'Edna Manley's Bogle: A Contest of Icons' exhibition examines the iconographies of Paul Bogle and the Morant Bay Rebellion with a special focus on Edna Manley's Bogle monument. This monument has sparked controversy since it was unveiled in 1965 in front of the historic Morant Bay courthouse - the debates surrounding the relationship between Edna Manley's symbolist representation of National Hero Paul Bogle and the photograph (which serves as his official photograph and which is widely believed to be a true likeness of him) have flared up periodically.

national monument

While the Bogle statue was declared a national monument in 2003, these debates have resurfaced since its removal by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust for restorative work following the 2007 fire that destroyed the Morant Bay courthouse and a major incident of vandalism. Stakeholder groups in Morant Bay have insisted that the statue is not a true likeness of Bogle and should be replaced by one based on the photograph, but others, including many members of the art community, believe that its function as a monument to the Morant Bay Rebellion should be maintained and that it therefore needs to be returned to Morant Bay. This latest episode of controversy received significant attention in the local press in March 2010, and the question of where the statue will be remounted remains unresolved.

The panellists will include:

Dorrette Abrahams - president of the African Heritage Development Association,

Tanya Batson-Savage - director, cultural policy and monitoring, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture,

Hanif Brown - mayor of Morant Bay,

Laleta Davis-Mattis - executive director of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, and

Petrona Morrison - director of the Edna Manley College's School of Visual Arts.

The panel discussion will be chaired by the National Gallery's executive director, Veerle Poupeye. Members of the public are invited, and admission fees will be waived for the duration of the panel discussion.