Art & Leisure

Jamaica Biennial 2014 to close with 'Artists’ Talks'

Published:Friday | March 6, 2015 | 10:43 AM

The Jamaica Biennial 2014 is scheduled to close on Sunday, March 15, and to mark the occasion, the National Gallery of Jamaica will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on that day. A special programme of Artists' Talks will be presented on that day,...

Hina-matasuri – celebrating girls

Published:Friday | March 6, 2015 | 11:46 AM

"I have always decorated the dolls since my daughter was small," recalled Sayoko Takase, pointing to the elaborate display of hina dolls, Hinamatsuri - or the Doll Festival, celebrating girls - which is about good health and future happiness....

This week's Shutterbugs

Published:Thursday | March 5, 2015 | 2:26 PM

The collateral tongue

Published:Friday | February 20, 2015 | 11:00 AMOxy Moron

There Patricia was, in her cream, floral couch, when upon her gate there was a knock. Lazily, she removed her full body to find out who was disturbing her joy, her soap opera.It was her mischievous neighbour, Peggy. And the look on her face said she...

National Gallery pays tribute to Annabella Proudlock

Published:Friday | February 20, 2015 | 12:15 PM

The National Gallery of Jamaica pays tribute to Annabella Proudlock - artist, collector, art patron and gallerist - who passed away on February 14. She was the managing director of Harmony Hall and a former board member of the National Gallery of...

Plaudits for Evan Jones

Published:Friday | February 20, 2015 | 12:48 PM

Oxford University's prestigious Bodleian Library has acquired Evan Jones' papers for their archives. The Jamaican-born writer, best known on the island for his much loved poem, 'The Song of the Banana Man', and his powerful...

Youth intervention programme launches Phase 2

Published:Friday | February 20, 2015 | 1:40 PM

Following the success of last year's inaugural programme, Phase 2 of The Re-Birth Project - an intervention initiative for at-risk youth and their parents - was launched at the Spanish Court Hotel recently with guest speaker Dr Grace McLean, chief...

The glorious Blue Mountains

Published:Thursday | February 26, 2015 | 10:30 PMJoan Williams

Some years ago, I was conversing with a Forestry Department warden while on one of my exhilarating hikes to the 7,402-foot high Blue Mountain Peak. He was rueful that not even 5 per cent of Jamaican adults had ever taken the time to experience our...

Staying power - a potent dose of Jamaican culture in London

Published:Friday | February 27, 2015 | 11:49 AM

The internationally acclaimed Victoria & Albert Museum in London describes itself as the largest collection of art and design in the world, and recently, the museum opened a compelling exhibition of photographs ...

This week's Shutterbugs

Published:Friday | February 20, 2015 | 1:26 PM

Poems

Published:Friday | February 20, 2015 | 11:51 AM

Slave masters, tell me whyYou! slave masters went to AfricalandYou! took our great great grandparentsfrom Africa landYou! shackled themYou took them away to strange andfar-away landsA journey frightening, horrible, painfuland cruelIn agony some fell...

Black history through the artist's eye

Published:Friday | February 20, 2015 | 12:00 AM

"Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by colour." - Unknown, profound words that capture the bitter fact in history, which the annals of time cannot fathom, how fellow human beings could treat the other as commodity.Humanity has...

ACIJ/Jamaica Memory Bank hosts intangible cultural heritage exhibition

Published:Friday | February 13, 2015 | 12:00 AMPaul H. Williams

For some people and organisations the world over, February is the month set aside to highlight the history and heritage of black people, which is the largest racial group in Jamaica. Black people in Jamaica are invariably the descendants of Africans...

Poetry in Motion 2015: Jamaica's signature feast of the performing arts

Published:Thursday | February 19, 2015 | 3:46 PM

Jamaica's Cultural and Literary and Performing Arts will take centre stage at Poetry in Motion, now celebrating its 12th annual staging today at 6 p.m. at Manchester Golf Club, Brumalia Road in Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica.The Poetry in Motion...

No excuse, so surrender

Published:Thursday | February 19, 2015 | 10:29 PMCorine La Font

I have oftentimes recommended that when you decide that you want to become an author, you need to have a business behind your book. Once you have made the decision that you want to go into business, you want to be your own boss and chart your...

Poems

Published:Friday | February 20, 2015 | 9:44 AM

No Mr ValentineThe clock ticksTime passes slowlyAll the excitement buzzes around her so quickly she thinks her mind is playing tricksGazing, wondering and in reverie, she can't help but harbour thoughts of if someone will ever love her whollyIt's...

This week's Shutterbugs

Published:Thursday | February 19, 2015 | 3:10 PM

'No Boy Like Amanda' goes to Friendship Primary

Published:Friday | February 6, 2015 | 5:31 PM

KINGSTON:In 2010, Friendship Primary School, first-time entrants to the Junior Schools' Challenge Quiz, lost their first match and were knocked out of the competition in the first round. Four years later, the Spanish Town-based school opened the...

Keys to Jamaica's athletic dominance

Published:Thursday | February 12, 2015 | 12:00 AM

Genius and artistry bedazzle and confound the most insightful thinkers. Unquestionably, decoding the near mythical stature of Jamaica's sprinters is one such example.

Pulse of the spirit: Drums the foundation for diverse rituals, popular culture

Published:Friday | February 13, 2015 | 12:01 PMAmitabh Sharma

"The rhythm is in your blood" goes an African proverb, resonating from the beats of the drums, which are not merely musical instruments in that part of the world; their rhythm is embedded in the society's DNA.