National Gallery of Jamaica
Jamaica's national art collection on the Kingston waterfront, from Taino carving to contemporary work.
The National Gallery of Jamaica was established in 1974 as the island's first national public art museum and is the oldest and largest such institution in the anglophone Caribbean. It opened at Devon House in uptown Kingston before moving in 1982 to the Roy West Building on Ocean Boulevard, part of the redeveloped waterfront in the downtown district. The gallery is a division of the Institute of Jamaica and also operates a satellite space in Montego Bay.
Permanent displays trace Jamaican visual culture from Taino carvings through colonial-era painting to the nationalist art movement of the twentieth century and contemporary practice. Edna Manley, John Dunkley, Mallica Reynolds, known as Kapo, Barrington Watson and Albert Huie are all represented, and a dedicated room is devoted to the self-taught or intuitive artists the gallery helped bring to wider attention. A programme of temporary exhibitions, talks and film screenings runs alongside the permanent collection.
Highlights
- Permanent survey of Jamaican art from Taino carving to the present day
- Sculpture by Edna Manley and paintings by John Dunkley and Kapo
- Dedicated galleries for Jamaica's self-taught intuitive artists
- Waterfront setting in the Roy West Building on Ocean Boulevard
