Jamaican art

Jamaican art dates back to Jamaica's indigenous Taino Indians who created zemis, carvings of their gods, for ritual spiritual purposes.

[3] Manley strongly urged for Jamaican artist to create art that demonstrated their heritage and pride, in turn dismissing European influence and values.

[4] Her support of volunteer art classes at the Institute of Jamaica fostered the talents of artists such as Albert Huie, Ralph Campbell, Henry Daley, and Osmond Watson.

Since the island declared independence in 1962, Jamaican art has swung between two styles that Chief Curator, David Boxer, has defined as "mainstream" and "intuitive.

[10] The 'intuitive' movement consists of artists who maintain stronger links with African forms of expression, are predominantly closed to any external influences, and are usually self-taught.

[11] In the 1990s, a greater awareness of post-modern trends and a connection with Jamaica's wider diaspora communities in Britain, Canada, and the US saw many artists such as Albert Chong, Anna Henriques, Petrona Morrison, Margaret Chen, and David Boxer reappraising their personal cultural histories.

They began revisiting the sites of their ancestral origins (be they indigenous Amerindian cultures, African, or European), having a greater need to understand and visualize the Jamaican experience and their own sense of place within the Caribbean.

[13] Younger artists, such as Ebony G. Patterson, Michael Elliot, Phillip Thomas, Christopher Irons, and Peter Rickards, are engaging with issues of violence, homophobia, and social dislocation that have been a feature of Jamaica's recent past.

These are events and trends that are still unfolding, but they suggest that this generation of artists is having to compete with the more glaring aspects of the country's popular culture related to dance hall, ghetto fabulous fashions, street art, and the aesthetics of bling funerals[14] for a stake in the nation's visual memory.