African art exhibition at UWI ends today

Kgotla!, the inaugural African art and artefact exhibition launched on September 16 at The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus Main Library, closes today, with a panel discussion and closing ceremony, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The discussion, titled 'African Creativity, Caribbean Cultural Identity and Reparative Justice', will be moderated by Professor Ian Boxill. The panellists are Professor Clinton Hutton, Dr Leith Dunn, Dr Kirt Henry and Dr Rotimi Omosulu.

Produced by The PJ Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy (INAFRICARA) in partnership with The UWI Mona Library and the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica/Jamaica Memory Bank (ACIJ/JMB), the exhibition has been billed as a "landmark initiative" that brings together an exceptional collection of African art and artefacts from private and institutional collections.

Kgotla is a South African Setswana word for a communal gathering place where dialogue, consultation and collective decision-making occur. According to the organisers, the exhibition embodies the enduring African tradition of shared knowledge and community engagement.

The concept originated with Professor Hopeton S. Dunn, a scholar of communications policy and digital media, and Dr Leith Dunn, a sociologist specialising in gender and development. They approached INAFRICARA with the idea, and ACIJ/JMB and The UWI Mona Library later joined as partners.

The exhibition has been staged under the leadership of an organising committee co-chaired by Professor Dunn and Professor Paulette A. Ramsay. Committee members included Professor Boxill, Dr Paulette Kerr and Dr Henry. Dr Kerr and Bernadette Worrell-Johnson represented The UWI Mona Library, while Dr Henry and Georgette McGlashen-Miller were the principal contributors from ACIJ/JMB.

"The exhibition is conceived and presented as an act of decolonial praxis through which people of African descent, geographically and historically alienated from the Motherland, seek to build 'bridges of belonging' and repair the cultural and social ruptures produced by colonialism," Kevarney K told The Gleaner.

"Its primary objective is to provide the Jamaican public, particularly students, with an opportunity to engage with and learn about African art objects and artefacts. More broadly, the exhibition seeks to recover, affirm, and reconstitute connections to African knowledge, cultural memory, and ancestral heritage."

Kevarney K serves as co-curator alongside lead curator Margaret Bernal Reckord, who played a central role in the exhibition's curation and execution. Key contributors from the PJ Patterson Institute included Mickel Hylton, Whitney Waysome and Omar Ryan.

Organisations such as The Repair Campaign and VM Group have also supported the initiative and expressed appreciation for its aims.

"The exhibition is therefore the result of a collaborative institutional effort, bringing together expertise in curation, scholarship, and cultural heritage to realise its vision and objectives," Kevarney K said.

The exhibition centres on two collections: the Dunn Collection and the Makonde Collection.

The Dunn Collection comprises more than 30 pieces of African art and material culture assembled by Dr Leith Dunn and Professor Hopeton Dunn. Drawn from diverse cultural traditions across the continent, the collection reflects their long-standing engagement with Africa.

The ACIJ/JMB's Makonde Collection features 11 ebony sculptures brought to Jamaica by a delegation of five Makonde men from Tanzania in 1974. The group visited the island to conduct a woodcarving workshop and exhibit works of material culture at the Institute of Jamaica. Originating in East Africa, the carvings reflect centuries of artistic expression and knowledge systems, offering visitors an opportunity to engage with traditions that continue to resonate across the African diaspora.

The exhibition also includes artefacts donated by the P.J. Patterson Institute, items from Patterson's private collection, and contributions from other collectors. Professor Ramsay, co-chair of the organising committee and a research fellow at the institute, described the exhibition as an invitation to reconnect with Africa's intellectual and cultural legacies.

Among those who have visited are former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson; Professor Marvin Reid, deputy principal of the Mona campus; Lady Allen, wife of Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen; and several diplomats. Professor Densil Williams, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and principal of the Mona campus, addressed attendees at the launch.

"The feedback thus far has been overwhelmingly positive. We have facilitated group tours for students from several high schools, and the students have been particularly enthusiastic about engaging with African art and artefacts in this setting. The wider UWI community has also been very receptive, with many expressing their appreciation for the exhibition and its objectives," Kevarney K said.

-Paul H Williams