A presentation on the Research Guide to Jamaican Art I created for Prof. Soehner's Introduction to Art Librarianship class. This is the first resource guide on this topic.

1. A Research Guide to
Jamaican Art
Pre Columbian to Present
Kai Alexis Smith
Prof. Ken Soehner
Introduction to Art Librarianship
Pratt Institute
Fall 2011

2. The first research guide to Jamaican Art
Created December 2011
http://jamaicanartresearch.wordpress.com/

3. Notable Jamaican Artists
Barrington Watson
David Boxer
Edna Manley
Mallica "Kapo"
Reynolds

4. Artists list and growing…

5. Resource Types
6 Online Databases
1 Dictionaries
2 Encyclopedias
4 Exhibition Catalogues
2 Indexes
4 Periodicals
3 Monographs
9 Other Online Resources

6. Dictionary
• Official Language: English
• Most commonly spoken Jamaican Patios/
Jamaican Creole
• Patios : the dialect of the common people of a
region, differing in various respects from the
standard language of the rest of the country
• Published in 1967, Still relevant

7. Historical Resources
Jamaican National Heritage Trust
— Government Resource
— Objective: promote, preserve, and develop Jamaican
material cultural heritage
— Jamaica history including Pre-Columbian, Columbian/
Spanish, English and Independence
— Tiano Petroglyphs and Pictographs
— Free
http://www.jnht.com/

8. Historical Resources
The National Library of Jamaica
Jamaica Unshackled
The Slave Trade
Biographies of Jamaican Personalities
Free
http://www.nlj.gov.jm/

9. Online Databases
Digital Library of the Caribbean, dLOC
— multiple international institutions in the USA, South
America and the Caribbean
— dLOC: Caribbean Map Collection
— Caribbean Newspaper Digital Library (CNDL)
— Free
http://www.dloc.com/

10. Indexes
UCLA Latin American Institute and the UCLA
International Institute. (2011) HAPI (Hispanic American
Periodicals Index)
— Scope 1970 to present
Black Studies Center, 2011
— 1827 to preset
Both require a subscription

11. Museums and Galleries
National Gallery of Jamaica
— No images of collection
— Active and current blog
http://natgalja.org.jm/ioj_wp/
The Mutual Life Gallery
— Artist Biographies
— Low resolution images
Both can be accessed freely.
http://mutualgallery.com/aboutus.html

12. Architecture
Architectural Heritage of the Caribbean:
An A- Z of Historic Buildings by Andrew
Gravette
—
—
—
—
Published 2000
Scope: Colonization to 1950
architectural dictionary
black and white illustrations
Caribbean Modernist Architecture :
Archivos de Arquitectura Antillana /
AAA034. “Concrete Expressions: A Sketch
of the Birth and Development of a
modernist Architecture in Jamaica,
1945-1975”
— Published 2009
— Scope: 1945 to 1975
— Black and white illustrations

13. Exhibition Catalogues
Modern Jamaican art by
David Boxer, Veerle
Poupeye. 1998.
— Large colorful images of
the art work
— Nice art historical essays
on modern and
contemporary
— Index of artists

14. Exhibition Catalogues
Redemption Songs: The Self-Taught
Artists of Jamaica / curated by Randall
Morris. Winston-Salem, NC: Diggs
Gallery at Winston-Salem State
University. 1997.
— Colorful images
— Introduction about the Intuitive
Movement
— Artist biographies
— 21 Objects and over 100 Objects
featured

15. Periodicals
— ARC Magazine (Arts.
Recognition. Culture.)
— Jamaica Journal published
by the Institute of Jamaica
— ACIJ research review (The
African Caribbean Institute
of Jamaica (ACIJ) and the
Jamaica Memory Bank
(JMB)) published by the
Institute of Jamaica
— Arts Jamaica 1982-1985

16. Other Online Resources
Petrine Archer-Straw's blog
— Caribbean Art Historian
— Professor at Cornell University
— Diaspora Dialogs blog
— Caribbean Artist A-Z
— Free
http://www.petrinearcher.com/

17. Online Exhibition
Island Thresholds: Contemporary Art from the Caribbean
at the Peabody Essex Museum in 2005
http://www.pem.org/sites/island/#

18. THE END
Kaialexis@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/kaialexissmith/
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@KaiAlexisSmith