THE NATIONAL Gallery of Jamaica is currently inviting entries for the 2004 Biennial Exhibition, scheduled to open in November. Deadline for submission of entries is September 10.This is the second staging of the exhibition since it replaced the Annual National Exhibition (ANE) which was organised by the gallery up to 2002.
The biennial was introduced to give artists more time (over a two-year period), to develop ideas and produce works for a strong exhibition, according to the organisers. But rules and regulations governing the exhibition remain essentially the same, with minor changes.
The show is traditionally divided into two sections an invited artist section (by special invitation) and a selected (juried) artists section. It is to the latter category that artists are being invited to submit works for consideration.
The exhibition is open to all artists residing in Jamaica as well as Jamaican artists living abroad. Entries will be accepted for painting, sculpture (including assemblage), installations, original prints, collages, photography, ceramics and ceramic sculptures, fibre arts and drawing/works on paper (including pastels and water-colour).
Artists may submit up to three works in any category, with size restrictions for paintings and two-dimensional works. All works submitted should have been completed within the past two years (i.e. from September 2002- September 2004), and only one piece should have been exhibited in previous exhibitions.
Entries will be judged by a selection committee comprising Gilou Bauer, David Boxer, Natalie Butler, Carol Crichton, Norma Harrack, Joan Tucker and Kay Sullivan.
A spokesman for the gallery told The Sunday Gleaner that, normally the biennial is held in December, closing in March of the following year.
"This year, however, in honour of the gallery's 30th anniversary, the official opening is being brought forward and is scheduled for November 14, the gallery's anniversary date," the spokesman explained.
The show is scheduled to close on March 12, 2005.
A special award the Aaron Matalon Award will be made to one artist (invited or juried) while special 30th anniversary purchase awards will be made at the discretion of the gallery's exhibition committee. It is expected that a complete catalogue will be available for the show, and, as is customary, the exhibition will feature a 'mini-exhibition' honouring those artists who have received Musgrave Medals in the two-year period under review.
- G. H.
