Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor
SHE HAS mounted over 100 exhibitions of her works in 28 countries around the globe, and has earned rave reviews in as many languages as is spoken in the 28 countries that she has exhibited in. Born in Munich, she now lives between Negril, Jamaica; and Geneva, Switzerland. She's as beautiful as she is enigmatically talented; a natural linguist, she's perfectly at home in five languages, and that does not include the Jamaican dialect.
Schooled in a monastery from age four through 16, the flawless beauty of an artist, whose ageless face belies her history as an artist and world citizen, the budding artist emerged from her monastic schooling to enter the more traditional educational system of her native Munich, where she earned a diploma in architectural designs, and went on to do some work in interior designing, later spreading her wings to embrace her natural singing talent, before eventually finding her true love painting.
MULTICULTURAL ARTIST
Known professionally as Djamila, this fabulous artist has over a 20-year relationship with this her preferred home away from home, and clearly, the influence of the island, its people and culture, are very clear, and powerfully so, in the works of this multicultural artist. Her credentials are evident in her touring exhibition, which contains such interesting interpretations of the Tuareg of the Sahara and Sahel regions of North Africa; the allegoric, but yet clearly contextual cultural images associated with rural Jamaican life; the images of the less glamorous side of life in Western Europe; as well as images and interpretations taken from her globe-trotting musings.
Having shown her works in such places like London, Paris, Berlin, Geneva, Gstaad, Basel, Madrid, Tangiers, Rabat, South Africa, Lesotho, New York, and Negril, she took her travelling exhibition to Kingston two Sundays ago. Jacks Hills really, to the home of the late Rupert Lindo, now survived by his fabulous widow Joan Lindo, and their son, Alexander, at their Valjour
residence.
Well, my daahlings, Valjour a combination of names is indeed one such fabulous place. Perched high above the city of Kingston, on the Jacks Hills fault line, the home was designed to mimic the wing span of a jet in full flight, the lovely deck jutting out and seemingly suspended in mid-air, adding that vital touch to complete the airborne effect the cockpit.
EXHIBITION SETTING
One enters Valjour via a charming little courtyard that leads into what is called the drawing-room. Well, for the exhibition, the courtyard, and the parking area immediately beside it, were decorated with colourful marquees to house a number of internationally-acclaimed murals by the artist, while the drawing room was done-up with a number of easels housing some of the artist's more recent works, and strategically placed to accommodate as well as to illuminate the fabulous backdrop of Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Catherine and the tip of Clarendon, that was the fabulous view afforded from the cockpit.
There was an early afternoon drizzle, however, and this occasioned the reordering of the order of the exhibition, with the walls of Valjour being used as display areas. This gave way to the residence's lower den and bar area, becoming the preferred lyming/party area, made that much more so by the absolutely fabulous Australian Shiraz that was the preferred libation.
Dears, the invite did promise an afternoon with fine art and cocktails. Well, my dears, that's what those who motored up the serpentine roadway from Papine enjoyed.
Luvs, no question about it, Djamali is indeed one fabulous artist! Her works not only enthral, they communicate the essence of the subjects portrayed, in a manner that transforms the artist into the realms of worlds hitherto unknown, but her genius might easily lie in her ability to avoid depicting her subjects as inanimate objects to be admired, but avoided, but rather as contemporary extensions of our more
surreal experiences.
FABULOUS FEAST
And so it was, my dears, that with Shiraz flowing, a fabulous feast of finger-food, and excellent society in attendance, and suspended right up there closer to the clouds, that anything else, the Sunday afternoon never looked better. And luvs, with young Alexander Lindo entertaining in spots, with his guitar and arias that ran the gamut of pop, and the opera and guests meandering about the fabulous open spaces in gardens that give those afraid of heights the willies. A misstep could easily land the unfortunate person in lower Papine.
Well, sweet-things, it was like that, and then some, with those spotted at the mid-afternoon into early evening including: Hugh Levy; Mrs. Brunetta Matthews; Cecil Cooper; United Nations officials Godfrey and Kay Xuereb; Jeanne Hausen of the Embassy of Peru; the lovely Trefina Asidu; Johnny Abbott; William Lampert and wife Anna Kaiser; Dawn Woodstock; David Versailles; Heidi Pyne; Mr. and Mrs. Neville Roche; the lovely Lorraine Fung; Vijay Myers; Christopher Dunkley; Claudette Forbes; Locksley Walker; Kerry-Ann Hepburn; Maria Lee; among several others.
