National Art Gallery
on George Hamilton (Jamaica), 26/Sep/2010 22:49, 34 days ago
Today we went to the opening of the Edna Manley's "Bogle" exhibit. Edna Manley was an artist and wife of Norman Manley, founder of the People's National Party, who sculpted a life sized statue of Paul Bogle, a Baptist Minister and Jamaican rebel who was executed by the British in 1865. Paul Bogle was deemed a national hero and his face has apparently been depicted on Jamaican currency, although I was unable to find any proof of that on today's currency, and many Jamaicans have referred to him in their songs, including Bob Marley.At the Art Gallery we met our neighbour from our apartment compound. It turns out she is the person in charge of bringing in and removing all art from the gallery. She told me that this particular statue took a team of 20 soldiers to transport it over 3 days. Now that I've written that I realize I don't know why it took so long nor why they needed 20 soldiers.The Bogle statue is a controversial piece of art work that had been severely vandalized over time partly because no one really knows what Paul Bogle looked like but they believe he didn't look like this statue. There is another image that has become the popular belief of what Paul Bogle actually looked like. There may also be some political controversy that I don't understand.It was another interesting, informative day leaving me with lots to research in order to understand all the controversies of the statue which will probably not return to it's former home in front of the Court House in Morant Bay when the exhibition finishes in mid-November.Unfortunately I didn't take my camera along today so I didn't get any photos. Delphine and Dominic may send me some so come back soon and check out if I've acquired anything from them.