Jamaican Art And Culture Community Day Planned At YCBA

NEW HAVEN — On Saturday, September 29, Yale Center for British (YCBA) will open its doors to the community for a special open house dedicated to the fall exhibition “Art & Emancipation in Jamaica: Isaac Mendes Belisario and His Worlds” (on view September 27 to December 30, an opening reception for the exhibition will be offered on Wednesday, September 26, beginning at 4 pm).

Visitors of all ages will enjoy Jamaican art and culture, sample Jamaican cuisine, and partake in an array of programs including live Caribbean music, dance, storytelling, exhibition tours, children’s activities, and much more. Admission to the museum and all programs is free and open to the public and registration is not required for any of the programs.

Organized by the Yale Center for British Art in commemoration of the bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade, “Art & Emancipation in Jamaica” gathers together for the first time works depicting life on the Jamaican sugar plantation, slavery, and the Jamaican landscape from the start of British rule in 1655 to the aftermath of emancipation in the 1840s.

At the center of the exhibition is a remarkable series of lithographs, “Sketches of Character,” made by the Jewish Jamaican-born artist Isaac Mendes Belisario, which provides the first detailed visual representation of Jonkonnu (or John Canoe), the celebrated Afro-Jamaican masquerade performed by slaves during Christmas and New Year.

The exhibition also includes Jamaican and West African costumes and musical instruments, video of historic and contemporary performances, and work by contemporary Jamaican and Afro-Caribbean artists.

A curator-led exhibition tour will begin the day’s activities at 10 am.

From 10:30 am to 12:30 pm, a Jonkonnu dance performance and workshop will be offered by Adrian Fletcher and the Caribbean Institute of Dance.

An art-making activity, “Make Your Own Jonkonnu Figure,” will be ongoing from 11 am until 2 pm. Participants will create a miniature dancer decorated in feathers and brightly colored materials, reminiscent of those celebrating Jonkonnu, a holiday honored mostly in Caribbean countries with West African and British influences. Also, each figure will have a gumba box, shaken for sound, as they dance.

This activity is most appropriate for children ages 4-7. An adult must accompany each participant, or a family. For more information call 203-432-2858 or send e-mail samantha.rose@yale.edu.

Also, Baba David Coleman Drums for Peace will perform at 11:30 am, and a steel pan performance by the St Luke’s Steel Band will be offered at 2 pm.

Another curator-led exhibition tour will be at 3 pm.

Yale Center for British Art is at 1080 Chapel Street, in the heart of New Haven’s arts and entertainment district. Admission is always free. Regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday from noon to 5 pm.

For additional information call 203-432-2800 or (toll-free) 877-BRIT-ART (274-8278). For full program details and other museum information visit yale.edu/ycba.