KINGSTON CREATIVE SUPPORTS DESIGN WEEK
Artwalk Highlights the Cultural Significance of Downtown Kingston’s Design History
Those planning to attend Kingston Creative’s monthly Artwalk will be a part of the Jamaica Observer’s Design Week activities. This Friday sees the hosting of an Architecture and Design Meetup at F&B Downtown from 5-8 pm as well as performances, exhibitions and design installations as part of its Last Sunday’s Artwalk and Market Street events.
The Artwalk will feature contributions from the most important actors in the educational, commercial and cultural spheres in architecture and design. These include the Utech Caribbean School of Architecture (CSA), the Jamaica Institute of Architects (JIA), the Institute of Jamaica, the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA) and leading design firms like Zuar Ltd led by Ard Jarret and the Design Diva, headed by Karen Booker. Design is a hot topic for Downtown Kingston as the waterfront is seeing a resurgence of commercial and cultural activity. While the resurgence on Ocean Drive is underway, it is important that the Georgian exterior or “heritage overlay” of the buildings in the central Art District are protected and preserved even as the interiors are remodeled, repurposed and completely transformed. Not to be left out, the Downtown designers, ceramicists, furniture makers and even drum makers are seeking to come together and develop a cluster of businesses, turning Downtown into a design hub.
The Meetup
On Friday, September 27th, the Design Meetup opens at 5:00 pm with an artist talk by Khadijah Ibrahiim on “Developing your Creative Practice”. Ibrahiim is a noted British-jamaican artist and poet who has performed and produced art programmes in the USA, Caribbean, Africa and Asia and is hailed as one of Yorkshire’s most prolific poets by the BBC. In 2018, she was shortlisted for Yorkshire Woman of the Year for the Arts and in 2019 she was shortlisted for the Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship and she is also the recipient of the Arts Council of England ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ Award. A panel discussion on the future design of Kingston follows, featuring David Cuthbert from the Jamaica Institute of Architects (JIA), Fabian Rainford from the Rose Town Potters, Laura-lee Jones, Head of Department of Applied Arts at Edna Manley and Sara Shabaka, Graphic Designer/ Lecturer. Architect Andre Baugh, representing the University of Technology CSA, will be presenting the investigative work of Design Studio 8, on “The Future of Downtown Kingston, Jamaica: The Vertical City”. This will be a terrific opportunity to see how architects imagine Kingston in 2092. What buildings and architectural elements are persistent and valued as part of Kingston’s communal consciousness and necessary to maintain our heritage? What can the future look like?
The Artwalk
The Jamaican Institute of Architects will be hosting a design competition on Sunday and President of the JIA, Stacey-ann Dennison congratulated Kingston Creative on its mission: “We support the goals of Kingston Creative, particularly the transformation of the urban environment of downtown Kingston through art. As the city develops and densifies, the improvement in the quality of our shared spaces becomes paramount and we see this as an exciting way to showcase Kingston (and Jamaica’s) strong creative talents. We will be hosting a team design competition in Downtown on Sunday September 29th, and this will be a perfect introduction to the JIA Architects’ Week, which will be focusing on the theme, “Architecture for All”. The Utech Caribbean School of Architecture (CSA) President, Jacqui Lawton commented, ”We welcome the opportunity to take our work downtown and we will exhibit selected pieces from the CSA’S 30th Anniversary Annual Exhibition at the Artwalk - physical models of three Caribbean capitals; Bridgetown, Barbados and Basseterre, St Kitts. The Caribbean School of Architecture at the University of Technology, Jamaica conducts travelling study tours as part of the curriculum where students and their lecturers increase their knowledge and research on the unique qualities of architecture across the region. These models, resulting from the travel, offer opportunities for the Design Studios to create conjectural and educational architecture responses to specific sites and problems of urbanity in the tropics. The models will be of interest to adults and children alike as they are well crafted and propel the imagination through visualization.“On Sunday September 29th, the Historic Kingston Walking Tour starts at 9:00 am at the Victoria Pier, followed by Community Yoga on the Waterfront led by Afya Studios at 10:00 am at the UDC Car Park. The Artwalk tour begins at 11:00 am at Swiss Stores at the corner of Church and Harbour Streets with performances and an interactive exhibition from the Trench Town Art & Ceramics Centre. At the National Gallery of Jamaica patrons can see a performance from performing arts group QUILT. During the day, Market Street boasts 41 different artisans and a children’s art village headed by the Multicare Foundation and the Institute of Jamaica. There will be food, musical performances, comedy by Owen ”Blacka” Ellis, open mic sessions , exhibitions by Edna Manley students, drummaker and potter Phillip Supersad, Blakka Ellis, the Rose Town Potters, Bellas, Lyndon Baller Johnson and other artisans and designers.