In Spirit In Truth in the OMG

AT THE centre of the room inside the Olympia Mini Gallery (OMG) at 202 Old Hope Road in Papine, St Andrew, there is a relatively small thanksgiving table on which there are various objects, including potted plants, evincing various messages. There are potted crotons and snake plants on the ground, likewise enamelled basins of water, at the bottom of which coins are scattered.

On the walls surrounding the table are paintings from featured artists: Justeen Bailey, Kamala Davis, Dwayne Grant, Daniel Harrison, Rashleigh Morris, Sonn Ngai and Kevarney K. R. Near to the southern end of the table, in a space in the wall, the Suzanna Missenberger’s ‘Altar for the sea’, consisting mainly of natural objects, is mounted.

There is also the ‘Altar for the Countless’, the centrepiece of which is a painting titled ‘Portrait of the Countless, Nameless Congolese Children’ by Kevarney K. R. Together, they compose an exhibition called, ‘In Spirit In Truth’. Kevarney K. R. and Suzanna Missenberger are also the curators of the show, which opened on Thursday, February 27.

“The exhibition showcases eight emerging black Jamaican artists, each with unique yet comparable experiences of Blackness within Jamaican society. The materials and techniques used to create the featured artworks were selected to reflect the artists’ idiosyncratic practices while also referencing artefacts and iconography from Afro-Jamaican religions,” a part of the statement of intent says.

Embedded within the artworks are concepts of Afrikan/Afro-Jamaican spirituality, Afrikan retention, altar mounting, ancestral veneration, atavism, ritual practices, sacred space, signs, seals and symbols, and spirit or vital force. It is a very interesting juxtaposition of art with spirituality, art being encased in spirituality and spirituality exuding from the art on show.

“This exhibition transcends the traditional exhibition model, serving as a sacred space that houses seals, collective altars, and individual objects of reverence, each imbued with profound aesthetic and spiritual significance,” Kevarney K. R. explains.

“The altars, as central focal points, symbolise the community’s collective devotion, while the individual objects hold unique spiritual meaning for the owners or creators. This dynamic interplay of seals, symbols and artifacts merges seamlessly to create a compelling showcase of Afro-Jamaican spirituality and aesthetic expression, highlighting the intricate relationship between creativity, culture and art.

The showcase is presented by the Africa-Caribbean Students’ Club at UWI, Mona campus, with the support of Olympia Gallery and The P. J. Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy, and is billed as “an exhibition of contemporary black Jamaican art celebrating the retention of African heritage in Jamaican culture”.

“The main purpose of this exhibition is to demonstrate, through the creative expressions of black Jamaicans, that the traditional African metaphysical worldview pervades the spiritual beliefs and practices popular among black Jamaicans,” the exhibition statement says.

“Furthermore, this exhibition is intended to serve as historical record of the retention of African philosophy, spirituality and cultural practices within contemporary black Jamaican experiences. It draws from iconographic references in Revival, obeah, myal, Rastafari and Afro-Christian religious traditions, as well as La Regla de Ocha in Cuba and Haitian vodun.”

And, though the thanksgiving table and its contents are similar to the Revival table and its contents, including crotons, which are important icons of Revivalism, which is a syncretism of African spirituality and elements of Christianity, it is not about espousing Revivalism and all that it contains. In fact, Kevarney K. R. is not a Revivalist, he said. “I believe that religion is just a framework. I feel like spirituality is at the basis of religion, and we’re all spiritual,” he shared. Spirituality, then, is the inspirational force behind the setting up of the show, which was conceptualised about two years ago.

“I had spent a semester previously studying Yoruba philosophy with an Africa lecturer and I noticed that the retention of the orishas and the whole cosmology from Africa was very strong in Cuba. I see it here, I see it in the Baptist or the Shango in Trinidad … . Every black diaspora has this element, the spirit, so that’s the uniting element, spirit, every Jamaican believe in spirits, whether the duppy or Holy Ghost, you have some concept of the soul or the metaphysical … I found that as the uniting thread, and that’s why it’s named In Spirit In Truth,” Kevarney K. R. explained.

“And the title is also a kind of cheeky play on the idea of being black and being Christian, a contention, Christianity being used to enslave and subvert black people. It so complex, as black people have used Christianity to mask their ancestral practices … . Whether they fear the spirit or embrace it, they believe in it by default … . The spirit is that universal notion of being that permeates everything, and the truth is the practice of it, the integrity of how you approach it … I want everybody who steps in here to just feel it.As soon as you open the door, you know what it is.”