News

The National Gallery of the Cayman Islands (NGCI) is proud to partner with the Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) for the Art at the Airport initiative, which has been developed by NGCI to celebrate the reopening of the newly redeveloped Owen Roberts International Airport (ORIA). Art at the Airport precedes the launch of a formal ORIA Public Art programme, which is currently being developed by the partners. Situated across several areas of the airport, the inaugural displays are drawn entirely from the National Gallery’s permanent collection and past exhibitions and includes artwork by nationally-recognised, award-winning artists and artisans.

“The new airport facility is now a world-class gateway for passengers to the Cayman Islands and our project is designed to further enrich the airport experience by providing visitors from around the world access to Cayman’s unique cultural life in a wide variety of visual art forms,” explains NGCI Director Natalie Urquhart. “Through excerpts of past National Gallery exhibitions, we have sought to explore key areas of Cayman’s visual heritage – maritime history, traditional thatch craft, architecture, and archival photography, as well as contemporary visual art. We hope to inspire visitors and engage them with our unique culture during their time in Cayman.” The exhibition displays excerpts from:

Now & Then by Courtney Platt (Baggage Claim area).  The popular photography series, which was developed by NGCI, the Cayman Islands National Archive and the artist in 2012, shows the Cayman Islands of the 1950s. The images merge scenes of the past with scenes of the present side by side, and together they form a fascinating tapestry of an evolving society and industry.

Maritime Art from the National Collection, which is on display in the Greeting Hall, is an exhibition of reproductions of artwork from the National Collection. This has been developed specifically for the unveiling of the new airport to honour Caymans’ intrinsic relationship with the ocean.  Featured artists include Wray Banker, Gladwyn ‘Miss Lassie’ Bush, Randy Chollette, Chris Christian, Al Ebanks, Bendel Hydes, Charles Long, Miguel Powery, Brandon Saunders, Joanne Sibley, Gordon Solomon, Nasaria Suckoo Chollette, Simon Tatum and Janet Walker. 

Cayman Panorama – Things That Exist Only in My Fading Memory by Shane ‘Dready’ Aquart is a 105-foot-long survey of iconic Caymanian buildings that has been installed in the mezzanine level of the Great Hall. The vibrant images capture Cayman’s landmark architecture in Dready’s signature style with pops of vibrant colour, simplicity of style, irreverent humour and playful commentary. The popular series “wrapped” the NGCI’s Dart Auditorium Gallery in 2013.

REVIVE – Caymanian Craft, an exhibition developed by the National Gallery in 2017, showcases samples of Cayman’s long craft traditions.  Works by celebrated craftpersons such as Marlena Anglin, Carmen Connolly, Annalee Ebanks, Annie Joy Ebanks, Deal Ebanks, Rosemay Ebanks, Horacio Esteban and Lizzie Powell sit side by side with contemporary craft makers and designers Isy B, Virginia Foster, Simon Tatum, and Kathryn Elphinstone to illustrate the ways in which local craft continues to evolve. These works are presented in cabinets in the Great Hall.

The final exhibition features a single large format public artwork by Kaitlyn Elphinstone, who is one of 42 artists currently on display in the National Gallery’s Cayman Island Biennial exhibition. Entitled Coral Tiles (Contemporary Anthropocentric Tile Design) (2019), the digital collage is created from a combination of coral patterns and fretwork designs and comments on our intricate relationship with our surrounding landscapes. It was the only multi-site public art project submitted for the Biennial and it can be experienced in the Great Hall, the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, the Little Cayman Museum, and at the following venues in Cayman Brac from April 2019: Charles Kirkconnell International Airport, Panama Canal Boat Launch, The Market Place and Brac Scuba Shack.

NGCI Special Project Manager Emerentienne Paschalides is coordinating the project with National Gallery Director, Natalie Urquhart, and the NGCI curatorial team. Speaking to the selection process Mrs. Paschalides noted, “With the strong belief that public art reflects and reveals our society, we have selected a broad range of important key artworks, both traditional and contemporary, from representational to abstract styles and in a variety of genres and media, while remaining consistent with an overall theme. Seen collectively, these works begin to tell the story of our Islands’ unique art history from past to present. It is the start of what we hope will be a long and creative collaboration with the airport that will provide multiple opportunities for artists moving forward.”

This initial showcase will be on display for several months while the formal ORIA Public Art Program is developed and launched. For more information or to sign up to receive information about the launch and other art opportunities, please email info@nationalgallery.org.ky or visit www.nationalgallery.org.ky

We are pleased to partner with The National Gallery in bringing local art to life at the airport to help enrich the experience of the travelling public,” said CIAA CEO Albert Anderson. “This series, Art at the Airport, plays a special part in the Grand Opening of the newly redeveloped ORIA and sets the stage for a wider visual arts initiative that is being developed at the airport to feature both rotating exhibitions and permanent public art projects by some of the Islands’ most acclaimed creators. We would like to thank The National Gallery and, in particular, Director Natalie Urquhart for her support and guidance in helping to bring our vision to reality for this exhibition and those that will be featured in the future.”

The National Gallery and the Cayman Islands Airport Authority wish to extend a sincere thank you to project sponsor and NGCI Patron Mrs Susan Olde, OBE, as well as NGCI Special Project Manager Emerentienne Paschalides for her management of the final development and implementation of the project. In addition we wish to thank all featured artists, the installation teams of Signs of Paradise, Martlet Design Mike Johnston Design and McAlpine, and to our sister cultural organisations: the Cayman National Cultural Foundation, the Cayman Islands National Archive and the Cayman Islands National Museum for right to reproduce selected artworks.