- Ian AllenThe entrance to the Edna Manley College.
Oya Kujichagulia, Contributor
THE instability of art, the confusion over its purpose and to whom it should be addressing itself, have recently become cause for concern. Most patrons are of the view that art needs not serve any purpose, but should create its own reality - the self-sufficiency of art is its salvation.
Therefore, one's aesthetic experience validates the essential qualities of art. No longer does art need society to keep it pure or valid for that matter. Art is hence created for the sake of itself.
While this dilemma may, on one hand, give room for that which is supposedly 'avant-garde', on the other hand, it too can hold our artist.
Too often Jamaican artists echo the ideologies of any 'blunder' exhibited in galleries of most metropolises, without the understanding of the socio-political and indeed, racial inclinations underlining these works.
Our artists therefore, choose to offer themselves up as misguided puppets to whimsical expressions bent on propagating stagnation and decadence to the national art.
No longer can their work be used as the hallmark of ability, mastery over technique or skilled knowledge, but it would seem, exist more as a token of self-aggrandisement, at best a mouthpiece for Modernism and Post-Modernism, at worse kitsch.
Hence the art is made into a touchstone for wanton individual freedom. Social responsibilities are sidelined for liberation from rules and restraints, which have served to keep such wayward expressions in the guises of experimental and evolutionary art, that which is 'Post-Modern', at bay.
Take the output by the students of the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA). 'Post-Modernist' free-fall tendencies have proven to be quite detrimental to the quality of works produced by students in the institution. One could say the college currently appears to be alienated from the social dimensions of the very fabric from which is woven the reality of the nation.
The College is listed as a tertiary institution, which offers diplomas and certificates in various fields of artistic expressions. The School of Visual Arts houses seven departments: Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Jewellery, Art Education, Fibre Art (Textile), and Visual Communications (Graphic Design). They are geared towards the nurturing of young and up-coming artists, critics, art historians, curators, etc., towards a higher level of competency in their chosen field of interest.
The extent to which each department has managed to equip the students to function accordingly, is grounded on the degree to which they have achieved some amount of success by way of regular exhibitions and the quality pieces exhibited. Moreover, this level of success pinpoints the relevance of the art school as far as its responsibility towards the development of the national art goes.
According to Veerle Poupeye, in an article entitled 'Redefining Jamaican Art', 1998, she cites where "The Edna Manley College has always played an important role in the development of contemporary Jamaican art [as the] school is a meeting place for the practising artists and a source of professional employment..." a factor, which she believes would necessarily inform the students both in terms of standard and ideological concerns.
Perhaps the college has not properly defined what it is about. Unlike that which is implicit in the former name of the institution - Cultural Training Centre, it would seem that the institution does not fully understand the essence of cultural traditions in the culture of Jamaica in particular and the Caribbean in general. Therefore it becomes next to impossible for them to hone the 'skills' of its students beyond mere regurgitated art without a relevant context in which to exist.
Maybe it is the college's sole aim to be a trophy to the late Edna Manley rather than opting to serve or to have a symbolic presence that may serve to impact the arts or artists. For certainly it has not adequately prepared the graduates for the existing careers that may be available outside the doors of the institution. Students do not know what to produce and instead of coming to terms with this fact, they dabble in what may appear to be quaint or new to the national taste; but how long will they be able to pull the wool over your face. Perhaps there is always the knowledge that they could fall back on the survival and craft skills they had provided as basic entry requirements for admission, after all craft shows are becoming big money ventures and a famous alternative to serious art.
