Statement of Intent

Located in Kingston, Jamaica the newly constituted and growing Arts Jamaica Collection is made up of hundreds of distinctive, rare and unique material including; exhibition materials, photography, newspapers and magazines, artworks and artefacts, vhs and dvd recordings, press releases, flyers and circulars, correspondence, brochures, reviews, résumés, artists’ statements and biographies, invitations, rare books and printed texts, exhibition catalogs, 35mm colour slides and negatives, illustrations, reproductions and more. The primary aim of this art and heritage archive is to corroborate and complicate major art history subjects, heritage ephemera and first-hand oral accounts contextualising modernist and contemporary art and makers in Jamaica — as well as the regional Caribbean.

Since 2021 my self-initiated and largely self-funded curatorial, pedagogical and research-based practice has advanced through rapid response collecting, spontaneous memorialisation, extended field work and excavations throughout the Caribbean region, USA, UK and Europe. Building on the existing scholastic foundation laid out dutifully by Dr David Boxer and Dr Petrine Archer-Straw, this deep study of artistic materials and historical records has produced frameworks for a richer textural canonical picture of Jamaica’s visual cultures and histographies since the 1920s, and predating.

The archival preservation process requires that documents first be assembled, classified and preserved, then actuated. This is urgent but must be done to a world standard. Through collective action will this independent non-profit initiative pursue immediate and long-term strands of inquiry that include; new pedagogies and workshops, printed matter, digital media, art-writing, exhibitions, monographs and other modes of strategic exchange. All fruits ripe!

I will be forever grateful to all who have facilitated and assisted me with this herculean task. To Margaret Reckord Bernal and Herman van Asbroeck, I am especially indebted for their insight and tutelage, sharing of priceless materials and the generosity of spirit that they have offered me over the years. Their continued support reinforces my vocation and steadfastness, as do the young artists in Jamaica who deserve to aspire.

Rianna Jade Parker

Co-Managing Director and Archivist

January 2026