Seeing dancehall as a positive aspect of Jamaica’s culture, co-curator of Cyah Stall Art Exhibition Dr Winston Campbell declared that it was important that the 20 art pieces displayed at the CreativSpace Art gallery on Windsor Avenue, Kingston, didn’t ‘bash’ the musical genre.

Instead, he told the Jamaica Observer that the eight participating artists looked at various aspects of the dancehall culture and essentially created a visual commentary that would garner more appreciation from the public for the culture.

“This exhibition has been in fact a few years in the making. We are lovers of the music [and] of the culture. This exhibition seeks not to critique dancehall culture, but more so to highlight some of the things that are worthy of adoration, worthy of consideration and having said that, it doesn’t mean that the pieces aren’t offering criticism, some pieces are offering critique of our social space, our way in which we approach ideas of gender and politics and economics,” Campbell said.

The exhibition will run from February 1 to February 19, and according to Campbell, this month was chosen to showcase the artworks because it is also Reggae Month.

“We targeted this month to have this exhibition so that the conversations that are possible through an exhibition like this can in fact take place and other conversations related to the music are in fact ongoing,” he explained.

Campbell also added that the name of the exhibition is based on dancehall giant Vybz Kartel’s 2016 song, Dancehall.

“He essentially says, no matter what’s going on, dancehall will continue. And when we understand the history of dancehall itself, that is a true statement, dancehall as space is from the early to mid-20th century at least in Jamaican context,” Campbell stated.

Campbell also confirmed that a majority of the artists in the exhibition are millennials, and he noted that this was deliberate because this group of people tend to present a unique view when creating art pieces, as well as the other contributions to the world that they have made.

“If we look at even the structure for Government – the Lower House and the Upper House – many of the individuals sitting in the Senate and in Parliament are millennials. Not everybody, not necessarily the majority, but increasingly we are seeing millennials are shaping policy at that level. Many of the technocrats are millennials, leaders of the technological fourth revolution are millennials. And we see that they (artists) are integrating these elements,” he said.

Campbell continued: “Renard Harris’ bike, for example, integrates bluetooth technology to play on light and sound, though the structure of the bike is made of cardboard. And what we see there is the type of thinking that we want millennials to bring to the table, the traditional as well as futuristic.”

Speaking on the political commentary presented in the exhibition, Campbell cited a piece by Achim Clunis. The piece, a digital illustration with the words “Suh Yuh Move?” drawn along with figures partying on a yacht, is a reference to a song by entertainer Movado.

“What we find is that dancehall as a cultural form is reflective of the society, the issues in the society will come forth. We find the musicians pay keen attention to the political happening, the ways in which the resources in the country are being used, or not being used. If you look at the way in which the partying seems to benefit those who are loyal to the political establishment, he (Clunis) reminds us of this,” Campbell explained.

“As members of the audience when we look at that work, one of the things that we have to realise is that we are not on the boat, we are off the boat looking at the boat. That’s what happens to the majority of the people in the society. So, things may look festive, but is it festive for everybody? Even the expression a suh yuh move. They are moving with our resources,” he added.

Meanwhile, Samantha Hay, a modern lettering artist, told the Sunday Observer that her three pieces made with cardboard fascinated her because, “The idea of using a raw material that a lot of times tends to be overlooked or underrated, and adding new dialogue around an object that is often tossed aside,” was something she was very interested in creating.

“So it’s kind of a trash to treasure type of story. I felt like the concept of dancehall is such a great merger, if you look at the beginnings of a lot of artists, a lot of them start in raw and rough situations and the idea of transposing that into something visual with text and words and phrases that we are so familiar with, was something that I really wanted to push,” she went on to say, noting that the pieces are Bere Vibes, 2022; Duppy Know Who Fi Fright’n, 2022; Hot Steppa, 2022 and Pop Style, 2022.

At the same time, sculptor and teacher at the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts Stefan Clarke said he was intrigued by the prospects of participating in the exhibition.

“Within the culture when you walk into a session, there’s so much textures that you can look at, there’s so much happening with what persons are wearing. I figured if I toned down the colour and then made emphasis where I wanted the emphasis, so for this, definitely the box, definitely the hair, the candy was just an element that popped in and once I started editing I was like, oh this is kind of cool,” Clarke said, speaking on his pieces, Jamaican Gyal 2017 and Tun Up Di Sound, 2015.