Members of the media gathered at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts on Tuesday for a private viewing of the School of Visual Arts’ annual Faculty Exhibition. This year’s staging is entitled heArt of the Caribbean, and reflects on Caribbean identity, history and contemporary experience through diverse artistic practices.

The exhibition, which is currently open to the public, runs until March 19 at the College’s CAG[e] gallery and features works by faculty members working across a range of media including fibre, clay, metal, wood, pigment, paper and lens-based practices.

Speaking at the viewing, organisers explained that the exhibition’s theme draws on the symbolic meaning of the heart across cultures.

“Aristotle considered the heart as the seat of life and intelligence. This four-chambered organ, viewed in many cultures as the repository of soul, becomes a fitting metaphor for who we are as Caribbean people,” the curatorial statement noted.

Under the theme heArt of the Caribbean, the exhibition brings together visual narratives that reflect the rhythms, tensions and connections that shape Caribbean life. The works reference ancestral memory, the shifting geopolitical climate, environmental concerns, and questions of identity, belonging and personal experience.

Lecturer at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) and visual artist Philip Thomas presents Manslaughter, an untitled mixed media work. (Photo: Llewellyn Wynter)

Mama Africa (Birth of a New Nation) by Danielle Matthews is an oil on canvas self-portrait reflecting her pregnancy. (Photo: Llewellyn Wynter)

● Textile artist Jill Becker presents an intricate untitled work centred on a single bird. (Photo: Llewellyn Wynter)

A detailed shot of the artwork by Stacy-Ann Hyde. (Photo: Llewellyn Wynter)

Robert Ayre exhibits a piece from his photographic series Out of the Box. Out of the Box V is produced in PVC with stand-offs. (Photo: Llewellyn Wynter)

Contemporary artist and Assistant Curator at the College, Yulanah Mullings, stands with her work Unprotected, an in-progress piece examining the experiences of women and the failure of male protection in society. (Photo: Llewellyn Wynter)

Sculptor Raymond Watson exhibits Ancestral Connection, a metalwork piece (Photo: Llewellyn Wynter)

Artist Stacy-Ann Hyde (left) discusses her process with Kimberly Hyatt, Public Relations Officer at the College. (Photo: Llewellyn Wynter)

Studio Manager at the Edna Manley College School of Visual Arts (SVA), Stefan Clarke, shares the concept behind his collaborative work with colleague Katrina Coombs. Clarke created the wire frames and photographed the pieces, while Coombs, a textile designer and lecturer, produced the masks. (Photo: Llewellyn Wynter)

● Photography adjunct lecturer Amanda Lazarus poses with her work, an untitled image from her series titled The Body, Fragments, which focuses on overlooked body parts. The image depicts a mother’s abdomen. (Photo: Llewellyn Wynter)

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Through materials and techniques ranging from traditional craft forms to contemporary and new media practices, the artists examine what the curators describe as “the noise in our blood” — the complex emotional, historical and cultural forces that inform Caribbean artistic practice, said School of Visual Arts Director of Studies, Paula Daley.

The exhibition also highlights the role of the School of Visual Arts at Edna Manley College as a centre for artistic development in the region. As the only institution of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, the school has long played a central role in shaping visual arts education and producing leading artists and art educators across the region.
Many of the exhibiting artists are themselves graduates of the institution who have returned as faculty members, continuing a legacy of mentorship and creative inquiry that has shaped generations of Caribbean practitioners.

“The works in this exhibition speak to our ongoing investigation and recording of the tangible and intangible as we question what it means to be Caribbean,” the statement added.

Visitors to heArt of the Caribbean encounter a wide range of approaches and perspectives. Some works explore the body and personal narrative, while others engage broader themes such as environmental change, cultural memory, and the masking and unmasking of shared identities. Together they present a layered portrait of contemporary Caribbean artistic thought.

As part of the exhibition’s public programme, artist talks will take place on March 12 and March 19, offering audiences the opportunity to hear directly from the artists about their work and creative processes.

The faculty exhibition forms part of the College’s broader programming celebrating the creative work of its academic community and reaffirming its commitment to artistic research, experimentation and regional cultural dialogue.

heArt of the Caribbean is open to the public at the CAG[e], Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, 1 Arthur Wint Drive, Kingston 5, until March 19, 2026.