...and surely we'll never die

This exhibition presents the NLS Residency artists’ work of Kamala Davies and Sonn Ngai, as well as the community work made this year in Maroon Town, St. James during the Sustainable Art Residency and Summer Camp. During this program, New Local Space administered workshops to 35 students ages 4 to 15 in sustainable technologies and materials within the local environment.

Featuring two dimensional and three dimensional works made of materials including natural fibres, recycled paper-based clay, recycled plastic bottles, local soils and salvaged charcoal, the exhibition highlights the prescient collective gesture made by the organisation and the artists featured in the show to work in harmony with the environment. Conceived and created in the quiet summer before the first documented Category 5 storm to make landfall in the Atlantic Basin, yet publicly presented within Hurricane Melissa’s aftermath of socio-ecological and economic devastation, these sculptures, paintings, weavings and collage work invite the general public to coconspire in creating a new normal in which we work with the environment and our collective survival.

Maroon Town and Flagstaff, located in rural St James, Jamaica, are historic communities of the Leeward Maroons, a people whose traditions of resilience, environmental care and strong community values continue to inspire Jamaica today. For the past two years, New Local Space, a Jamaica-based cultural NGO, has administered the Sustainable Art Residency and Summer Camp in Maroon Town, where professional artists teach children creative skills using environmentally conscious materials and methods.

In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, families in these communities have faced new challenges, and New Local Space has expanded its work from arts-based programming to community support. The organisation has been providing essential relief items such as groceries, clothing, basic building materials and assistance with crop and forest recovery.

As we now enter the recovery stage, NLS is guided by a focus on education, sustainability and community renewal. Ensuring that children can return to school with the tools they need is a central priority, as education remains one of the most powerful pathways to opportunity. At the same time, supporting farm recovery will allow families to resume planting, restore their livelihoods and help the wider community rebuild with dignity and independence.

The collective of artists included in the show are Ammoy Smith, Kamala Davis, Sonn Ngai, Keen Coke, Debera Vernon, Deborah Anzinger, Joyette Barham-Fennell, Shania Wallace, Tyrese Allen, Osharie Bennett, Chelsea Barker, Jade Barker, Waldein Belvitt, Shandine Blake, Anna-Kay Buchannan, LeShauntaé Campbell, Rayon Campbell, Antwayne Christie, Janet Cleghorn, Ajae Cooke, Jeremiah Cooke, Latoya Cooke, Naomi Cooke, Kedesha Cranston, Shauna Kay Cranston, Tishana Cranston, Michael Ferguson, Carnila Gardener, Romario Gardener, Tahare Gardener, Raheem Gooden, Agian Green, Ameila Green, Naliah Grey, Duane Grizzle Jr., Jayden Hudson, Jesseanne James, Adia James, Jada Johnson, Maia Lawrence, Oshwanick Lawrence, Jordane Linton, Malik Donovan Lowe, Lavier Mason, Kemar McKenzie, Francesca Mullings, Raheem Reid, Jaydon Shakes, Jovanna Swaby and Devar Waite.