in the arts...

THE BERMUDA NATIONAL GALLERY'S BIENNIAL EXHIBITION

Every other summer, on the even year, the Bermuda National Gallery hosts a biennial exhibition of contemporary Bermuda art. This year is the ninth such show and, as usual, it is proving to be controversial. In order to participate in this exhibition, the submitting artist must be either Bermudian or have been resident in Bermuda for at least six months during the previous two years. The work must also have been produced during the last two years. Founding trustee, Dennis Sherwin, first suggested the “Biennial”. That was back in 1994, right after the BNG first opened its doors and from the getgo it was provocative. From the start, qualified individuals from overseas have juried this exhibition. It was thought best, if the jurors knew little or nothing about the submitting artists. With no previous involvement with the Bermuda art community, they would thus be able to more objective in their assessments. This also helped local artists see their work in fresh, new ways, thus providing an impetus for renewed creativity and growth. For the 2010 Biennial the jurors were Veerle Poupeye, executive director of the National Gallery of Jamaica and Tumelo Mosaka, curator of contemporary art, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois. Perhaps as never before, they have raised the bar to a very high level. Although seventyseven artists submitted work for consideration, only twenty artists had their work selected. A quote from the juror’s statement succinctly highlights the general thrust of their intentions: “The exhibition we have selected, therefore, does not seek to provide a broad survey of the contemporary art scene in Bermuda. Had we done so, we would have produced a biennial, which replicated much of the 2008 edition and unproductively encouraged stagnation. Instead, we have focused on work that departs from the safe, fixed positions we detected in much of what was submitted and charts more open-ended, critical trajectories, in keeping with what we believe should be the exploratory, developmental thrust of this biennial.” In the almost two decades since the establishment of the Bermuda National Gallery in 1992, the Bermuda art scene has been almost totally transformed, from one that was largely devoted to tourist art, to one that is far more reflective of the diverse interests and ethnicities that make up our community. It has been suggested that the Bermuda National Gallery and its Biennial exhibition has been a catalyst for stimulating this change and this year’s Biennial is once again prodding Bermuda’s artists to reconsider what it is they are doing, in order to encourage further development. If you want to get a feel for creative Bermuda, this is an exhibition to see. The exhibition closes November 26, 2010. Admission is free.