Revisiting An Eye for the Tropics

EXHIBITION

Revisiting An Eye for the Tropics

Friday, March 31, 2017
Wednesday, April 25, 2018

NAGB (Permanent Exhibtion)
West and West Hill Street
Nassau, The Bahamas

The new permanent exhibition, Revisiting An Eye for the Tropics, reconsiders both the National Collection and local private collections in regards to the colonial gaze and our post-colonial lives today, and features the work of over 20 artists.

James “Doc” Sands, ‘Eating Oranges’ (estimated c.1890-1930), hand painted postcard. “Visitors line up to sample exotic fruit”. Images courtesy of the NAGB. Donated by Stephen Lash.

Opening March 31, 2017 Revisiting An Eye for the Tropics is a look into how our visual representation as a nation throughout history has been shaped as a result of the desires of colonial era tourism. As discussed by Dr. Krista Thompson in her critical look at the tourism promotion material of the time (particularly photographs and postcards), the images show how both the cultural and physical landscape were produced and molded to fit a near impossible ‘tropical’ ideal for our islands – and examines in depth the repercussions of this as it pertains to the echoes of this epoch in contemporary Bahamian life.

The show is co-curated by NAGB curators Natalie Willis and Richardo Barrett