“How does ringplay serve to define us as girls and boys, as males and females? What kinds of play are appropriate or typical of Bahamian girls or Bahamian boys? What are the rules we establish? What are the values we hold up? What are the expectations we set for our children?”
— Dr Ian Strachan
The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas announces the Open Call for the 12th National Exhibition under the theme Ringplay.
Inspired by scholar, playwright, and poet Dr Ian Strachan’s documentary Show Me Your Motion: The Ringplay Games of The Bahamas, NE12 seeks proposals that use irony, play, and humour to critique the state of children within Bahamian society.
Show Me Your Motion examines how respectability politics reshaped the way Bahamian children engaged with traditional cultural expressions like ringplay, and how that suppression of play has since influenced how we navigate community, freedom, and self-expression.
NE12 calls for works centring collaboration and community engagement. For the first time in the National Exhibition’s history, the call is open to artists aged 12 and over. We welcome proposals from visual artists, musicians, playwrights, poets, and all other creative practices.
Submission guidelines
Proposals should be submitted as a single multi-page PDF or Word document to submissions@nagb.org.bs and must include:
- A CV or résumé with exhibition record
- A bio (200 words maximum)
- An artist statement outlining the proposed submission (300 words maximum)
- A detailed description with technical specifications, including space requirements, sketches, diagrams, and in-progress photographs. Up to five (5) images or sketches will be reviewed. If a full body of work is available online, please include a link.
Jury
Works will be reviewed by a selection jury comprising industry professionals and international voices, alongside the curatorial team. Following studio visits, a final selection will be made by Jodi Minnis-Rolle, Curatorial Director, and Letitia Pratt, Associate Curator. Jurors will be announced at a later date.
Key dates & upcoming programming
The following dates include submission milestones and programming designed to support you through the proposal process.
- 20 March 2026: CV & Proposal Writing Workshop — Sonia Farmer
- 8 June 2026: Submission deadline
- 1 July 2026: Notification of selection
- 20 July 2026: Announcement of participating artists
- January 2027: Delivery of works
- March 2027: Opening
Questions?
If you have questions not answered here, please contact curatorial@nagb.org.bs.