In response to the proliferation of digital technology and developments within the wider museum field, the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands (NGCI) has evolved significantly in recent years to meet the needs of its in-person and online audiences, embracing new forms of digital interactivity that have changed the way museum collections are experienced by the public.

NGCI’s digital engagement programme encompasses several overlapping projects focused on providing audiences with multiple points of access to the gallery’s exhibitions, collection, and educational resources. While these efforts were initially conceived some years earlier, the experience of lockdown in Cayman—during which the Gallery was forced to close its doors to the public for four months—provided further impetus for the expansion of NGCI’s digital initiatives. Today, the Gallery’s digital programme includes 360-degree virtual exhibition tours; community-focused online exhibitions; downloadable educational resources for local teachers and school students accessible via the NGCI website, as well as the Gallery’s Collections Online webpage and digital exhibitions archive.

Combining these digital offerings with NGCI’s existing in-person experiences and ongoing outreach programming, the National Gallery is now able to reach an even wider audience, be it tourists visiting NGCI’s central exhibition space for the first time, school groups attending a guided tour of its current exhibitions, or online visitors engaging with Caymanian art from anywhere around the world. While the traditional museum experience of in-person visits will always remain central to what NGCI offers to its audiences, the expansion of these kinds of digital offerings makes for “a much more interactive and welcoming visitor experience”, while also “re-emphasising NGCI’s commitment to inclusivity and widening access to all members of our diverse community”, Director and Chief Curator Natalie Urquhart states.

New Acquisitions Highlighted Through NGCI’s Collections Online

Throughout the course of 2022, NGCI acquired 30 new artworks for the National Art Collection, made possible through funded purchases and several generous donations. These acquisitions include significant works by artists such as Bendel Hydes, Monte Lee Thornton, Betty Wood, Joanne Sibley, Nasaria Suckoo Chollette and Charles Long. Chiming with the Gallery’s mission to ensure the Collection is made as accessible as possible, these acquisitions have all been uploaded to the NGCI website, where online visitors can now view high-resolution images of each of the featured artworks, as well as informative descriptive labels. Originally launched in 2020, the NGCI Collections Online project – the largest archive of Caymanian art anywhere in the world – has subsequently allowed online users at home and abroad unparalleled access to information about our Islands’ foremost artists, creating a comprehensive resource on Caymanian visual culture for both scholars and members of the general public alike.

25 Years of NGCI Exhibitions Now Accessible via Online Archives

In tandem with updates to the collection pages of the Gallery’s website, NGCI has recently launched its Digital Exhibitions Archive: a two-year project that chronicles the history of the organisation through its extensive exhibition programme, featuring content from over 100 past exhibitions dating back to the Gallery’s founding in 1997. Each exhibition page includes installation shots of the respective exhibits; individual artwork images; descriptive texts, as well as downloadable content such as catalogues, artist biographies, press articles and newspaper reviews. Providing another indispensable tool for researchers of Caymanian art and culture, this project will further support the ongoing preservation of the Gallery’s work and cultural projects for future generations.

New Collection Exhibition and Launch of the Gallery’s Latest Virtual Reality Tour

After a busy year that featured 13 National Gallery exhibitions across its central exhibition spaces, satellite venues and online platforms, NGCI ended 2022 by debuting the latest re-hang of its collection galleries, which are now host to a new exhibition entitled The Ties That Bind – A Journey Through the National Collection. Presented in the Gallery’s Upper Exhibition Hall, The Ties That Bind explores the significance of domestic life and the centrality of the home within the wider story of Caymanian art, highlighting the multiple ways artists have chronicled Cayman’s social and cultural evolution over the past half-century. The featured artworks bring the Caymanian people to the forefront through an overarching focus on threads of connection – the community ties and family relationships that have long served as the bedrock of the Caymanian experience, the bonds forged with our natural surroundings, as well as the collective effort to shape a clearer picture of our shifting national identity. These themes are addressed by 49 local artists and over 80 artworks drawn from NGCI’s collection and those of the Cayman Islands National Museum and the Cayman National Cultural Foundation.

Joining a growing number of virtual exhibitions posted to the Gallery’s website, The Ties that Bind can now be experienced both physically and virtually, with a 360-degree virtual set to launch online in February 2023.

The Ties That Bind is on view until October 2023 and admission is free and open to all. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm. For more information about the exhibition, or for related lectures, workshops, and programme schedules, please visit: www.nationalgallery.org.ky or call (345) 945-8111.

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