All Access

In summer 2015 the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands (NGCI) brought its entire art collection out of storage and into the public arena, offering visitors the rare chance to view works not usually on display. All Access was co-running with the National Gallery’s conservation review of its collection and each day visitors were able to talk to the curators about the piece on which they were conducting the condition assessments.

Over 200 works of art were on view in a “Salon-style” display format, a tradition followed by major art museums until the twentieth century. Unlike the concepts of displaying art today, which are normally followed by NGCI curators — where the paintings are hung in a single horizontal row with breathing space between them — the Salon-style display hangs multiple works in close proximity from floor to ceiling in multiple rows. The effect was purposefully chaotic but dramatic.

All Access also kicked off an exciting new project entitled Art on the Street, which brought to the community its favourite artworks from the National Collection. These were pop-up displays of reproductions set up in all six districts of the Cayman Islands.