Home & Hearth

This exhibition showcases reproductions of original works from the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands’ permanent collection. The latest instalment in NGCI’s ongoing travelling exhibition series, Home & Hearth: Architectural Scenes from the National Collection highlights the enduring appeal of Cayman’s traditional architecture and its quintessential embodiment, the Caymanian homestead, as a compelling subject of artistic investigation.

Focusing predominantly on the medium of watercolour, many of the featured artworks date from the 1980s and 90s—decades in which watercolour became increasingly popular in Cayman, in part thanks to the work of a prominent circle of artists closely associated with the Visual Arts Society—among them Maureen Andersen Berry, Joanne Sibley, Debbie Chase Van der Bol, and Janet Walker. Readily available and easy to use, watercolour allowed these artists to spontaneously capture the fleeting effects of light and shade, as well as the architectural details of beloved local landmarks.

Formally referred to as the National Collection, this public collection is held in trust for the people of the Cayman Islands and is jointly overseen by the Islands’ three national cultural organisations: the National Gallery (NGCI), the Cayman Islands National Museum (CINM) and the Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF). Collectively, these organisations are charged with preserving and promoting the visual and performing arts of and in the Cayman Islands, while providing a platform for displaying historical and contemporary expressions of Caymanian cultural heritage.