Embedded Files
The “Reimagining Nanny: Her Sword – A Seed” 2022 Project seeks a retelling of the story of Nanny, national heroine of Jamaica, in keeping with Queen Nanny's broader significant real and symbolic roles as a shaman of the forests, healer, priestess and protector of the springs and watersheds, and commander of energies of the earth, creatures, mountains and valleys of the Blue and John Crow Mountains of Jamaica. The project followed a 12-month implementation process that began on October 30th 2021 with a global call for visual artists to retell the story of Queen Nanny.
The “Reimagining Nanny: Her Sword – A Seed” 2022 Project seeks a retelling of the story of Nanny, national heroine of Jamaica, in keeping with Queen Nanny's broader significant real and symbolic roles as a shaman of the forests, healer, priestess and protector of the springs and watersheds, and commander of energies of the earth, creatures, mountains and valleys of the Blue and John Crow Mountains of Jamaica. The project followed a 12-month implementation process that began on October 30th 2021 with a global call for visual artists to retell the story of Queen Nanny.
Ibaya (artist's statement excerpt): "Blowing the Guamao (the Caribbean Queen Conch), carried sound across great distances to relay messages. The Mountain Whistler (Myadestes genibarbis) is known as a ventriloquist. Nanny , and fugitive slaves, would have used theirs, and other bird calls, to communicate. I surrounded the Guamao with these birds to showcase the different forest-sounds that would be used to communicate within and across the Nanny's mountainscapes."
Ibaya (artist's statement excerpt): "Blowing the Guamao (the Caribbean Queen Conch), carried sound across great distances to relay messages. The Mountain Whistler (Myadestes genibarbis) is known as a ventriloquist. Nanny , and fugitive slaves, would have used theirs, and other bird calls, to communicate. I surrounded the Guamao with these birds to showcase the different forest-sounds that would be used to communicate within and across the Nanny's mountainscapes."
"Caribbean people, often women, migrate across the world often as an exploited labour force paid meagre wages to care for others. Celebrating technologies of Caribbean caring and cultivation, Queen Nannies depicts the collective power of their knowledge and expertise in science and warcraft. For Maroons in both Jamaica and Dominica, the hinterlands were a sacred and lush spaces of refuge and ceremony. " - Dr. Tao Leigh Goffe
"Caribbean people, often women, migrate across the world often as an exploited labour force paid meagre wages to care for others. Celebrating technologies of Caribbean caring and cultivation, Queen Nannies depicts the collective power of their knowledge and expertise in science and warcraft. For Maroons in both Jamaica and Dominica, the hinterlands were a sacred and lush spaces of refuge and ceremony. " - Dr. Tao Leigh Goffe
Learn more about the work of Dr. Tao Leigh Goffe // writer, professor, interdisciplinary artist using this QR Code.
Learn more about the work of Dr. Tao Leigh Goffe // writer, professor, interdisciplinary artist using this QR Code.
"Queen Nannies depicts the collective power of their knowledge and expertise in science and warcraft. For Maroons in both Jamaica and Dominica, the hinterlands were a sacred and lush spaces of refuge and ceremony. ..." - Dr. Tao Leigh Goffe
"Queen Nannies depicts the collective power of their knowledge and expertise in science and warcraft. For Maroons in both Jamaica and Dominica, the hinterlands were a sacred and lush spaces of refuge and ceremony. ..." - Dr. Tao Leigh Goffe
Artist Lisa Callender reflects on her design process. "A Rally Cry!" A solitary female figure holds aloft The Abeng in a stance of defiance, inspired by the book cover of Edward Kamau Brathwaite’s “Wars of Respect: Nanny and Sam Sharpe," 1977.
Artist Lisa Callender reflects on her design process. "A Rally Cry!" A solitary female figure holds aloft The Abeng in a stance of defiance, inspired by the book cover of Edward Kamau Brathwaite’s “Wars of Respect: Nanny and Sam Sharpe," 1977.
Unlike in the painting (left ) "The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781" by John Singleton Copley , 1783 - in which the artist celebrates the valor and sacrifices of the British Red Coat's defence of their British occupation in the Americas, Segun's rendition of Queen Nanny (Queen Mother Arms of Liberation) castigates the Red Coats army, centers the horrors of war, and the illuminates contradictions at the intersectionality of womanhood, rebellion, religious beliefs and civility.
Unlike in the painting (left ) "The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781" by John Singleton Copley , 1783 - in which the artist celebrates the valor and sacrifices of the British Red Coat's defence of their British occupation in the Americas, Segun's rendition of Queen Nanny (Queen Mother Arms of Liberation) castigates the Red Coats army, centers the horrors of war, and the illuminates contradictions at the intersectionality of womanhood, rebellion, religious beliefs and civility.
Maroon spiritual leader Gaamang Gloria "Mama G" Simms of the Charlestown Maroons sits down with Professor Marcia Douglas in the Charles Town Asafu Yard to discuss the enduring spirit of Queen Nanny for Jamaican women and the diaspora - June 2022.
Maroon spiritual leader Gaamang Gloria "Mama G" Simms of the Charlestown Maroons sits down with Professor Marcia Douglas in the Charles Town Asafu Yard to discuss the enduring spirit of Queen Nanny for Jamaican women and the diaspora - June 2022.
Left to Right: Chief Colonel Marcia Douglas, Gaamang Gloria "Mama G" Simms of the Charlestown Maroons and Professor Marcia Douglas in the Charles Town Asafu Yard - June 2022.
Left to Right: Chief Colonel Marcia Douglas, Gaamang Gloria "Mama G" Simms of the Charlestown Maroons and Professor Marcia Douglas in the Charles Town Asafu Yard - June 2022.
Filming the Documentary: Professor Marcia Douglas channels Queen Nanny during a reenactment of an African inspired ceremony by blowing red iron-rich "ochre" pigment into the trade winds from the cliffs overlooking Lynches Bay, Portland Jamaica.
Professor Marcia Douglas is the author of The Marvellous Equations of the Dread: A Novel in Bass Riddim, Notes from a Writer's Book of Cures and Spells and Madam Fate as well as a poetry collection, Electricity Comes to Cocoa Bottom.
Her fiction, essays, reviews and interviews have been included in journals such as The New York Review of Books, Bomb Magazine, World Literature Today and in anthologies such as Kingston Noir, Jubilation: 50 Years of Jamaican Poetry Since Independence, Queen’s Case: Jamaican Literature, Home: An Imagined Landscape, Mojo Conjure Stories, Whispers from Under the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction, The Art of Friction, Edexcel Anthology for English Language/London Examinations IGCSE, The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse and The Forward Book of Poetry.
Richard Nattoo, participating artists, spends a day in Moore Town Maroon community with Chief Wallace Sterling (center) and learns about native plants and birds. Trip facilitated by BirdLife Jamaica executives (Ricardo Miller, Doris Grose & Damion Whyte) - June 2022.
Richard Nattoo, participating artists, spends a day in Moore Town Maroon community with Chief Wallace Sterling (center) and learns about native plants and birds. Trip facilitated by BirdLife Jamaica executives (Ricardo Miller, Doris Grose & Damion Whyte) - June 2022.
Richard Nattoo/Moore Town/June 2022: "As we visited Nanny’s resting place, we were enlightened by the stories told, and as I saw the liquid light of the Rio Grande dance with the sunlight in front of her resting place, a seed of an idea lodged into my mind’s soil. And as I used the small bottle that Colonel Sterling gave to me to catch water from the river in front of Nanny’s resting place, the thought went in full bloom - - as I realized I needed to use this (river) water in my watercolour portrait of Queen Nanny."
Richard Nattoo/Moore Town/June 2022: "As we visited Nanny’s resting place, we were enlightened by the stories told, and as I saw the liquid light of the Rio Grande dance with the sunlight in front of her resting place, a seed of an idea lodged into my mind’s soil. And as I used the small bottle that Colonel Sterling gave to me to catch water from the river in front of Nanny’s resting place, the thought went in full bloom - - as I realized I needed to use this (river) water in my watercolour portrait of Queen Nanny."
Leo Douglas (curator): "This project, working with the participating artists, interviewing Maroon leaders, and hiking with a film crew was a re-education about Jamaican plants and medicines. The jack-in-the-bush, the Guava-bud Tea, and the Guinea Hen Weed. These were precious journeys back into my childhood and into the ways of our fore-parents. "
Leo Douglas (curator): "This project, working with the participating artists, interviewing Maroon leaders, and hiking with a film crew was a re-education about Jamaican plants and medicines. The jack-in-the-bush, the Guava-bud Tea, and the Guinea Hen Weed. These were precious journeys back into my childhood and into the ways of our fore-parents. "
Chief Colonel Marcia Douglas of Charles Town Maroons describes the medicinal uses and preparation of Cerasee (Momordica charantia). The plant is native to Africa.
Chief Colonel Marcia Douglas of Charles Town Maroons describes the medicinal uses and preparation of Cerasee (Momordica charantia). The plant is native to Africa.
Silk Cotton Trees (Ceiba pentandra) appear in both the works of Ibaya and Richard Nattoo. The tree is native and sacred in both West African and Taino traditions. According to Hernandez Aquino (1977), Ceiba (pronounced “Sayba”) is a Taino word. Europeans noted the significant of the Ceiba tree to Afro-descendant Jamaicans.
This particular tree (video) has been a landmark on the journey between Port Antonio and Moore Town in the Rio Grande Valley. Among the branches are multiple species locally called "wild pine" - the tank bromeliads (genus Hohenbergia now Wittmackia), the epiphytic Currant Cactus (Rhipsalis), smaller bromeliads (genus Guzmania and Tillandsias), Philodendrons and ferns.
Professor Marcia Douglas, Dr. Leo Douglas and Doris Grose join Tracy Commock (Director- Natural History Museum of Jamaica, IOJ) and Vivian Crawford (Executive Director, IOJ/Maroon) for a run-though of the Reimagining Nanny launch program and gallery space - June 2022
Professor Marcia Douglas, Dr. Leo Douglas and Doris Grose join Tracy Commock (Director- Natural History Museum of Jamaica, IOJ) and Vivian Crawford (Executive Director, IOJ/Maroon) for a run-though of the Reimagining Nanny launch program and gallery space - June 2022
Cup-and-Saucer or Jamaican Rose (Blakea trinervia) is a Jamaican endemic flowering plant of the Melastome family. It is a typical plant of the Blue & John Crow Mountains. The flowers are distictive and common across Maroon lands - Photo Stokely Saddler.
Cup-and-Saucer or Jamaican Rose (Blakea trinervia) is a Jamaican endemic flowering plant of the Melastome family. It is a typical plant of the Blue & John Crow Mountains. The flowers are distictive and common across Maroon lands - Photo Stokely Saddler.
The Mountain Witch, Blue Dove or Crested Quail-Dove (Geotrygon versicolor). Shy forest understory birds. They walk the interior shaded forest floors, where they are often tough to find and see. Found only on Jamaica and listed by the IUCN as a near threatened species, this bird is symbolic of Queen Nanny's territory and represenative of her spirit.
The Mountain Witch, Blue Dove or Crested Quail-Dove (Geotrygon versicolor). Shy forest understory birds. They walk the interior shaded forest floors, where they are often tough to find and see. Found only on Jamaica and listed by the IUCN as a near threatened species, this bird is symbolic of Queen Nanny's territory and represenative of her spirit.
Professor Tao Leigh Goffe, exhibition artist (left) and Dr. Leo Douglas (curator, right).
Professor Tao Leigh Goffe, exhibition artist (left) and Dr. Leo Douglas (curator, right).
Dr. Leo Douglas (curator - left) and exhibition artist Richard Natoo (right).
Dr. Leo Douglas (curator - left) and exhibition artist Richard Natoo (right).
Moore Town Maroon Chief Col Wallace Sterling (left) greets Senator Barbara Makeda and Vivian Crawford, Exec. Director (right) on Nov. 27th during the viewing of the #ReimaginingNanny #Jamaica60 exhibition, Institute of Jamaica (IOJ).
Moore Town Maroon Chief Col Wallace Sterling (left) greets Senator Barbara Makeda and Vivian Crawford, Exec. Director (right) on Nov. 27th during the viewing of the #ReimaginingNanny #Jamaica60 exhibition, Institute of Jamaica (IOJ).
First folk song to name and recognize Grandie Nanny of the Maroons performed by the Jamaican Folk Singers on Nov. 27th, Institute of Jamaica (IOJ).
First folk song to name and recognize Grandie Nanny of the Maroons performed by the Jamaican Folk Singers on Nov. 27th, Institute of Jamaica (IOJ).
Page updated
Report abuse