About this event
The National Gallery of Jamaica is presenting a special edition of its Last Sundays on June 26, 2016, on the occasion of the 2016 Kingston on the Edge (KOTE) urban arts festival. The programme features music by Heavyweight Rockaz and, in collaboration with New Local Space (NLS), there will be an interactive video performance by the Martinique-based artist David Gumbs. There will also be opportunity to tour the current exhibition, Digital, and to view the permanent exhibitions.
Since meeting in early 2000 while still attending college, Wayne "Unga Barunga" Thompson and Jason "WelshBass" Welsh have been in studio producing rhythms that demonstrated their versatility in making sweet one-drop and dub-style beats, as well as dancehall rhythms. They have both worked with Jesse Royal and Tanya Stephens; Unga has toured with Jimmy Cliff and Beres Hammond, and WelshBass has worked with Stephen Marley and Jah Cure. They always had a desire however to perform together live, and in December 2014 at Wickie Wackie Live, the “Drum ‘n’ Bass” duo debuted as Heavyweight Rockaz. Their collaboration with Nattali Rize from Australia, a joint EP titled New Era Frequency was released late 2015, following their North American tour in June of that year. “From then ‘til now, the mission has been to unify people through the synergy of our music – bringing joy and hope,” says Unga. From the studio to the stage, Heavyweight Rockaz captures the sounds of today to create music for the ages.
David Gumbs, a native St Martin, challenges the “Perceptions Offscreen” — the unseen, the cycle of life, the nature within, and digital rhizome macroscopic universes — across a dynamic multimedia oeuvre, including painting, photography and experimental video. He studied at the Visual Arts School in Fort-de-France, Martinique, and majored in interactive multimedia conception at Les Ateliers, L’ENSCI in Paris. His work has been shown internationally, including recently: Video Islands, Anthology Film Archives (New York, 2015); Reflexions, 14°N 61°W Contemporary Art Space (Fort-de-France, 2014); Transforming Spaces, National Art Gallery of the Bahamas (2014); Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival (2014); Beep Bop Boop New Media Festival (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 2014); and the Martinique Biennial, Fort-de-France (2013). Since 2009, Gumbs has taught multimedia, trans-media and motion design at the Visual Arts School in Fort-de-France, Martinique. He recently completed the Davidoff Art Initiative’s Beijing Residency and will be part of NLS’ 2016 Summer Residency. He is one of the artists featured in the Digital exhibition.
As is now customary for Last Sundays, the doors will be open to the public from 11 am to 4 pm and the musical performance by Heavyweight Rockerz will start at 1:30 pm and will be followed by David Gumbs’ performance. Admission and guided tours will be free. Contributions to our donations box are however appreciated and help to fund exhibitions such as Digital and our regular Last Sundays programming. The Gift and Coffee Shops will also be open for business.