Whispers of Ancestral Wisdom: Stories of St. Bess - 2025

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Location: Parish of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica

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Project Description: 

Whispers of Ancestral Wisdom: Stories of St. Bess is a multi-sensory installation that explores how memory resides in material, form, and place. The work is the culmination of a two year collaboration between artists Carolyn Elaine (USA) and Camille Chedda (Jamaica), supported by WARE Collective. Together with community members, the artists gathered stories, dreams, and reflections to inform a visual language rooted in the cultural legacy of St. Elizabeth Parish, affectionately known as St. Bess.

Inspired by the enduring beauty of traditional Spanish wall dwellings, the installation pays homage to ancestral architecture and presence. The hand textured red earth walls and thatched roof of the freestanding structure echo the resilience and warmth of historic St. Bess homes. The exterior becomes a sculptural vessel, a tactile portal into memory, belonging, and identity.

Inside, two mosaic portraits of children greet visitors at the entrance, proud, rooted, and unafraid, standing at the threshold of time. Behind them, delicate relief sculptures of everyday ancestral objects such as handwoven baskets, a kitchen bitch, and an oil lamp emerge like quiet echoes from the past. These familiar forms whisper of a slower, dignified rhythm of life, passed from hand to hand, heart to heart.

At the installation’s center is a commanding mosaic portrait of village elders. Radiant in scale, color, and detail, it anchors the space with reverence and strength. Flanking this central image are photographic “portals” that offer glimpses of vintage people and architecture from St. Bess. Backlit by natural sunlight, these photographs invite quiet contemplation, gently immersing viewers in a shared space of time and memory. The impressions we witness today will one day become the whispers of tomorrow.

Blending mosaic, sculpture, and photography, this installation weaves together bold expression and intimate recollection, communal pride and private legacy. It is a shrine of story, a sacred space where the past is not forgotten, but vividly remembered and lovingly revealed.

This project was generously supported by the Lighton International Artists Exchange Program, The Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation, Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, and Wattle and Red Earth Collective.

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