Rastafari in The Visual Arts

From Rastafari Education Daily,
A regular column by kaya, Sep 13, 2005         

Summary: Part Two of Rasta influences on the Visual Arts

 
Another contributing factor in the rise of Rastafarian art is the"Rastafarian Movement Association", or"RMA". In the 1970's, Rastas were getting publicity in New York City newspapers, most of which was gang and drug-related; but the Rastafarians' paintings were gaining popularity along with the musical form of Rasta,"reggae". One of the RMA's services rendered to Rasta artists was to gain this type of exposure for the artists' works. The association had an office in Kingston that contained two rooms, which served as a workshop, an office, and a sales shop, in which they sold Rastafarian arts, crafts, and literature. The RMA also had a monthly paper called the Rasta Voice, which contained editorials, African and Rastafarian history and current news, pictures, and poems (Barrett,177). This paper was another way in which Rastafarian artists could spread their ideas, gain exposure, and ideally, make a living. In fact, the author of The Rastafarians hadn't even heard of the Rastafarian Movement Association until he saw several works in the Gallery Institute of Jamaica that were done by members of the association. (Ras Dizzy to left) This tremendous surge of African-rooted Rastafarian art, music, and poetry have helped lead to a routinization, or social acceptance of the Rastafarian movement within Jamaica. As mentioned earlier, the Rastas were the first emergence of a true grassroots culture in Jamaica, and this made Jamaicans proud of the artistic output the island has had in the past 50 years. Unfortunately, this"Jamaican pride"has led to somewhat of a commercialization of Rasta-inspired art. That is to say, the Rastas' works have become something like collector's items, and the Rastafarian themes have been used in art without being backed up by true spirituality of the artist. Ras"T"speaks of this:"The Rasta theme is now a convention. Years ago no one would stoop so low to paint a Rastaman. Today it is the thing. For many it has become a commercial gimmick."(Barrett, 188). This"commercialization"is evident in many aspects of current Jamaican lifestyles; hairstyle and speech are the most common ones, but this does not affect the Rastaman. As Barrett states:"it does not say that they have allowed themselves to be co-opted. They are aware of their role as a movement for change and, though their tactics have changed, their strategy remains in their creation and production of songs, music, and sculpture. These have now become the medium through which the message is spoken."(Barrett, 162). The messages and ideals of the Rastafarians are portrayed through several symbols in their visual art, all of which are universal to the Rastafarian movement. The use of symbolism is perhaps the most powerful method of portraying a message, even more effective than rhetoric. When viewing a work of art that has symbolic meaning to it, one can have many different thoughts and images running through their head simultaneously; yet speech tends to convey only one message at a time. The literal meaning of the word"symbol"is"throwing together"; the combination of many different ideals in one solid image (Barrett, 137). Much of the symbolism used by the Rastafarians has biblical ties, other symbols are related to their homeland, Africa, and the rest have to do with Rastafarian religious beliefs and practices.

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