Rastafari Art

While reading the final chapters of Rastafari, the idea of the artwork of the Jamaican Rastas interested me. I was of course aware of the cultural effects that reggae has had on the Rastafari faith, as well as the rest of the world, but I was unaware of the important artistic works of the era. These were and still are important works, however, they are not as well known as the music of Bob Marley, at least to me. My initial thought for this blog was to show some of the art mentioned in the book, however, most of the works I researched are not easily accessible online. To the left is a sculpture by Edna Manley, entitled Negro Aroused was one of the only pieces of artwork mentioned in the book I could find. I am curious as to why the pieces of art are not visible on a common search engine, such as google. I am lead to dead ends in google books that have a brief reference to the works, as our textbook has. Other famous pieces of art appear; the Mona Lisa is plastered all over the Internet. The book explains that there are "dreadlocksed Jesus" and "black madonnas," indicating that cultural divides are breached when it comes to Rasta artwork. There are many non-Rastafarian artists who borrow images and symbols from the Rastafari culture to use in their work. A black madonna, by the way, is also called the Black Virgin and is the virgin Mary depicted as a black women. Why are these works that were heavily praised and deemed important in the book not available for others to enjoy, appreciate, and learn from?

The website of the National Gallery of Jamaica