Kimani Beckford Opens Solo Exhibition “Up You Mighty Race”

Contemporary Jamaican art took centre stage on Thursday, May 7th, with the opening of “Up You Mighty Race“, the first solo exhibition by acclaimed visual artist Kimani Beckford at The Business District in Kingston. A fair-sized crowd gathered at the venue to witness the historic milestone for Beckford, whose compelling body of work explores themes of identity, heritage, resilience and transformation through a distinctly modern Jamaican lens.

Delivering the feature address was Steven Dietrich, an avid art collector and Deputy Legal Counsel/Senior Legal Officer, who praised the exhibition for its depth and cultural relevance.

In his remarks, Dietrich said the exhibition’s title, drawn from the immortal words of National Hero Marcus Garvey, carries profound historical, cultural and psychological significance. “The words immortalized by Marcus Garvey were not merely spoken, but issued as a call to awakening: a call to dignity, a call to self-determination, a call to rise,” Dietrich told the audience.

He argued that Garvey’s message remains deeply relevant in contemporary society.
“Garvey’s declaration was never confined to a moment in the early 20th century. It was, and remains, a living idea,” he said.

According to Dietrich, Beckford’s interpretation of that message through art is both timely and courageous. “He has taken that call by Garvey and reinterpreted it for our time. The question is no longer whether we rise, but how do we rise in a world that is more complex,” Dietrich noted.

The senior legal officer said the exhibition challenges viewers to confront difficult but necessary conversations surrounding identity and progress. “Beckford’s work does not offer easy answers, but instead confronts us with layered truths: the tensions between heritage and modernity, the weight of history alongside the urgency of the present, and the beauty of identity and the struggle to define it on our own terms,” he said.

Dietrich also highlighted the emotional depth embedded in the exhibition. *There is power in this work, but there is also vulnerability. And that combination is where true artistic transformation occurs,” he emphasized.

Commending Beckford for staging the exhibition, Dietrich described the showcase as “bold, timely and necessary.” “Kimani, you have taken Garvey’s words and transformed them from history into living dialogue,” he asserted.

Beckford, a graduate of Garvey Maceo High School and the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2011 and has steadily built a reputation as one of Jamaica’s leading contemporary artists.

“Up You Mighty Race” will run for three months at The Business District, 19 Cargill Avenue in Kingston, offering patrons and art enthusiasts an opportunity to engage with a thought-provoking exhibition rooted in history, identity and cultural consciousness. 

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