Architectural Preservation highlighted

By Lindsey Turnbull

Thatch Roofs & Ironwood Posts is a new exhibition currently on show at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands that will run until 12th July. The exhibition showcases the ‘Art & Artistry of the Caymanian Home’ and, in doing so, it probes the heritage of the islands through architectural design, while at the same time questioning what the future is bringing for Cayman in terms of development and design.

The show is made up of artwork primarily from the National Collection held at the National Gallery, along with new work on loan from several leading artists and collectors. In addition, the Gallery has worked with local architect John Doak to feature his renderings of the four distinct styles of Caymanian early homes and their evolution. John’s book, Cayman Style, is also available for purchase at the Gallery and is a treasure trove of information on the field of domestic architecture, detailing his extensive research on the subject.  

National Gallery Collections Curator William Helfrecht said the exhibition was timely given the current discussions in Cayman about the scale and pace of development, and the lack of legislation around preservation of historic homes.

“The exhibition emphasizes the unique architectural heritage of our Islands and the need to pro-actively preserve the built heritage that remains. It seeks to raise awareness about the complexity of historic preservation and to shed light on the stakeholders who are invested in this area, such as the National Trust, who we work very closely, with and also the government,” he advised. “The loss of notable historic buildings that have been demolished over the past couple of years has really thrown a spotlight on this urgent issue.”

The Gallery hoped that the exhibition will help to increase visibility around the urgency of the topic, as well as to shed a balanced view in terms of the surrounding issues.

“There are a lot of families who inherit a historic property and the costs is exorbitant if you’ve got a property riddled with termites you might want to with the best intentions try and restore something - it’s about having the expertise, access to funding and the materials,” Will said.

It is anticipated that the exhibition and subsequent educational forums that will accompany it will give people a real insight into the what is needed to protect and preserve Cayman’s historic properties.

“Our Curatorial Team and Education Department have collaborated in the development of this project and, as with many National Gallery exhibition projects, it is conceived as a forum for dialogue and learning. The accompanying programme is as central as the actual artworks on display,” Will confirmed.

Architect John Doak’s research has been key to the show, which begins with what Will describes as “more literal architectural drawings of quintessential archetypal domestic structures” by the architect. The drawings are reproductions of John’s original drawings. They depict John’s classification of four basic designs of a Caymanian house. Some of the drawings are generic and some are of real properties (whether they are standing or not), the first being the wattle and daub cottage, a basic structure that goes back to the 1700s made from wattle and daub with a silver thatch roof. Later, the Cayman Cabin is a variation of the first design, an evolution employing ironwood posts, and, from about the 1920s, with corrugated roofing. The manor house or ‘upstairs’ house then followed, a two-storey dwelling that is a progression of the cabin form. John Doak’s image is of Cousin Mabel’s house, a property still in existence at the end of Boggy Sands Road in West Bay, with a gabled roof and stairs which are often configured in different orientations, Will described. This was followed by the bungalow.

“A lot was tied to changes in material,” Will explained. “This evolution that John sketches through his history is an evolution of construction techniques and materials. The rise of the bungalow after World War 2 is correlated to the prevalence of concrete as a new material.”

For the broader exhibition, the National Gallery has dug deep into its collection for some fascinating artwork from some of Cayman’s best-loved artists, including Charles Long, Bendel Hydes, Joanne Sibley, C.E. Whitney and Chris Mann.

Read more on this important new exhibition next time in the Caymanian Times.