Experience and taste Jamaican culture in a new way with Jamaican-Canadian photographer O’shane Howard’s newest photography exhibition NYAM in Toronto.
Meaning ‘eat’ in Jamaican patois, NYAM celebrates the lifestyle and traditions of Jamaican dining and rich island culture.
Howard spoke with Now Toronto on Monday to discuss what people can expect when they view the artwork at Chubby’s Jamaican Kitchen in downtown Toronto.
“For people that are not from the culture or from the island, it’s a good way to educate people or people to be curious about why things were shot the way they were shot and just to get them informed, and why I approach it the way that I did and why culturally we do the things that we do,” he said.
Curated by Ashley McKenzie-Barnes, NYAM is a continuation of his four-part series titled YAAD that was released earlier in February. Similar to NYAM, YAAD was a project focused on the Jamaican diaspora with an emphasis on the different elements that make up a Jamaican home and lifestyle. The photo series centers on four key areas: the Kitchen, Bedroom, Living Room and Jamaican Flag.
Howard says for YAAD, he took inspiration from everything and everyone who made a significant impact on him, from moments of his childhood, adulthood to the experiences of others who grew up in Jamaica.
“NYAM essentially is the offspring from YAAD, more so focusing on the dining aspect, the lifestyle aspect. The Jamaican dish that we all like to eat and just enjoy amongst our peers. And so, this really highlights the lifestyle that comes with that. Whether it’s with your friends, your family, but also like to really showcase that, you know, Caribbean people are not all Black,” he explained.
“That’s why when you see the images, it’s not all Black people. It’s a variety of different people within the images. And that’s something I really wanted to really highlight when doing the NYAM project,” he added.
Howard says this project aims to bring attention to the Jamaican community in Canada. He wanted to create work that embodies his heritage while invoking a sense of nostalgia and connection for people to relate to.
“I’ve done it for other cultures, but I’ve always wanted to do it for my culture. And knowing like, what’s going on at little Jamaica, with the construction and everything and how it’s really being stripped away, I kind of feel like what my team and I are doing, we’re kind of preserving that in the city. It’s really creating things that people can still take away and learn and enjoy from with these images. So, when people go there, hopefully they really dissect what’s being done,” he said.
“I hope they really take in, not only is this artwork, but this is Caribbean artwork. So, yeah, I hope they just really soak it up and just enjoy it and start conversations to eat some nice food and whatnot,” he added.
NYAM is available for viewing at Chubby’s for the rest of the summer. Visitors are encouraged to go with friends, family or loved ones and indulge in both the art and authentic Jamaican food.
In addition to this exhibit, people can also check out Howard’s photography series, Jump Ball, as part of the Feels Like Home exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).
Jump Ball was created in collaboration with Sunday School and takes viewers on a journey through the African diaspora in Toronto. The exhibit is a marriage between the emergence of basketball in Africa and the embracement of its traditional components.
“As a whole, when it comes to my body of work and what I get hired for, I really embed culture in what I do. Even if it’s on a passion project or even on a commercial level, I really find a way to embed the culture at a very high level, in everything that I do, and to showcase it tastefully, that everybody can enjoy. So, that’s something that I really, really, take pride in,” Howard said.
Jump Ball is available at the AGO in conjunction with Sunday School’s Feels Like Home until May 2024.
