Guide Their Way Home is a challenging work that may evoke troubling emotions. It acknowledges the Jamaican story, in its difficulty, precarity.

Evident in the numbers of these “hearts” before us is upheaval, wrenching loss, unmitigated cruelty. This work assists us in the ongoing recognition that most Jamaicans have experienced terror and abuse down the genetic timeline and, as a result, may carry feelings locked or buried within. Suppressed, hidden, burdensome, they are too many to carry. The price for not addressing these issues is highlighted in the current struggles facing our people, seen in the lack of opportunity and extreme inequity that exists in Jamaica today. While the process of reconciliation, which brings acknowledgement and consciousness to the unconscious, is imperative, so is a nationwide program dedicated to education, public housing and infrastructure.

Guide Their Way Home is an invocation that honors past souls gone before while opening a path for present transformation. This is the desired home. Guide Their Way Home refers to these spirits being given safe passage. In a world such as this, how do people hold on to their love, inspiration, and integrity? How do we do that? Jamaica is a survivor society; our culture is a remarkable one. It is this culture and spirit of hope, of redemption, that has helped it endure. Leaders such as Marcus Garvey and singers like Bob Marley have inspired us to understand and address racism and the effects of slavery.

The complete overview of Laura Facey’s featured work can be found in the Kingston Biennial 2022: Pressure Catalogue, which is available for sale in the NGJ Gift Shop.