Ain Bailey: The Jamaica Project

10 Apr-14 Jun 2026

Overview

This exhibition of London-based composer, artist and DJ Ain Bailey presents her ongoing trilogy of films and compositions rooted in her biography and relationship to Jamaica.

For over 15 years, Bailey has worked at the forefront of sonic exploration. Using sound in all its forms, Bailey opens up spaces of grief, loss, resistance and remembering – creating active and radical new models of community, co-production and connection.

Recorded during the artist’s first visit to Jamaica in 2025, in the exhibition’s newly commissioned work, 5C Jacques Road: Part One (2026), viewers accompany Bailey on her journey across the island towards the place where her mother’s family once lived. Unfolding in three parts, the footage, shot on an iPhone, is accompanied by a new composition featuring field recordings collected along the way.

The adjoining spaces of the exhibition play host to the two earlier works in the trilogy. Themes of family, history and connection also run through the second instalment, Untitled: Our Wedding (2022); a tender film of lingering shots of the photo album of Bailey’s parents’ wedding. These images are intertwined with lines of poetry by Remi Graves and a score by Bailey that re-versions the famous chord sequence from Richard Wagner’s 1850 work ‘Bridal Chorus’.

Version (2021), the trilogy’s first work, is comprised of compositions and recordings in which the artist reflects on her heritage through music and food – with each part accompanied by a text written by Taylor Le Melle. Above the screens hang 64 sculptures of Jamaica’s national fruit, the ackee –representing the years since Jamaica gained independence in 1962.

Ain Bailey and Camden Art Centre were shortlisted for the Freelands Award 2023.

Work durations
5C Jacques Road: Part One, 2026. 28 min 26 sec
Untitled (Our Wedding), 2022. 30 min
Version, 2021: Dub 40 min; Linstead Market 5 min 2 sec; Ackee 21 min 56 sec