So many thoughts are vying for attention and each is causing a measure of discomfort.
A provision of $3.6 billion for art and culture. What did the $2.7 billion accomplish last year? Wasn’t there an allocation for an art gallery and museum in that? What did the something of $2.7 billion in 2024 achieve towards a much-needed, modern, and fit-for-purpose gallery and museum space? Now, in 2025, $8 billion for sport and $3.6 billion so the government can “encourage Guyanese to embrace their national identity, take pride in their heritage, and work cohesively to build a thriving society.” I have thoughts of one whose viewing lenses are not rose coloured.
Last year, in 2024, one of the oil folks sponsored in part or full three art exhibitions. In the case of the first, the relevant ‘ministry’ provided the space while the oil folks paid for the banners, the exhibition booklets, and opening night refreshments.
Earlier that year the same ‘ministry’ allowed the septuagenarian artist the gallery’s two functioning floors of exhibition space which the artist happily filled with mostly large (therefore, costly) paintings. There was no banner on the perimeter walls of the compound of the gallery graciously sponsored by the ‘ministry’ announcing the exhibition to passersby. Advertisement was done through electronic mailing lists and word of mouth. Furthermore, no exhibition catalogue (not even a leaflet) was printed for the artist. The non-provision of this key element of proper and effective exhibition-making – a catalogue/a fitting record that this thing happened – was part of the reason our oldest living artist refused to have his 90th Birthday celebrated with an exhibition here. Our loss!
What should we expect in 2025? My thoughts say we won’t be any closer to having an appropriate space by the end of the fiscal year. The same ‘ministry’ does not care about art or culture. Such is the word on the ground, and the word on the ground is consistently the same. Alas, the evidence is plain to see. Water not running through taps in buildings where it should or suffocating heat or deafening noises in spaces where the creative spirit must thrive. I am, however, expecting sums to be shared in grand gestures of ‘we care about art’, and for artists and artistes alike to be called upon to be agents of sloganeering. I wish my lenses could be rose coloured.
My thoughts hover on the necessity to enhance the human resources to encourage ‘embrace of national identity’ and ‘pride for place’ – training for creatives (the dancers, the actors, the playwrights, the visual artists, etc) at all levels. I think of creatives aspiring to the pinnacle of their craft and being supported in pursuing excellence. My thoughts also dare to entertain the idea that in Guyana, creatives may be able to sustain themselves on the fruits of their creative endeavours – be paid well for a job well done. My thoughts also hover over a Guyana with abundant opportunities for creatives to share their craft with appreciative audiences across the length and breadth of our beautiful country. My thoughts are rose coloured.
Our 90-year-old artist had the idea long ago, when he established the Division of Creative Arts at the University of Guyana (UG), that while the art and dance schools trained the practitioners, the UG would train the would-be patrons in the nuances of visual art, dance, choral music, and drama. His idea, despite its merit, was abandoned when he departed and soon the UG set on a different trajectory (if ever they were on his). This idea of our 90-year-old artist needs revisiting – adjacent to training creatives, the knowledge, sensitivities and sensibilities of audiences need to be developed. People need to be trained in arts and it needs to begin in the schools and perhaps be advanced at the university. After all, as of September 2024, the Burrowes School of Art (BSA) (tuition-free) is offering an undergraduate degree in art and as of January 2025 the UG’s undergraduate degree in art is accessible without tuition. What sense does it make that both the university and the BSA should offer undergraduate degrees in art with similar outcomes in a country with such an under-developed arts infrastructure? Clearly, one will have to pivot to address gaps.
I think about my love for our interior and the four-day hiking trip that costs much more than a ticket and weeks spent in a northern metropolis. I think about expendable cash, for those who are fortunate to have it, being spent here within our 83,000 square miles. I think about the amazing interior vistas that cost too much to encourage local tourism in appreciable numbers but alas, what to do once there? Without family, friends or work to do there, there is often very little to do. I think about the coastal roads to more shopping malls. And I wonder, could we have roads to interior destinations with diversified options of things to do. Therefore, my thoughts entertain the idea of regional galleries and museums (albeit smaller) with collections specific to the area’s history, archaeology, art and anthropology. I dare to think about travelling exhibitions of works from our National Collection to regional galleries. I dare to think of regional galleries and museums staffed with trained personnel and with robust outreach and educational programmes. My lenses are clear but I wish this reality could be coloured rose.
I have hopes that do not depend on $3.6 billion and the colour of roses. I am hoping that I and others will not succumb to the perverse and pervasive indifference. And I am hoping that with each exhibition I visit I will be encouraged by the spirit of art – art which critiques and ignites, which speaks to the soul and inspires, and offers hope for the human condition.
