Dear Editor,
The now public disclosure of the 2011 budgetary allocation by the National Assembly to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport has sent shock waves throughout the artist community. Being the principle organizer of the Visual Arts in Georgetown and its outlying areas I have to constantly interact with artists who are often-times broke. They don’t have paints, brushes, canvas, chisels and carving sets. Simple sand paper and polish proves to be a problem because the artists just don’t have money and the costs of these items have all gone up astronomically on account of the 16% VAT.
Venues to exhibit our work is a problem, since 2008 we have applied for the use of the National Gallery but it is always booked up, so we are told. Other venues such as the National Library Conference Room costs $10,000 per day and the Umana Yana is $30,000 per day. Then to mount the exhibition we must have banners, invitations, brochures, radio and TV ads and some light refreshments. All this costs money and we received no support from or sponsorship from the government or private sector.
Say we succeed in bringing off the show; it turns out to be conscious raising because people only come and view our work but nobody buys. At our exhibitions held at the African Heritage Museum in October, in remembrance of the Holocaust only one piece of work was sold, purchased by the Museum, the rest of us went home broke. On account of this, exhibitions are becoming fewer as the years go by. Surely these activities should be subsidized by the Ministry of Culture as it is intended to develop public awareness of Guyanese culture.
Artists, like other segments of the Guyanese working population are faced with the increasing demands of the market place, bills to pay, children to send to school. It is on account of this prevailing condition that graduates from B.S.A and the UG Creative Arts Division enter into the teaching profession. The less fortunate are the self-taught artists who have to so some handy work or become Security Guards. The more fortunate ones who have some finance leave the country for greener pastures.
Nowhere else are artists treated so shabbily as in Guyana. It would appear that these men and women endowed with the vision needed to carry this country forward are of no importance!
The duplicity and double standards that pervade Guyanese society are quite evident in the artist community where artists who are not even employed by the government in some institution are still afraid to stand up and speak out.
I often time attribute my outspoken nature to my orientation in Latin America, the love for freedom, justice and fair play, the belief in God and that as a citizen I have a duty to the Guyanese nation.
Carifesta X came to Guyana in 2008, a billion dollars, so we are told, was spent to host the festival. The visitors who came and saw the display of Guyanese creativity marveled, they were astounded by the quality of work. We did make Guyana look good but at the end of the Carifesta X we all went home broke, it was simply amazing, we just didn’t sell a piece of work!
Minister Frank Anthony had repeatedly said that after Carifesta his Ministry was committed to promoting the “Art Trail”, commencing from Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri to Georgetown. Visitors were to be greeted by huge sculptures and wall murals.
Taking the minister quite seriously I dispatched a letter to him indicating my willingness to sell the collection “The History of Guyanese Struggle 1600 – 2000” -two large purple heart bas-relief sculptures 4 feet in height by 13 feet in length for a mere $750,000. These works took several years in production and covered 400 years of Guyanese history. Nowhere else within the entire region within the past 500 years has any other artist done a comprehensive study of his country’s history in wood. In my letter to the Minister I wrote “That a people who have no knowledge of their history, has no sense of purpose or direction.”
The Minister never responded to my offer.
In July, 2009, I once again approached Minister Anthony, this time as a member of the Guyana United Artists delegation to seek financial support from his Ministry to participate in an exhibition in which we were invited by the Federal University of Roraima – UFRR. The theme of the exhibition was “Continental Destiny.”
For two hours we reasoned with the Minister showing him that the way forward for Guyanese in South America could be capitalizing on those unifying features already present in our diverse cultural pattern. At the end of the meeting the Minister remarked that he was a “convert” to the ideal of Continental Destiny but unfortunately his Ministry could not help us financially; he referred us to the President. I undertook the task of writing to the President, enclosing a DVD production of the art collection “Continental Destiny”. My letter was sent back to the Minister of Culture.
We did not get any support from the government or the private sector, as a result only two of us were able to undertake the trip to Boa Vista with a curated version of the collection “Continental Destiny.”
The exhibition was well received by the Federal University of Roraima, the media and the Brazilian Public. Some months later we heard Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon speaking of “Guyana’s Continental Destiny”, we in the art circle were happy to hear that the government had become ‘converts’ to “Continental Destiny.” This was during the meeting of the union of South American Nations (UNASUR).
The government, in building its CIA Headquarters on the lawns of the Castellani House quite close to the National Unity Monument had destroyed the walkway and plaques around the monument and left the surrounding area in a deplorable state. I have since written to H.E. the President requesting that the Presidential Secretariat contribute to the restoration of the monument and informing him of the significance of the monument which was built to heal the open wounds of the Nation and was dedicated to Guyanese of all races in recognition of their contribution to the making of the Guyanese Nation. The monument was declared open on June 13, 1998 in memory of the Guyanese historian Dr Walter Rodney who, during his short lifetime had made an indelible contribution to improving race relations. It was endorsed by the late President Dr Cheddi Jagan. The government never did make any financial contribution to the rebuilding of the National Unity Monument.
I had to work at times after mid-night in Cali, Colombia considered to be a dangerous place, as an itinerant English teacher to earn the money that I spent to build the monument and I encouraged my friends; Hemraj Kissoon, Colombian Ambassador Hildago Garcia and the late Gobin Dwarka to contribute to this project. My family figured that I could have made better use of my money, rebuild our small house or I could have bought a mini bus.
Today when I see how these people have discarded my clay bricks that cost me $240,000 I am truly aggrieved. These rulers do not know what it is to take your own money and do something for your country. They never give, they only know how to take and they just keep on taking as though they want to possess the whole country as their own.
My letter, I have been informed by the Confidential Secretary to the President has been forwarded to Minister Frank Anthony. I am still awaiting a response from the Minister some weeks later.
Yours faithfully,
Desmond Alli
