What is Guyanese Art? To what extent can this be answered by the exhibition ‘Abs-tract Art in the National Collection currently on show at the National Gallery, Castellani House? Just how difficult is it to decide what constitutes a national art? The work is never going to be homogenous, and quite rightly so; therefore can this be satisfactorily identified in Guyana when the artists are so different?
Last week we analysed issues regarding national literature, and touched on what criteria may be used and what rejected in arriving at what is Guyanese Literature. Just like the artists, all writers do not do the same thing either. Hallelujah! But we talk about Guyanese literature without hesitation, and might even be able to define it. The national Independence Anniversary always offers an opportunity for highlighting or celebrating Guyanese Literature, and that will be even more glorified when the 50th Anniversary arrives.
In the same way, it will be apposite to give equal consideration to Guyanese Art, if it is possible to decide whether it exists and what it may be. Indeed, the ongoing exhibition ‘Abstract Art in the National Collection has been mounted and promoted as
