Pottery on the sturgeon moon...

(Guyana: The Stories She Told Me, curated by Pekahiah James,  continues until 21 August, 2025 at the National Gallery of Art, Castellani House )

Pottery 

"Come, come this is my favourite" my friend tells me.. the pot with the children playing 'chinese skipping' . She touches the rope , and I look around as I am pretty sure you not supposed to touch the pots but the thing with these pots is that it is hard to resist touching.. as a way of kind of moving back in time and connecting with happy memories. 

The Greek and other pottery from ancient times show scenes of war and violence;  daily life (including sex life sometimes ) and religious symbols. 

Lisa B. Thompson's tribute to the happy childhood memories might be the first time there is a focus on children's activities.  There are bright colours , the outdoor colours of blues of the sky, greens of the trees and plants, browns of the earth and the dried branches, and items used in making play. 

And a series with storytelling, children sitting and listening to stories.

 Sturgeon Moon

 Place is humid. Maybe the 'full moon' rain, or other things. The opening of the exhibition is on the day of the sturgeon moon. I am a bit jaded as I know that childhood is a mix of happy and sad memories, the ratio of which depends on whose childhood and where and when you grew up. 

I remember a man, survivor of childhood malnutrition and violence,  telling me that 'look, even when we were poor, we found ways to be happy.. and I enjoyed those childhood times". 

Full moon was on my mind as I come to the exhibition hours after being in community with a mother with a knife and small iron bar, mother negotiating with her two young sons who bring their fight into the 'peaceful neighbourhood'.  

Two other men and me are around. Another neighbour tells me don't get involved, I understand.. don't put myself at risk while showing connection (knife and all)

We let them know we not judging and they not alone. 

Mother with the the knife assures me she knows she will not use it.. we talk about calling 914, and accessing other support. She knows people. I gaff with the older son, the bigger brother.  I keep an eye on the knife. 

We know the work, the reality. Many of us in the gallery at the opening are involved in overcoming the effects of violence.  

The exhibition includes  bowls, beautiful bowls, with liana cane handles. 

The first item I saw, is my favourite , about the ocean, as soon as you come in the door. I could imagine putting my hands in the bowl to feel the water.

The bowls have names related to earth, water, forest, sun. 

The bowls are placed between the pots of children playing.  There is something about the uneven shapes of the bowls which makes them more representational of what I imagine nature to be.

The colours again.. blues, greens, one or two bright ones but not glaring to chase you way. The bowls are not separate from the pots and vases with the childhood memories. Placed there , in between, even if catalogued separately.

The night before at the Georgetown Film Festival, we had talked about how there were no scenes of disaster in a film about climate justice. There was discussion that the nice scenes of the environment were to remind about what is there to sustain and protect. 

The bowls, warm, embracing, cupped as generous too, represent a kind of healing opportunity and possibility for me. That we do not need the 'stories of violence' which we know to 'complete the childhood picture of Guyana' - in the stories that Guyana tells us. 

That , the bowls there show the opportunities for healing, the need to create the spaces for the healing in the memories.

And a healing which is connected to earth, water, sky, forest. And connected to each other like some of our common childhood experiences in this landscape.

The sturgeon moon apparently is a good time to do that stirring up, to deal with past emotions and to heal from them.  This exhibition is a wonderful place to do that.