Thoughts of a minibus traveller

Image designed by Nigel Niix Butler Nine Nations held Indigenous Imaginations III in two parts. This is not a review of the Fashion Show held on Sat 9 August, 2025 -World Day of Indigenous Peoples .  Scarlet Ibis on the plantation Body feeling tension still from the interactions at the workshop - 'women wearing sexy clothes are harassing men because men will feel uncomfortable around them' .  The unexpected reminders of the sickening culture of violence and legacies. But listening of course is part of the engagement with the men who think they women they abuse are responsible for the violence. Many know that clothes don't make a difference when people want to be violent. Walk on to the UG campus, campus on a former plantation. Brilliant red spots on the open fields - scarlet ibis colours showing in afternoon sun.  I walk slowly.. not sure if scarlet ibis would have been here before the land was plantation. Flashes of red on the grass, and low in front of the sun.  I...

(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 se...

Extract of NAILS by Stanley Greaves, 1984 available on Stabroek News   Listening to Stanley Greaves   On the morning after police killed Ronaldo Peters and on the morning when police killed Keon Fogenay called 'Dan' I was listening to Stanley Greaves respond to questions in his usual generous, warm way , explaining things in simple language that I could understand.   Moray House Trust had organised "Ask me anything … about the creative arts: Stanley Greaves, and that was the spirit of the discussion, that kind of open exchange which is nurturing. I liked Nails, which I saw for the first time , in the newspapers on the Sunday. Something about reusing bent nails, and using them not discarding. On the morning the police killed Ronaldo Peters and on the morning when citizens were enraged at the police explanation of why they killed Ronaldo Peters and when police then killed Keon Fogenay called 'Dan' I was in a nice online bubble, being in this other Guyana where peop...

Microsoft Designer AI Image 'the sea and the jungle'   The Orishas Saturday afternoon and clouds have promise of rain. Minibus man asks if I going right down as he swing on Lamaha Street and I said yes no problem because I getting drop close to Fresh, the 'lil cafe shed place next to the bank ' as the taxi dispatcher later described. The woman in the painting looks at me , I am her equal. There are iron implements around her. She is young, strong and assertive - not fearsome.   I keep coming back to the painting as I am early and I can move around the room.  Later on, I am helping out a bit and in between helping, I feel as though Ogun as woman is looking at me, in a kind way.  Alyce Cameron's Ogun formed part of the Art Exhibition  hosted by the Alliance Française of Guyana and members of the Guyana Women Artists Association. The exhibition was curated by Pekahiah James. The artists who displayed their work are Alyce Cameron, Elodie Cage Smith, Jennifer G...

(L - Extract of projection on Petroglyph 1 by Maharanie Jhillu, R  - Detail from Into the Jungle by Chris Bissessar (artists' hand) ) Light "What do you think about it?" asked Akash Bridgemohan - Project Coordinator and Engineer of Immersion:Into the Jungle  , We were in the dark room, place hot.  He had played the video which resulted in light dancing along the frames and lines of the three pictures on the wall, and images on the box and in the frame. The pencil drawing of a jaguar turned into different colours. Blue light moved on the petroglyph, eyes following. There was audio which I did not hear the first time, because eyes on the light. I did not know what to expect. There were brown curtains on the door, and this jute rope saying 'no entry'. Akash Bridgemohan explained the process of projection mapping and the details of the work involved. And asked for feedback.  This kind of accountability, and interaction is precious now. A man had sent me the Stabroek ...

Extracts from Left Morning on the River by Cosmata Lindie; right top - Toco Toucan: Psychosis Series by Roberto Teekah; Right bottom Golden Sun by Elodie Cage Smith Komorebi (木漏れ日) Rickeisha Perreira stands on dry bamboo leaves in front of blue butterflies and reads her poem Komorebi.  She explains that Komorebi is a Japanese word meaning 'sunlight leaking through the trees'.   The room is bright,  but the work around features different amounts of sunlight related to the jungle. We are at Immersion:Into the Jungle  ,   the jungle represented by 35 different artists.   The jungle imagined with jaguars, different birds, not too many people, rivers, waterfalls , plants , snakes, underwater, above ground , dark, light, flowers. And the experience of looking at Morning on the River and standing up and imagining what it would be like coming down the river watching the deer watching the people. The painting kind of draws you in,  but I woul...

 (The Moving Circle of Artists' work is presented in the 2024 Indigenous Heritage Exhibition at Castellani House until 30 September, 2024. ) There was no print catalogue available. The QR code image was around, but I did not have the technology to use the QR code even with assistance of the attendants. I hope the organisers will put labels on the work items for viewers who cannot access the QR code. I apologise to the artists whose work I reference without the proper attributions Going into the unknown Place hot and I feeling a lil jumpy despite the yoga routine earlier in the day. Some unexpected challenges which pile up and then come in to chill out in the gallery and find that I have to do guess work on the art and so. Switch my mind, thinking yeah, go into the unknown.  NO titles to guide you.  Friends on social media had shared pictures of some of the most striking pieces so there is a familiarity in a way. And a helpful attendant shows the PDF on his phone to che...

 ( Echoes of Resilience by the Division of Creative Arts, Faculty of Education and Humanities, UG continues at Castellani House until 19th August, 2024. I apologise to the artists whose work appear in photos here without the credit to them by name )  Masculine "All dem man wan look like woman.. " the bus driver says near Bourda Market as a man with long locks on a motorbike cut across him. The bus driver sounded angry,  'He got a  <d.,.k>;' ... Proud man that he was, made in God's image. he had just told a woman passenger that she look 'nice wid she big belly' .. the woman had laughed. Another man in God's image , riding a bicycle, with his crutch across the handlebar had stopped to tell a woman joining another minibus that 'you looking beautiful today' and so on.. and being very close to the bus window so I was hearing, he could have been talking to me too.  So I told him 'uncle you looking beautiful too' and some passengers laug...

Thanks Esther for the photo Rivers  "Mr Kissoon, you arite..." the boat captain asks me as I decide to be one with the river and not be afraid of it. I say yeah man.. I more concerned that he is arite because if the captain is not arite then we will not be arite no matter how much my soul and the river are intertwined. Leap year and after years of working from the comfort of home , where commuting is clicking on keys in house clothes.. Universe says get  off your flattened ... and get on the rivers to go to work. And so I have to say yes to the fear, and yes to the work and I go on the rivers in the first months of the leap year.  Dressed to protect from water spray but knowing really that  should the water embrace me fully there will be no protection except to swim.. which I can't do. But respecting the river seems to ease the discomfort of not being able to swim in the river. And to enjoy the river, the smooth and the rough, the bamboo and other plants on the banks...

NO photography allowed so blog graphic generated by AI The Moving Circle of Artists  The young guard stood in the doorway of the hut and said 'the gate open'. His hands in his pocket and leaning on the post. I asked him if the gun too heavy (I see it on the desk in the hut) and he laughs. I don't ask him if he has seen the exhibition. Castellani House grounds are cooler than the minibus which was stuck in traffic and which had two women with their children trying to sit away from the sun. Nice benches, but benabs which don't have seats in them. Not sure if the benabs without seats and the benches in the sun are some kind of art installation too. The booklet on the desk inside presents the Moving Circle of Artists. A mix of all genders and ages, experiences, and of people who produce art in different forms.  There is a nice mix of painted wood, sculpture, paintings on the wall. The paintings of hinterland landscapes, animals, and some human figures. There is an installat...

Extract from installation by Yedidiyah Gordon Mirrors Cheerful security guard holding the large gun opens the gate and says yes yes go through when I say I am going to gallery. The heat is on , I am feeling fuzzy as two nights of bad sleep due to the heat and so. Coming to the exhibition as I think I need to do things I planned since sleeping in the heat doesn't make sense even with a fan. Castellani House is cool inside. I go upstairs and see bright colours of the flowers on the wall where I had first seen Bernadette Persaud's Birth of  Lotus when I had visited the gallery the first time.  I see myself in the jigsaw mirror and think right.. your face looking tired. Walk around the pieces, looking though I feel like I am not looking. Bright colours of musical instruments. Fashion, jewellery.  I am not sure why I am not drawn to the bright colours and the jewellery. The mind. See the big mirror. Some people posted on Facebook with selfies. I like the reflections of Yedidid...

   Menstruation The smell is strong, all over. Smell which I associate with some menstruating women. The smell comes through the mask. There are no women near me. I had run through the rain, so breathing is a bit heavy. Is it the petrichor? Place was hot before. Is the earth menstruating? Atashscia Bovell's work is about womanhood. For one wild moment I wonder if the installation includes some kind of device to produce the scent. The smell though, does not come  here. One of the pieces features the padding from the menstrual pads, red blood and screws. The softness contrasting with the pain. I have witnessed, helplessly, the pain. And the shaming. Navratra is coming up , worship of the divine Mother while many people will mutter about 'unclean' women. Period poverty and the shaming of menstruating women are forms of gender based violence.  There is no imposition of motherhood as the essence of womanhood here. There are representations of vaginas.  Navratra on my...

Unnamed piece by Alyce Cameron (The Instructors, Lecturers and Tutors of  E.R. Burrowes School of Art organised an Exhibition of Art Works which runs until 8 July, 2022. This blog is not a review ) The sun is hot, skies are blue in the north and the east. Sounds of thunder far away. Bus man says.. "rain falling somewhere" watching dark clouds in the south and the west contrasting with the clear blue skies over us .  Nice contrasting colours to get my head ready for the art exhibition at Burrowes.   I have not been to any art thing in real life since Covid and the 2020 elections.  Covid stopped some exhibitions but inspired a lot of virtual art events around the world. The PPP have also closed down Castellani House effectively as nothing has happened there , virtually or in real life since they resumed power. Some groups have hosted their own events. Egypt  I walk into a room to look for the exhibition and a man in a coat that used to be white guides me to ...