Thoughts of a minibus traveller

Section of Birth of Kaieteur by Ohene Koama (2024)   Unknown   The entrance to the gallery frames a piece with orange overtones and some bright circles. There is no label. I thought maybe that it was a deliberate act of the artist. I asked and it seems the organisers of the Burrowes School of Art 50th Anniversary exhibition at Castellani House could not find the information.  Was the information lost in the web created by the insecurity of the leaders who cannot trust their technical staff ?   There is no catalog, and nothing really which says anything about the story of the ER Burrowes School of Art, which perhaps says a lot about Guyana 2026. (The linked news article has more information) Unknown here probably linked to the oil flowing over the past, seeming to wipe out history and limiting how history and culture are important as we actually move through this unknown future created by oily wealth derived from killing girls and adults in Iran and which is g...

 ( This post refers to the exhibition Perspectives: Dialogue of a Brush  which features work by artists Roann Pierre, Leon Hardowar, Tammy Walker, Chelsea Ramotar, Demion Mack, Sheliza Rampersad, Lisa Thompson and Pekahiah James. I regret that I did not note down names of the pieces properly as I was not planning to write this blog. I mean no disrespect to the artists). Dancing Skeletons   The two dancers have on the black leotards with the bones marked on them. They are covered in fabric with oranges and yellows. - in the shape of butterfly wings on one dancer They move to the La Llorona   One of Roann Pierre's stunning pieces is near them, also with black, with oranges and yellows .  The piece refers to the duality of existence (I think). Roann Pierre used fabric in the piece, and it provides this unintentional backdrop to the two dancers from Guyana moving to the music from Mexico in commemoration of El Día de los Muertos - Day of the Dead....

  Painting  "Take the brush  and put something on the canvas" Nigel Niix Butler from Nine Nations advised us. "Just start.." as he applied different colours and layers on one side of the large canvas.  Alvina Naughton from The Village Nook explained why she liked doing abstract art as she moved her brush on the opposite side of the large canvas which was in the middle of a group of about 10 people Sun cooling as we like to say in Guyana.  My hands start moving with brush and so even as mind trying to work out what to paint.  I mess up a few leaves doing leaf print - you have to use the back of the leaf as Alvina advised, and a thin layer of paint.. but I thought I know everything.. and so we start on our small canvases and then move to the big canvas.  Canvas which has some lines , but blank otherwise. The way we sitting down around the big canvas, I imagine this could be like a puja,.. a large havan. Alvina and Nigel as the pandits, and the canvas a...

Extracts from "The Dream of the Monkey Pot Tree(2025)" by Cosmata Lindie (L); and "Laced in Victory (2025)" by Maharani Jhillu (R)    ( Moray House Trust is hosting 'Beyond the boundary: what is art?" until Sat 20th Sept, 2025 11am to 2pm each day )    Monkey Pot and Mandala  There is cricket playing on the phone on the desk. The cricket fan explains that 'Warriors playing '. I had no idea really since I don't follow cricket but I like to watch people watch cricket.  Moray House Trust is hosting a second exhibition related to cricket. They  sent bats and balls this year 'throughout the land' and invited artists to create pieces. The exhibition invokes the writings of CLR James.  The pieces are all fascinating, with different representations of cricket's importance to Guyana. The exhibition has artists from different backgrounds, located in different parts of the country. I could imagine that some of them voted differently in the rec...

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...