A month long exhibition of selected African Guyanese art after Philip Moore’s 1763 monument was mounted yesterday at the Museum of African Heritage as part of a continuing effort to raise awareness of the local contributions of African Guyanese.
Artifacts from the Roots & Culture Exhibition, among others, are currently on display at the museum at Barima Avenue, Bel Air Park and can be viewed daily. The Friends of the Museum of African Heritage organized the exhibition.
Dr Rupert Roopnaraine who prepared the exhibition notes pointed to the late Denis Williams thesis of an artistic village movement of young carvers and painters emerging and drawing directly from their rural experience, nurtured by ancient reservoirs and culture, predominantly African, after Moore’s 1763 monument. According to Roopnaraine, this was seen as a decisive break from the work of an earlier generation of Guyanese artists.
Roopnaraine noted that while the 1763 monument marked a turning point, “allowing us to rightly speak of the emergence of a post 1763 movement, it must be emphasized that it is Moore’s exemplary performance over the decades and the great river of work that flowed from his hand that provided the impetus and inspiration for the new movement.”
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds declared the exhibition open and briefly stated that such efforts are to be commended. Among some of the artists on display are Omawale Lumumba, Gary Thomas, Winston Strick, Hazel Shury and Dudley Charles.
