Godfrey Chin certainly knows the value of looking back. “If you know where we come from,” he explains, “We are better able to plan for the future.”

Chin, who has been chronicling recent history in Guyana in the popular “Nostalgias” series of articles for Stabroek News, last week opened a pictorial exhibition, “Glimpses of Guyana’s Social and Cultural History in the Twentieth Century.”

The exhibition, which is hosted at the Umana Yana, features somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 photographs assembled from a range of sources, which, he proudly admits, includes Facebook. It was originally scheduled to run from February 12 to 19, but has been extended until Sunday.

It is open from 9 am to 6 pm. Admission to the venue is free.

Chin, his exploits suggest, has never been out of step with the times.

It was while collecting photographs for his book, “Nostalgias: Golden Memories of Guyana 1940 to 1980,” that Chin hatched the idea for the exhibition. According to him, the photographs he has assembled trace the steps the country took from the beginning of the last century, which saw the country gain independence from the British.

Among other things, the brief bio at the exhibition notes that Chin is “one of Guyana’s premiere costume and band designers,” has “won numerous band competitions in Guyana and the Caribbean,” and was “national hockey goal keeper for 16 years.” And while Chin admits that he is “no photographer,” he says that like everything else he has approached it “from outside the box.”

The exhibits reflect Chin’s interest in culture, in sport, and, not in the least, history.

In addition to the scenes of British rule, the photographs also bear testimony to such milestones as American aviator Charles Lindbergh landing in the Demerara River with his flying boat in September 1929.
It was the same month that airmail service to Guyana began, Chin notes.  “When you understand the significance of the milestones, you understand the significance of where we are coming from,” he adds.

There is Forbes Burnham and Dr Cheddi Jagan, together, before the split that would divide the nation.  There is the last occasion of the Union Jack being flown at City Hall.

There is a visual history of scouting, and squash, and fashion, and Mashramani. The most sobering exhibit is a photograph of the aftermath of the 1978 Jonestown tragedy–what Chin calls the country’s “blight.” The photo shows a group of the dead, lying face down.

Still, on the whole Chin believes the photographs answer the questions-“What is Guyana?” and “How we live?”—which are important as it enters the international spotlight.

So far, he has received a huge response from visitors and, to a lesser extent, schools from outside the Georgetown area. He had hoped that the Education Ministry would have encouraged far more visits by schools.

Chin has previously hosted exhibitions at various venues across North America, including Van-couver in Canada and Washington DC, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Orlando in the US. Since he returned home, his exhibits have been displayed at the National Library, St Stanislaus College and Queen’s College reunions, the Banks DIH pavilion as well as at GuyExpo2009.