Dear Editor,
With this belated reply I am fortunately able to answer both Jorge Bowen-Forbes’ first letter (Guyana Chronicle October 22), and his second (‘An enjoyable show with confusing results’ Stabroek News November 6), re “a recently judged competition” at the National Gallery – this being our 8th Biennial National Drawing Competition – his recent effort containing even more outrageous inaccuracies of ‘fact’ than the first. I must first state the following very clearly: 1) The integrity and expertise of the judges of National Gallery competitions is without question. We have been fortunate always to have persons performing this role who have included leading practitioners and administrators in the visual arts and design field and the wider arts and cultural field, from Guyana and the Caribbean – amongst them prominent painters and sculptors, an architect, a graphic designer, a fashion designer, an actress, art collectors, and diplomats – who have all promptly and graciously agreed to support the gallery in this aspect of our programme.
All have shown a commitment to the arts and to the development of the wider society through their occupations and other professional activities. We have therefore been pleased and privileged to work with these persons, and this most recent occasion has been no different.
2) As is the international practice in visual art and design competitions, our judges are given lists of the works to be judged which supply only the names of entries and not entrants; in fact all identifying details of names, gender or age of artists are blocked out. The accusation in Mr Bowen-Forbes’ first letter therefore that an initial list of winners was changed to deny prizes to some and to favour others, especially for the ‘sentimental’ reason of giving younger artists a push up the winners’ list, is not only a ludicrous suggestion but a totally impossible occurrence, as the artists were in fact anonymous to the judges. May I further repeat, the integrity and calibre of our judges is without question, and no such manipulation would have been done by them or indeed by any ‘official’ of the gallery.
The three judges’ marks for each entry were, as always, simply added to make a final total for that entry; this was done for all of the 64 entries, and those which received the highest marks, and therefore placed at the top of the list, were the works of the seven artists receiving competition prizes (5 persons) and honourable mentions (2) at the recent prize-giving ceremony (including two artists whose works ‘tied’ with the same total marks for the third place Bronze Medal prize).
However, no “catalogue of winners” in which the judges’ “final decision was to be documented” was ever ordered, nor was such a “decision” ever “advertised,” nor were any “competitors notified,” prior to a winners’ list being changed, as Mr Bowen-Forbes claims in his first letter. Mr Bowen-Forbes alone, however, was notified by me of an unfortunate clerical error in the transcription of his total marks to the final list of winners, which when corrected meant that he had received only an Honourable Mention and not prize medals and cheques.
Despite my apologies and clear explanation and reiteration of the process of the competition results, he rejected this and instead said he would write a letter. Mr Bowen-Forbes has the right of every citizen to free speech and access to the press via which he may express himself on any issue including this one. I would have been the first person to write an apology in reply about the careless oversight on my part of a mistake in the transcription of marks, which wrongly gave him the short-lived expectation of a competition prize – an incident which was not, I must reiterate, a publicly advertised matter. It has however been alarming and distressing, to say the least, to see Mr Bowen-Forbes not go to press, fired by his sense of grievance no doubt, but trying to strengthen his case by coolly fabricating instances of wrongdoing at the National Gallery when there were none
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So that in his letter No2, having eventually viewed the exhibition and given his approval to some artists and the event, and possibly now the judges by extension, he still chooses to make a further attack on the integrity of those working at the National Gallery, by stating that a gallery “executive” “asked” the judges to use pencils for marking, prior to submitting their results for review/approval; he then repeats his accusation that, as pencil could be erased, marks were changed. One can only wonder first of all which of our judges would have told him of this “pencil” advisory; certainly no gallery “official” would have, as we have never insulted the intelligence of judges with such a ludicrous instruction at any of the fourteen biennial competitions administered at the National Gallery between 1996 and 2010 (no event was held in 2003). Secondly I must repeat that the combined marks allocated by the judges for each work, unchanged by them or anyone else, were those that identified our winners.
What is disappointing is that an artist of the calibre of Mr Bowen-Forbes, a winner of numerous, mostly overseas competition awards, and whose works in the National Collection have inspired by their fine quality, should by such regrettable methods question the integrity and the competence of those – artists, judges and most of all, the gallery’s “officials” – concerned with this event, one meant to support, promote and encourage Guyanese artists. I do hope that this ‘controversy’ – entirely created by him – does not dampen the boost to morale, the joy and the pride that some of our young artists would have felt in being winners in our competition.
I can safely say that Republic Bank, our generous sponsors, our judges, and many others, joined me in being delighted that some of these younger and relatively unknown artists were amongst the deserving winners. We further observed a general raising of the competition standard, given the many well executed works other than those by the prizewinners. This is an exciting occurrence, and is certainly promising for the future of art in Guyana.
Our young artists must be made to feel that there is a place for them in Guyanese society – and one of the ways to do so is to recognize and reward their work, and their efforts, once they are so deserving. They must be encouraged always to keep on working, thinking, and creating, and it is surely a good thing when they can win in an open competition with their peers or even with those more seasoned and with earlier and more accomplishments than theirs.
We look forward to seeing more of our prizewinners’ work and those of other entrants, not only at future gallery competitions but at other visual arts events in Guyana. Once again we thank them all for making this recent competition and exhibition of entries such a success.
(The Drawing Exhibition continues at the National Gallery until Saturday, November 13 next; opening hours Monday to Friday from 10am to 5pm and Saturday from 2 to 6pm; the gallery is closed on Sundays and holidays.)
Yours faithfully,
Elfrieda Bissember
Curator/Director
National Gallery of Art
