Dear Editor,
Guyana is in dire need of a proper National Gallery of Art, although no one seems cognizant of this fact. At least no one that I know of has been voicing this opinion as yet. At this point in time there is a building so called, but the usefulness of the gallery is limited, and the national collection is at risk of falling into a state of disrepair. The fact is the building was constructed many years ago and has functioned in many ways and forms, especially to do with human residency. The wood is definitely dried out, and with the many blackouts the country experiences, an electrical short-circuit or faulty wiring could cause the country to lose its history in terms of its collection of the works of local painters. There also is not enough room for exhibiting the national collection and in displaying the works of guest artists. Many of the works in the collection are never seen. And whenever the works of guest artists are on display, it forces fewer pieces from the national collection to be on view.
The gallery has been multi-tasking without the availability of adequate space from the inception. I am confident that when the present gallery was inaugurated in 1993 it was intended solely as a start-off point. Now, nearing twenty years later, the cultural and social identity of the nation has fallen into such a state of neglect, that the present housing appears as if it will be the collection’s resting place forever. And should this truly be the case, the complete collection will never be seen on exhibition all at once. I had a report a couple of years ago from a Guyanese artist long resident in the UK. He came to Guyana and wanted to refresh his memory of works he knew to be in the collection, and saw none. Upon enquiry he was informed the works he wanted to view were not at the time on exhibition, and that the national collection was seen on a rotation basis. What has happened to Denis Williams’s Human World? What has happened to the works of Guy Sharples, Alvin Bowman, and many others once known to be in the collection? I myself have donated several pieces to the collection every time I visited the country over the years, inclusive of a depiction of a historic slave revolt named Dageraad, but have never since my remigration, seen them mounted on exhibition. In fact, I have seen on display an insubstantial short listing of maybe thirty assorted paintings, if that many. In the early 1960s the government of British Guiana asked for a submission of artistic works from which they would make purchases to start up the national collection. Where are these paintings? A national collection should never be in permanent storage; it should be shown to the public, and especially to aspiring young artists, so that they can get a gauge of whence we came and to where we are headed. That is why I stress the point at the risk of redundancy, that a national gallery we could all be proud of is a dire necessity.
This no doubt will get the nation into thinking again of art and artists who are important contributors to an up-to-date and modern society. The erection of an obvious valuable addition to all the progress the country is making should not be the responsibility of the government solely; the firms who do business in the country, the citizenry and everyone else who will benefit from its placement, even artists, should contribute to its erection. The artists of Guyana are not known to Guyanese, save for E R Burrowes, and that is so because of the school. While living in the United States of America I at one time applied for a Guyanese passport to visit the country, and was asked by the staff of the embassy in Washington if I were a Guyanese. Yes, was my quick response; my name is Jorge Bowenforbes and I am an artist. Mind you, my name at the time was known around the world with listings in Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in American Art, all of which on my insistence advertised the fact I was born in Guyana (British Guiana). But I was then surprised when the staff associate, a Guyanese, responded that she had never heard of me. 1 should have taken the valuable hint that art was no longer a considered asset to the country and its citizenry, for I never thought such a neglect of the sort would be tolerated. I had departed this country while the British were still here, and at the time artists and their works were appreciated. I never could have imagined that when the British left they would have taken such an important asset as the appreciation and support for art with them. Well, let us now defy them. Let us show them that we too in Guyana are cultured in the visual arts, and as Guyanese we are aware of the integral importance of art in our society. Let us create the idea of a renaissance. Let us show them we are just as proud of our artists and things to do with art as we are of our athletes and the progress made with athletic facilities in the development of our country. The citizenry could even visit the gallery on their way home from sporting events. I must also make it known that I have nothing against athletics. I once was an active athlete, but today I am involved in other things.
Surely, a National Gallery would be a good start to cultural involvement, for when human beings are impressed they tend to show interest. It is my firm belief that it also displays good planning and is proper when all aspects of a developing society are noticed. Let us give our artists a good reason not to depart the country for other places where they are better appreciated and recognized. Have the brain-drain come to an end. Recently, on March 15, I set out to visit the Castellani House which currently houses the National Collection. It had rained the night before, and to my consternation the entire yard of the gallery was under water. I could not help but wonder how many people desired to view the Tamayo exhibition but were barred by the waterway. And the stored National Collection is in the very yard I was told. What state of disrepair is the collection in? That day I was forced to take off my shoes and socks and wade my way to the gallery’s steps with my trousers hoisted up to my knees. Surely, I could not stay at the gallery forever, and wait for the water to drain off, so with shoes and socks in hand, the wading had to be repeated when I decided to make my way out into the dirty water and head for home. I have to admit I felt ashamed at having to stand on Vlissingen Road drying my naked feet with a handkerchief which I was then forced to discard, and like a vagrant cover my wrinkled feet and hurriedly pull back down my trousers so as to appear properly dressed. I pondered whether foreign visitors would have subjected themselves to the extent of wading just so to view a country’s national art collection. I say again: We the people of Guyana are in need of a proper national art gallery – one that we can all be proud of.
Yours faithfully,
Jorge Bowenforbes
