All of the Aubrey Williams murals at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport will be preserved and included in the design and décor when the new and expanded $150 million airport expansion project is completed, Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson announced yesterday.
Stabroek News had reported in early March of this year it seemed that the project had apparently not taken into consideration the preservation of the murals.
This newspaper was told that it was only after concerns were raised by persons, including staff at the airport that the National Trust was called in for meetings on the way forward.
But the Ministry of Public Infrastructure subsequently indicated that efforts were being made to preserve the murals and that a report on recommendations to do so was being prepared.
The ministry stated that in early February, 2017, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation engaged the National Trust of Guyana for guidance and help to preserve the murals and paintings placed at the arrivals and departures sections of the terminal building.
It said that Nirvanna Persaud, Chief Executive Officer of the National Trust of Guyana, and a team visited the airport on Friday, March 24th, 2017 and conducted a site visit jointly with staff of the airport.
It is unclear why it was only in February this year that the National Trust was called in, when the airport expansion project has been in full swing for several years.
Five murals were painted at the CJIA and a decade ago, two were covered with concrete and other material in order to accommodate a new roof, which was designed to prevent water from leaking into the immigration department.
Patterson yesterday referred to this and made it clear that it did not occur under the current administration and he outlined in detail plans for the remaining artwork at the airport. He said his ministry has met with three veteran artists and personnel from the Ministry of Education, the National Trust, the University of Guyana as well as the contractors and discussed the preservation of the murals.
One of the artists, Philbert Gajadhar, who also has a mural of his own at the airport, had done some restoration on Williams’s works. He along with two others have been charged with the removal and restoration of the art pieces.
“They (the artists) are under supervision of the National Trust and …will dismantle the artwork, store it in a safe place, re-erect it in a new area and retouch it to restore it to as much as new,” Patterson added. He said that the mural located at the side of the departure terminal will remain there and will be viewed from the glasswork that is part of the new airport design. A mural that was done on gypsum board will be taken up, under the supervision of the National Trust, and relocated.
But while Gajadhar will assist in restorative works on Williams’ pieces, his own mural at the airport will not remain. However, he has given the commitment to create another piece at another area of the new airport.
“The mural behind the waterfall provides for the biggest challenge because this wall obviously is a load-bearing wall, so we can’t take the mural up. Fortunately, the original artist, Philbert Gajadhar, he is here and will redo it under the supervision of the National Trust. That is the only original one that will not be saved. The reason it can’t be saved because it is on a load bearing wall,” Patterson explained.
