The Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) yesterday launched its 2020 calendar, which features artistic visions of Guyana’s future from the hands of the country’s youth.
“Children hold the future of the country in their school bags,” GBTI Chief Executive Officer Richard Isava said at the launch.
The bank revealed that out of an overwhelming amount of entries from students all across Guyana, the 2020 calendars will be showcasing the work of seven.
Under the theme “Guyana 2020 and Beyond,” the pieces portray a future for Guyana that the children expect to have with the oil and gas sector on the rise.
Bernard Persaud, 14, of Marian Academy; Akeera Fowler, 14, of Diamond Secondary School; Ameena Rampersaud, 16, of Christ Church Secondary School; Assika Kunath, 13, of Tutorial High; Nicole Harris, 14, of Annai Secondary School; Kessa Dickinson, 10, of Lowe’s Academy; and Marissa Persaud, 12, of North Georgetown Secondary School were the students whose pieces won the bank’s art competition and are going to impress the public, according to GBTI Marketing and Communications Officer Nadia De Abreu.
The selection of the pieces for the calendar was tough because the participants were very skilled, said Lori-Ann Jacobs, one of the three judges from the Guyana Women Artists Association tasked with deciding on the winners of the competition.
According to De Abreu, there were only supposed to be six winners, however because the art pieces were so unique, the Bank decided that they had to add one more to the list.
Jacobs gave remarks during the programme and expressed her gratitude to GBTI for its initiative. “I commend GBTI for understanding the importance [of continuing] this competition throughout the years,” she said.
Jacobs also highlighted that in the majority of the artwork, students expressed their desire for lights in the rural regions and had depictions of satellites, among other modern designs, which they envision for 2020 and beyond. She further went on to say that the children were very creative in their presentation, especially with how some used paint.
Along with the artwork the calendars also include short paragraphs explaining the vision of each child’s work even though, according to Jacobs, the pieces very clearly speak for themselves.
When De Abreu was asked about the bank’s reason for maintaining the competition, which has been ongoing for eight years, she explained that it is the bank’s way of helping the students. She went on to explain that the bank would like to help students in ways that are not only financial. “This is helping them in art, you can’t only help them in academics only,” she noted.
