Dear Editor,
These are very challenging times for all Guyanese. It has impacted our lives in many ways and has brought out the humanitarian nature in many of our compatriots and some of our business people while it has also brought out the worst in others who have sought to exploit the situation.
In and around the market places the prices of all commodities have gone up as if it was Christmas time, especially greens and ground provisions. Lots of Guyanese are without jobs on account of the shutdown and money is not circulating to make purchases as people would like.
In neighbouring Brazil – Manaus, Amazonas, the better off Brazilian artists, galleries, and art collectors are rendering assistance to the less fortunate artists. The galleries are still open and generous, kind-hearted people are purchasing the works of artists to ensure that they have some disposable income.
In Guyana, no one has contacted me. None of the rich people who attend the openings of Exhibitions at the National Gallery at Castellani House. We have given our golden years to our country, served it with distinction without any financial rewards. Personally, I don’t have any regrets living in Guyana, though I would have been better off in Latin America where I am respected and my work better appreciated. Most of our senior artists have long since left Guyana for “greener pastures”. We who have remained in Guyana are like the Spartans of the old, fulfilling our duty to the Nation. Shut-in doesn’t mean we have to shut up.
Yours faithfully,
Desmond Alli
