Writing on the heels of moderating a discussion on “The State of Art” for the “Reimagining Borders: Talking Art…” event hosted from January 27 to February 3, 2023 – a collaboration between Rufaro Centre and the Roots and Culture Gallery – gave way to many negotiations to adequately represent the proceedings in the following paragraphs.
The discussants were listed as “all artists,” presumably those whose work was part of the art exhibition accompanying the event. I modified the topic to “The State of Art in Guyana” and hoped that most of the exhibiting artists would be present to contribute to a vigorous exchange of ideas and a generative discussion. See, our prompt lends itself very well to a litany of complaints, not generative. I was determined to stay clear of the kind of conversation visual artists in Guyana are apt to have when they/we congregate. What needed to emerge from the discussion was a way to be signalled out of the oppressive quagmire of our reality.