Dear Editor,
Visual art is a fundamental component of human experience reflecting the world and the time in which we live. Art can help us understand our history, our culture, our lives and the experiences of others in a manner that cannot be achieved through other means. Many of our senior artists have migrated to the diaspora where their works are appreciated and displayed in prestigious galleries and institutions. They are held in high esteem as Guyana’s Cultural ambassadors .While those who remained continue to die in service to our country.
News of the passing of another artist, this time Derek Boston, in less than four months has sent shock waves throughout the small and diminishing artists’ community. Derek was a top Guyanese sculptor. What is the cause that our once vibrant artist community is now dying out rapidly? The years of neglect have finally taken its toll, it did not occur overnight. Saddened by the passing of Boston coming so soon after Viera, the few remaining senior artists question who is next? Go tell the Spartans… Will His Excellency President Ali convene a meeting with the Minister of Culture Mr Charles Ramson Jr to discuss the way forward for the small artist community and the few remaining senior artists?
Derek Boston always exhibited a dynamic collection of sculpture at exhibitions of Guyana United Artists, as well as participated in the National Visual Arts Competition which came to an end in 2019. Boston was a self-taught sculptor. His work was unique, with skilled craftsmanship, inspired by his generational memory of African history and culture. His astounding five feet intricately carved sculpture of the North Atlantic Slave Trade made of mahogony, had taken him months to create. His passing is an immense loss to the artist community and Guyana. Self-taught artists are few and rare, they came out of a particular period in our pre and post-colonial history and are irreplaceable.
As General Secretary of the Guyana United artists (GUA) I have written letters to former president David Granger and current President Irfaan Ali requesting that their governments consider giving senior Guyanese artists who have represented Guyana with distinction for over forty years grants to facilitate their work. I have never received any response to those letters and to highlight the plight of the artists I have written a number of letters to the Editor, as well as to the diplomatic missions in Guyana and concerned Guyanese living in the diaspora.
After almost five years, the Minister of Culture has never scheduled a general meeting to meet with the artist community. But there are pictures of him posted on FB of his annual cultural and business awards in which thirty persons, unknown to the artist community, are given $1 million dollars and artists who have persevered over the years have not benefited from the abundance of wealth from the oil/gas sector. We are still awaiting after the allocation of $3.1 billion to the Ministry of Culture this year. Art plays a crucial role in forming and expressing our cultural identity, preserving them for future generations that might otherwise be lost.
Sincerely,
Desmond Alli
Senior Guyanese Artist
