Dear Editor,
As a Guyanese National Artist I have participated in Indigenous Month Exhibitions for over three decades . But this year after the MV Barima Tragedy I couldn’t find myself being paid to participate in this celebration, while hundreds of households mourned entire families and given the manner in which the PPP government derelict in their responsibility, has shown that they have absolutely no regard for the lives of our people. Without any pretence, emboldened that they can do anything without accountability, in a display of arrogance and unconcern , they measure human lives in dollars, a little handout. For the PPP a man-made disaster has become an opportunity to make big money and it is back to business as usual.
As a artist I hold firm that Art is the very essence of humanity and the consciousness of our nation.
The political mindset of the PPP is a continuation of our colonial past, the same brutality that has destroyed the Indigenous settlements that the European encountered in the colonisation of the so called new world and this is why Guyanese need to become more aware of our history that we ascertain our role in determining our destiny.
There aren’t any historical records available in the English and Spanish languages of the fierce battles that took place in the Caribbean and the coastal regions later renamed the Guianas….that ended in the extermination of entire tribes.
Our great ancestors were the first anti- imperialist freedom fighters who fought valiantly against the combined European powers, armed with cannon, muskets….
I have enclosed two pictures of a painting of European powers inter rivalry in the Caribbean and coastal regions for control and domination.
The painting is titled
Tribute to the Mighty Warrior.
There aren’t any historical records available in the English and Spanish languages of the fierce battles that took place in the Caribbean and the coastal regions later renamed the Guianas….that ended in the extermination of entire tribes.
Our great ancestors were the first anti- imperialist freedom fighters who fought valiantly against the combined European powers, armed with cannon, muskets….
My artistic interpretation of the Mighty Warrior are transmitted generational accounts I relived , living among Indigenous tribes in both South and Central America.
It would be of great help not only for our Indigenous Guyanese but for Guyanese of all ethnicity to know of our history, to gain a better understanding and appreciation of our past and of the contributions the various ethnic groups made that we may live together and enjoy the opportunities that they have bestowed on us through their sacrifices and labour.
It is this lack of knowledge that the PPP have exploited and can express such contempt for people who have a dynamic historical experience.
Even though Guyana is being popularised as the world fastest growing economy, the reality remains that our people lag far behind in human development…