Artist Daniel Ramiah displays Guyana’s beauty on calabashes
Walking along the pavement of Guyana Stores on Water Street, you will notice Guyanese artist Daniel Ramiah tirelessly engraving calabashes. Ramiah has been creating his artistic calabashes at the same location for more than 35 years now.
When Guyana Times Sunday Magazine visited the artist in front of Guyana Stores, he was engrossed in engraving images of faces and Guyana’s beautiful wildlife, using his makeshift tools. The artist stated this is one aspect of his many artistic talents. He can also paint, build bamboo ships, and do thread work, but especially enjoys working with calabashes because it is more gratifying.
“I saw how wasted the calabash was in our country and decided to start dabbling with artwork done on them. I tried it out and marketed the pieces I created. People were very fascinated with them. It took a while to perfect my art on calabashes and would even get cuts by the makeshift tools. Now I can make an elaborately decorated one in five minutes. It is also more affordable for me, because my materials are inexpensive. I rarely have to buy the calabashes and I use makeshift tools,” he disclosed.
Ramiah added that because the materials he works with are affordable, he can sell his decorative pieces at reasonable prices. He has also mastered his art to such an extent he can now engrave a client’s face on the calabash in just five minutes.
His artistic skills were honed at his old Campbellville High School. Through the art programme there, he was able to develop his skills. Additionally, Ramiah credits his father, a hobbyist artist, for his innate artistic ability.
“My father is also into art. He paints mostly but doesn’t sell his stuff, but does it in his spare time as a hobby. That’s how I started. It was a hobby, and then I started doing this as a profession. On the weekends my father and I would compete to draw to see who would complete his painting first. This developed my skills and over the years I have perfected it,” the artist noted.
With more than three decades of working with calabashes, the artist mentioned there is no room for error because the images cannot be wiped off or erased from the gourd. Once the images are engraved they are permanent, and those with errors have to be thrown away, which counts as a loss for Ramiah. One reason why he sits from 9-4, almost every day in front of Guyana Stores, wholly committed to his calabashes.
Ramiah has produced hundreds of calabash art over the years. The images, he pointed out, do not wash off, and are functional for decorating homes. Being inspired by Guyana’s beauty, the artist firstly visualizes what he wants to create and brings that to life on the calabash.
Like many local artists, Ramiah declared that Guyanese need to show appreciation for local products as they do for foreign ones. He emphasized that our local artworks are of quality, and deserve the same recognition we give to foreign art products.
“We also need a market where Guyanese artists can export their artwork. As it is right now we have the talent and the scope to produce but we don’t have an international market to sell them. We also need a local market which only Guyanese artists can utilize, [with it] not being infiltrated by foreign entities. We need promotion for our artists – not just a special few but for all artists. Sometimes people come to me to order thousands, so you can imagine the potential market for this product.”
