By Lakhram Bhagirat
Sometimes life throws unexpected challenges our way and to deal with those challenges it requires tremendous strength and willpower. No one knows more the amount of strength it takes to completely turn your life around than 22-year-old Kamalita Heralall.
You see Kamalita’s situation is not quite uncommon but the way she handled it is nothing short of inspiring. She hails from the community of Herstelling on the East Bank of Demerara and sitting the Common Entrance Examinations she gained a place at the Charlestown Secondary School. However, after attending there for almost two years, she was forced to drop out. The reason for her dropping out remains unknown to me, since she is not ready to publicly reveal that, but her journey to where she is today is nothing short of impressive.
After leaving school, she stayed home for almost two years after which she decided to get involved in community activities by joining the local youth groups and it is from then that her life began to take a drastic turns
“After I started entering the youth groups and so, they put me on to the Carnegie School of Home Economics where I became a student of the Craft Production and Design Division. I graduated with two distinctions in Visual Arts and Garment Construction,” she said.
After she graduated from Carnegie, one of her lecturers referred Kamalita to the ER Burrowes School of Art where she gained admission to further her studies.
“Art is not something I had in mind, but it is something that I just got in to because I was home and not doing anything and it was people who pushed me and today I have no regret,” she states.
Kamalita graduated from Burrowes in September of 2018 with a double major. Not only did she complete the feat of being a double major but she passed with a distinction in both Textile Design and Leather Craft.
Looking back on the journey, Kamalita tells me that it was no walk in the park, but that she was committed to succeed and that she did. She said it entailed a lot of sacrifices, but she was cognisant of the fact that it was a chance to redo her life all over again, so it drove her to work 10 times harder than her classmates.
When she joined Burrowes, Kamalita did not have the requisite requirements to be a part of the diploma programme, so she settled for what she could have gotten which was the certificate programme. During her second year, the School’s Administrator, Ivor Thom, called her to his office and offered the opportunity to change to the diploma programme, which she grasped almost immediately.
“He gave me the opportunity to do the diploma programme because of my work, attendance and grade and so on. Due to that, I was able to excel.”
When I asked her to describe her art style and herself as an artist, she stated, “I am abstract artist,’ I am in to abstraction. I don’t like anything that is too realistic because to me realism is boring: it’s common, so I am more into expressing what is coming from me rather than coping a live picture and trying to do back the exact thing. The reason I chose abstract art is that I think it is considered one of the most purest form of expression of what is being felt on the inside rather than what is commonly being felt on the outside. It allows viewers to get into the work and relate better with their interpretation.”
Kamalita has a love for nature and is saddened by the disconnect that exists in today’s world as it relates to the destruction of nature. She believes that some sections of the art community, over the years, have moved away from traditional art forms and practices and it is something she hopes to bring back.
For now, she works on commission, but has sent applications to schools so that she can impart what she has learnt and inspire the next generation of artists to make their mark, since, according to her, art is subjective and should not be limited.
Also, she is a strong advocate for youths to have a holistic education. She urges them to learn from her experience and stay in school because a sound education is of paramount importance.
“I would advise young people not to do it (drop out of school), because the opportunity that I got a lot of people might not get the same. Stay in school and take their education, and follow up exactly what they are in to and let nothing hold them back and do it at their best ability.” (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
