Category: ARTS & CULTURE

Overseas-based Guyanese Deviekha Chetram is a celebrated Indian classical dancer and dance instructor. With more than 30 years experience teaching classical Indian dance, she is regarded as an international pioneer of her art form. The youngest of 14 children, Deviekha was born May 24, 1957 and lived in Alexander Village on the East Bank Demerara. Her father, known as ‘Uncle Gully’, was an overseer for the Ruimveldt Sugar Estate. Her mother, affectionately called ‘Aunty Radhay’, was a businesswoman. The dancer comes from a very artistic family: both her parents loved…

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La Grande Lessive, French for “great laundry”, is a one-day international art event. It was born from the idea of hanging clothes after washing, thus opening the way to a new approach to art exhibition. This event has grown into an art phenomenon, which is conceived as a means to tighten social links and trigger an interest and a desire to create art. No professional skills are required. One mainly has to deem something he has drawn as worthwhile and which deserves to be displayed. On March 28, the event…

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For more than 25 years, self-taught artist Kenneth Nelson, popularly known as Ras Judah, has been perfecting his sculpting skills and creating artistic pieces; his works include sculpting, semi-realistic and abstract pieces. Now, he is also using this passion to advocate for a cleaner environment. Speaking with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Nelson credits his mother for his artistic ability. She was also an artist, and had done many realistic paintings. When his mother died, Nelson found out through his uncle’s eulogy that the queen of England, on a visit to…

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 ‘There’s an artist in each of us’ says local chocolatier Local chocolatier and owner of Reminiscence, Indra Mekdeci has introduced a new, creative and artistic twist to fruits and chocolate. Her artistry is seen in her carefully designed and flawlessly arranged bouquets and baskets of chocolate covered fruits. In an interview with Guyana Times International, Indra said she has always been an advocate of living a healthy lifestyle by eating fruits and vegetables. Her young company, Reminiscence, creates delicious, high quality, artistically designed edible fruit bouquets and gifts that are…

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By Marcia G. Yerman, writer on Women’s Issues; Co-founder of cultureID, reviews ‘Timehri Transitions: Expanding Concepts In Guyana Art’, an exhibition curated by Guyanese artist Carl E. Hazlewood at the Wilmer Jennings Gallery in New York City, for the Huffington Post. In a bright, open space on Second Street and Avenue B in Manhattan, an exhibition featuring 12 artists of Guyanese descent is on view at the Wilmer Jennings Gallery. Guyana is a country that is approximately the same size as the state of Idaho. Although it is situated on…

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Almost four decades ago, Guyanese artist Tony Phillips created “The Builders”, the largest mural ever done in Guyana. The mural can still be seen in the dome of the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (formerly Barclays Bank) in Water Street, Georgetown. “The Builders” mural In April 1973, Hugh McGregor Reid, the architect who was responsible for the renovation of Barclays Bank, offered Phillips the challenge of painting a mural on the dome of the bank. Reid conceived of having the dome’s surface covered with paintings that would hold viewers…

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US-based Guyanese artist Gregory Henry incorporates memories of Guyana’s rural landscape into his minimalist paintings, sculptures and prints, creating applauded pieces. His works, such as “Bottle Tree” (2006) are inspired by the bright colours of the Caribbean and the organic forms of African American muralist John Biggers, as well as the monumental sculptures of Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz. Henry believes that art has been occasionally misunderstood as merely representational depictions of landscapes and animals, but there is far more to his work. Since migrating to America from Guyana in the…

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Born in Guyana, artist Siddiq Khan’s family moved to Canada where he grew up. His artistic career began at an early age when he convinced his parents to buy him a paint-by-numbers kit. By 12 years of age he got a permit to sell his works at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in order to buy more kits. Before arriving in Santa Fe in the U.S. 12 years ago, Siddiq spent time in the interior of British Columbia and Austin, TX. In addition to mixed media works Siddiq is…

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The Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba House in the U.S.A, will host, ‘Timehri Transitions: Expanding Concepts in Guyana Art’. This exhibition introduces twelve international artists of Guyanese heritage. Curator, U.S.-based Guyanese artist Carl E. Hazelwood, said, “I’ve chosen artists whose practice addresses everything from contemporary abstraction to works that bear a subtle political or cultural critique. For these artists, it’s no longer about periphery and centre. Practically everyone has access to the technological means of engaging with the borderless possibilities of visual knowledge.” The artists are Damali Abrams, Carl Anderson,…

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The Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, launched the Guyana Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition last year, with the objectives of establishing and recognizing the creative work of Guyanese and providing a source of inspiration for Guyanese artists, thereby stimulating the development of the finest expressions of the visual imagination among Guyanese. This visual arts competition was started in 1994 and resuscitated last year August. Submissions were welcomed in six categories: painting, sculpture, drawing, ceramics, textile and photography. Any artist was allowed to enter a…

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