Celebrating the creative arts of the Guyana United Artists

The works of seven artists are on display in ‘Dynamics of the Creative Arts’, an exhibition of painting, sculpture and mixed media assemblage at the National Gallery, Castellani House, Vlissengen Road, Georgetown.

The exhibition marks the fifteenth anniversary of the founding of the Guyana United Artists (GUA) in 1997, launched at the end of an exhibition, ‘Unity in Diversity’, at the National Museum in December 1996 and Castellani House in January and February 1997.
Two of the group’s founders, Desmond Alli and Ohene Koama, are joined by early co-exhibitor sculptor Francis Ferreira, and later by members of group exhibitions, pioneering sculptor Gary Thomas, the painter Betsy Karim, sculptor Valentine Stoll and painter Lori-Ann Jacobs, showing early and current works from their own collections, in addition to two works from the National Collection and four from a private collection.
Over the intervening years the GUA has exhibited on many occasions at Castellani House, at the National Cultural Centre, at the Cultural Centres of the Venezuelan and Brazilian embassies, and at other national and regional events including Carifesta VIII in Surinam and Carifesta X in Guyana, and on exhibition in Brazil.
At the GUA launch in 1997 a statement was issued declaring the group’s aim of highlighting ‘the role of contemporary Guyanese artists in a struggle to unite Guyanese by way of a comprehensive understanding of their social and cultural history via art forms’: an ideal still relevant in Guyana today.
“This was however a worthy cause and a pioneering message which the National Gallery was happy to support, nearly two decades ago, even as it has continued to encourage and support, at the National Gallery and elsewhere, the GUA’s causes and their underlying message of unity and enrichment through art for Guyanese artists and the wider society. It is a message that is perennially relevant,” says Castellani House curator Elfrieda Bissember.
The exhibition is on display on the ground floor galleries of Castellani House, and is open to the public from August 17 to September 8. Gallery hours are 10:00 hours to 5:00 hours from Monday to Friday and Saturday from 14:00 hours to 18:00 hours. The gallery is closed on Sundays and holidays. Admission is free. (Text from Castellani House press release)