If your desire is not to take the vaccine don’t deny others the personal choice to be vaccinated It is disgraceful that Guyana’s art is revered abroad but receives such shoddy treatment at home

Last weekend I had a disturbing conversation with a taxi driver. The conversation began with me asking if he received the COVID Vaccine. This taxi driver gave a very long speech about the pharmaceutical companies and their alleged involvement in the pandemic. He didn’t stop there, he refuted that senior government officials were vaccinated and shared a conversation he said he had with a health care provider. I repeated this conversation to a colleague and he too shared what was said by another person. Well, I was disappointed, a bit confused and at lost for words. I think as health care workers that we should be careful how we share our opinions. I think that we should keep our opinions to ourselves especially if it is likely to create confusion in the minds of the citizenry. We should desist from undermining the efforts of the government to save lives especially during a time when many are losing their love ones to this pandemic.

We should commend the government in its efforts to ensure all eligible Guyanese are vaccinated. To date, almost 150,000 Guyanese are vaccinated. While we are not a rich nation, approximately twenty percent of the population has received at least the first dose of the COVID vaccine. This is great news. Kudos to the authorities. However as successful this is, I believe if we could share with citizens why the vaccine is necessary for them to take then more Guyanese would have been vaccinated. As health care workers, if it’s your desire not to take the vaccine, please don’t deny others of making a personal choice to be vaccinated. Please let us continue to be responsible citizens and promote positivity.

Sincerely,

Suematra Alves

As someone who has exhibited work locally, regionally and internationally it has always been accompanied with a sense of pride to be representing Guyana. How depressing indeed it was to read Rhyaan Shah’s accurate detailed letter about the non-return of work by artists representing Guyana, six months after the AMAZONIA exhibition was held in Delft, the Netherlands. The Curator Natasha Koppell in her letter of invitation to me was most emphatic about the need for Guyana to be represented and it was good that submissions collected and sent by Curator Ohene Koama of Castellani House were very well received by visitors to the exhibition.

The artists involved must be most upset and distressed by the manner their collective contribution to help establish Guyana on the international scene, has been treated. To quote Shah, “It is disgraceful that Guyana’s art is revered and admired abroad and yet receive such shoddy treatment at home.” I could not agree more. As she correctly stated, work in storage over a period can be damaged and in my experience even ‘disappear”.

It must have been most embarrassing indeed for artists at home and abroad to read Shah’s letter. It raises the question whether representing Guyana in Art has become meaningless, and does it also include other activities in the Creative Arts? One that immediately comes to mind is the absence of National Music Festivals, vocal and instrumental, that involved institutions, schools, groups and individuals in all age groups.

I am in total agreement with Shah as well that the matter of the return of the paintings should not have to be addressed by the Minister of Culture. Such an activity is the responsibility of departments within the Ministry. It is to be hoped for all concerned that the matter is treated with promptitude and does not recur. A major remaining question however remains, will artists take part in future international exhibitions again?