fEATURE week ending May 16, 2013
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Canadian artist painting stories from ‘back home’ S
andra Brewster, an overseas-based artist of Guyanese parentage, is a multi-media artist creating work (drawings, paintings, video and mixed media) that engages issues of race, identity, representation and memory. One of her interests is African-Canadians born in North America and those who arrived in North America from the Caribbean during the 60s and 70s. At times, she references old photographs and recreates elements using painting, drawing, and gel transfers, juxtaposing imagery to provide a dialogue through contrasts or likenesses. In this work she visually represents a time or a memory and provides a platform to tell stories of “back home”. In other pieces, Sandra presents portraits of individuals that challenge stereotypes and perceptions. Her series, Smiths, question prevalent assertions to the existence of a monolithic black community. This series of multimedia works, begun in 2004 and still evolving, is a playful attempt to “offer a questioning around concerns of identity and representation”. Brewster’s parents migrated from Guyana in the late 1960s.
Sandra Brewster
Her parents were part of the wave of northbound post-Independence migration that has left an indelible Caribbean imprint on contemporary Canada. When Brewster was nine her family moved from Toronto, where she was born. After high school, Brewster joined the fine arts programme at nearby York University, with one of Canada’s most diverse student bodies. During a trip to Guyana in 2008, the artist was inspired to create her ‘Guyana Art’ collection, which includes “transferred images of places and people and align[ing] them with drawings/paintings of Toronto-based scenes and people, to ex-
pose some contrasts and similarities between the two spaces, and to allow feelings of nostalgia.” In 2012, Brewster was asked to be among 41 artists to participate in a project called ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’, a piano art work installation that has been touring internationally since 2008. That year ‘Play Me’ partnered with the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, and requested artists representing each of the 41 countries, to create art work on each piano. The pianos were then placed in public parks, streets and squares in the U.S. for any member of the public to play. The painter worked on 2 pianos: Guyana and Suriname. The Guyana piano was placed in Mel Lastman Square, New York, and the
'Guyana Girl 1' (2009)- mixed media on wood
Suriname piano in Sick Kids Hospital. For the Guyana piano, the images gel- transferred to the surface of the piano refer to the streets, people, food and landscape of Guyana. The map of the country is repeated on the area behind the pedals and a painting of the flower ‘Bird of Paradise’
is located on the left side. Brewster holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from York University. Her practice includes work as an arts educator, community arts facilitator, and has coordinated numerous exhibitions involving local artists. She recently completed an
Untitled (Smiths- 2011)- mixed media on wood
artist residency at Alice Yard in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Additionally, she is a recipient of numerous grants to develop projects. Her work has been published in several journals and magazines: Of Note, The Walrus, Small Axe, Chimurenga, MIX, and NKA, among others. Recent exhibitions include 28 Days, Georgia Scherman Projects, Toronto; Serious Play, SPACE, London, UK; (Re) Visions, The Print Studio, Hamilton, Ontario; Listen Installation, Robert Langen Gallery, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario; Fortune Tellers, Five Myles Gallery, New York; and Fleeting Face, A Space Gallery, Toronto. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
Anna Regina Town Day planned for August 23 in Guyana T
he Anna Regina Interim Management Committee (IMC), the Essequibo business community and other stakeholders have set August 23 to 25 for Anna Regina Town Day celebrations in Guyana. The IMCled council and members of the Essequibo business community met last Thursday at a special meeting held specifically to discuss plans for the
town day. IMC Chairman Toolsie Narine lauded the efforts of the business community for supporting the idea of a town day in Anna Regina. He said the day, which will be the first of its kind in Essequibo, has generated much interest and enthusiasm in the country especially among the business community. Regional Vice
Chairman Vishnu Samaroo, who attended the meeting, said he is proud of the committee and lauded its plans in putting together the activities for the town day. Essequibo Technical Institute representative Raul Pearce said the town day is long overdue and pointed out that it will be of great financial benefit for the council. Suggestions were made for several sub-
committees to be formed within a town day planning committee. At the meeting, a special committee was selected to look at the planning of the activities for the three-day event. The members selected to be on the committee were IMC Vice Chairman Harry Persaud, Raul Pearce, Rajendra Prabhulall, Gary Williams, Ganesh Jaigobin, Derick Walcott
and Baney Persaud. The committee will also be supported by the Town Clerk Diana Critchlow, IMC Chairman Toolsie Narine, Regional Vice Chairman Vishnu Samaroo, the police, IMC councillors, stakeholders of the town and staff of the Anna Regina Town Council. Some of the activities suggested for the town day celebrations are an
interfaith service, an exhibition, cultural activities, a day of sport, a pageant, a photographic exhibition, the setting up of an album of historic sites of the town, a concert, and guided tours to historic sites and other areas. Most of the main activities will be held on the car park tarmac and the event is expected to attract thousands of Guyanese.
PM Skerrit ties the knot D
Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit married Melissa Poponne on Saturday
ominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit Saturday married Melissa Poponne, “his sweetheart for many years” according to an official statement issued over the weekend. The statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said that Skerrit, 40, and Melissa were married at the Bourne Roman Catholic Chapel, followed by a private reception at the prime minister’s private
residence in Vieille Case. The statement said the couple were scheduled to leave Dominica on Sunday for a “short period” and gave no other details about the bride, the marriage or where the couple would be travelling to. Skerrit, the leader of the ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP), became prime minister following the death of then prime minister Pierre Charles in 2004.