Georgia Hemmings, Staff ReporterAN IMPASSIONED plea has been made for Jamaica to treat its cultural heritage seriously, and consider the creation of cultural industries.
The challenge was issued by artist Margaret Bernal, wife of Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal, Director-General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), as she spoke at the opening of a retrospective exhibition on intuitive artist Everald Brown, which opened last Sunday at the National Gallery of Jamaica in downtown Kingston.
"We must seek out, learn and present our histories. We must recognise and support our creative voices. We must develop the business of cultural heritage and, through cultural industries, enrich ourselves, in all senses of the word and affirm the power that is within this world-class country of ours. For Jamaica is a world-class country, and we imbibe a hunger for achievement and work, an audacity and a confidence that we carry at all the times, and everywhere.
"Whether manifested by sustained sensational performances at the Olympic games, or sentiments expressed by a nameless spectator watching the Reggae Boys, or a Michael Lee Chin visioning his mission for NCB it is the same confident world-class vision. And it is true!"
WEIGHTY RESPONSIBILITY
Of the late artist, popularly known as Brother Brown, Mrs. Bernal said "It is a weighty responsibility to be a friend of Brother Brown and his family. One is face to face with the complex and sustained work he has undertaken with the myriad constraints and obstacles that dogged his every day. One is painfully aware of the toll of these daily choices, the struggle between father, husband, artist, spiritual leader, advocate, visionary and teacher. The fraction of his oeuvre here represented constantly calls attention to the vast array of works not here today. They remind us that today in Murray Mountain there are monuments of stone, altars of rocks, panoramas of all the earth's living things, conjoined in a spiritual unity. It reminds us that in galleries and collections abroad from the O.A.S. Museum in Washington, D.C. to private collections in Rome - there are paintings and carvings of his pulsating cosmology hung in positions of honour and appreciation. In other words, there are riches out in our deep rural communities to be cherished and protected. There is already a world audience that has sought out, bought and now cherish his work.
"Brother Brown was never a consultant, never part of any research and development planning team, never had the security of a regular pay cheque (he often had to 'negotiate' the fee for his artworks) nor did he enjoy the comforts of a private studio or sure transportation to art openings such as these. Unlike many of us, he would have come by bus!
"He always had to counter the incessant daily demands, to counter obstacles on where and how to acquire the necessities of life for his family, against his creative needs. But he always did the work.
"It is time and perhaps this is an appropriate place that we as a nation considered the price we have and are exacting from some of our citizens, and some of the indulgencies we allow ourselves. To recognise the false and fragile state to which this dichotomy has now brought us.
"In tribute to the many Brother Browns in our history and in our midst who paid a high, harsh price for their dedication to their self-imposed mission, we must affirm with Mahatma Gandhi 'I must be the change I want to see in the world'."
She drew attention to a group of students from the Seaforth High School in St. Thomas who were attending the exhibition's opening.
"They are a precious and rare group for they are students sitting CXC art. In 2002, there were only 301 students like these (or some 0.08 per cent), who received CXC grade I or II passes in art.
"These young Jamaicans perhaps, had never heard about Brother Brown until today. Like him and his family, they live in the mountains and quiet recesses of a Jamaican landscape replete with hidden histories.
"The students among this group who left school last month have done their work, are looking for jobs or ways to support themselves. They are ready to build their own lives, as part of the nation's life.
"They represent a direct possibility for mentorship, for collaboration by some of us in this room today. These young people represent a very special age group in Jamaica today school-leavers, and young adults. The support we offer them now one-to-one, simple, immediate will help to make them part of Jamaica's solution, not part of the problem."
In conclusion, Mrs. Bernal said: "Looking around these rooms, studying the thousand tales being told to us in these wondrous works, we can see Brother Brown's clear vision of Jamaica as a harmonious, abundant, inter-supportive society. By his joyous and creative life and example, he challenges us 'to reflect not on the things that are in the newspapers, nor the high affairs of state, but on the deep forces that make this society move and which concern us all as human beings.' This latter quotation was made by noted scholar Rex Nettleford at another Brother Brown exhibition in 1969."
LIFELONG INVOLVEMENT
As an artist, sociologist, cultural heritage consultant, poet and researcher, Mrs. Bernal has had a lifelong involvement with Jamaican art and culture.
She produced many pioneering visual arts series for television, edited ARTS JAMAICA, the Caribbean's only magazine dedicated to the visual arts, and lectured internationally on this topic.
Over the last 20 years, she has presented over 100 art exhibitions and helped promote greater interest and knowledge of the rich artistic community and heritage of Jamaica.
In October 1999, she founded the Jamaica Artists Alliance (JAA), headquartered in Maryland, USA, to promote a greater knowledge of and appreciation for Jamaica's outstanding heritage in culture and the fine arts internationally.
Currently, she serves as executive director of ARTS JAMAICA and networks with artists abroad while promoting art outreach & education, cultural tours and international exchanges at home.
