Art is Trini too

Speaking on the removal and destruction of several wooden sculptors by artist Damian Agostini from around the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain, artist Gail Pantin said while she believes art is important, nothing lasts forever.

She pointed out that historical art pieces were being destroyed in all over the world, either deliberately or accidentally, and advised Agostini not be a victim but to continue to work, and do even more. The focus, she said, should be the disrespect of the Port-of-Spain City Corporation and its municipal police by dumping and destroying his work. She told Sunday Newsday there were vagrants and garbage around the savannah but the police did not remove those, nor did they clean up any other part of the savannah.

Pantin said she personally paints and sketches every day, and knows other artist who do the same, whether or not they had an exhibit. Therefore, they had a lot of work on hand. What artist needed, she continued, was a place to showcase their work as art galleries were too expensive for many, even if they could get their work into a gallery.

She suggested a space in the savannah, possibly on the paved area opposite Memorial Park, where tents could be erected once a month. There, artists and craftsmen could book a spot in advance for a small fee and showcase their work.

Artist Ozy Merrique had a similar suggestion of a space where, once a week, artists could get together and support each other. He said at the moment, artists were showing support for Agostini as well as sending a message that artists were not pleased with the kind of policies and enforcement that would end up with an artists work being thrown away.

The space, he said, should be one where artists could work on, display, and sell their pieces.

However he admitted, “The vending aspect may get out of hand when you have to decide who gets picked and where they would set up. Then it may turn out to be craft, of which there are enough spaces and opportunities, rather then fine art.” He said the priority of such a space should be more about contact with other artists and the general public rather than the sale of pieces. “It should be an opportunity for people to come to see the process, engage with artists, for artists to be more accessible. More than that it is about the authorities having sensitivity with respect to understanding how important art is.” This, he said, included the authorities revisiting the use of art in libraries and other public spaces, or museums that had the same art on display for years.

Diana Mahabir-Wyatt too believed a space could be found around the savannah or around Memorial Park where artists could be encouraged to hang their paintings. She said this could be done similar to Hyde Park in London where, on weekends, artists display their work during the day and remove them on evenings.

In this way, artists a chance to show their work as well as sell it.

“It would be an absolutely wonderful addition to the beauty of Port-of-Spain, the activities that are available for the public, and it would help people to learn about art,” she said.

“I would have thought that, if there is anybody in the Ministry of Culture or Tourism, that they could build on what their natural talents are as something that would attract tourists and also make Trinidad and Tobago’s creative production known all over the world.” Speaking of Agostini’s plight, Mahabir-Wyatt said she could not understand the mentality of anyone who would destroy “artistic work of merit”, whether they understood the art or not.

She added that tourist buses and tour guides used to stop to see Agostini’s sculptures just as they stop to view the local paintings displayed around the Queen’s Park Oval. She said tourists who saw his work appreciated it because they understood the architectural principles used to build the sculptures.

“This was not just a craft thing.

It was real artistry.”