It still impresses me. Suriname may be a developing country, struggling with elementary issues such as poverty and corruption, but nevertheless puts time, effort and money in the development of the creative side of the population. MINOV, Suriname's Ministry of Education and Community Development organised the visual arts exhibition that was part of the Inter-Guiana Cultural Festival in Paramaribo from August 26 to 28, 2011.
The three-day festival included workshops, music and dance performances, culinary presentations and a fashion show. At stands in de Palmentuin, artists from Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana sold their arts and crafts. I was drawn to the Hall at the Grote Combéweg downtown Paramaribo, where about twenty artists from all three countries exhibited a variety of visual arts.
Photography showing scenes from the daily life of the French Guianese
The first artist I met was Karl Joseph, a French Guianese photographer (currently living in France). "Most outsiders who come to French Guiana focus in their photography on the forest and people. My goal is to show French Guiana's daily life."
The result is stunning. Having travelled in French Guiana myself, I revisited the country as I looked at Karl Joseph's photos. Scenes of an end-of-mourning ritual, teenagers hanging about on bikes against a graffiti-covered wall, an elderly couple standing in the doorway of a wooden hut, a Brazilian woman carrying the Brazilian flag. All in all an astounding collection representing all ethnic cultures that yet share the identity of being French Guianese.
Paul Fernandes – painter of universal symbols
Next to Karl Joseph was Paul Fernandes’ display of bright coloured acrylic on cloth. I was attracted to the flowing pattern of black lines on warmly-coloured canvas and I asked him about his choice of using acrylic. "You can't really work with oil in this tropical climate," the painter explained. "It takes too long to dry and there is too much dust, which will irrevocably settle on the oil. Acrylic works very well for me."
Some say you should just look at art and appreciate it, or not. But my rational mind always wants to understand what I am looking it. "I studied art at the Nola Hatterman Academy here in Paramaribo. Subsequently, I let go of all I learned in order to develop my own style. This is the result. I depict universal symbols of, among others, the Maroons, Hindus and Amerindians through the four elements of fire, wood, earth and water," Paul Fernandes explained.
Across from Karl Josph and Paul Fernandez a wall was dedicated to the wood artist Didí Métézo. He wasn't present when I was there, but an album with pictures demonstrated the basis of his inspiration for woodworks on frames. They are three-dimensional creations of wooden door posts, window frames and shutters that typify the wooden homes in the Guianas (see photo below).
Woodwork sculptures of David Adogo
The second part of the hall had a variety of paintings and sculptures. The latter ranged from a tiny wooden owl and a mask on the wall to a large statue representing a man looking up at a woman, with the man being sculpted in stark straight lines and the woman with round, softly curving forms.
Unfortunately not all art pieces were accompanied by an information sheet, so some of the intriguing wood sculptures as well as expressive paintings remained nameless to me. In terms of organisation, there are some improvements to make for the next Inter Guiana Cultural Festival.
The Hall is quite large, and what pleased me most was the diversity of art. Among the works I admired were paintings from Anand Dwarka (acrylic on board), Oetoen Soerano (acrylic on canvas), Luciel Becker (mixed media) and delicate clay figurines by Leatitia Jurel (see photo below).
As I noticed on a wooden sculpture that pleased my eye, I saw it was by the hand of David Adogo. He is a Surinamese sculptor whose work I recently saw at the Kunst en Kijkroute 2011, here in Paramaribo. His sculptures are large, if not huge, and two of them were displayed here.
A collective piece of art: Togetherness
"Yes, I love that work in the back as well," he commented on his Day-and-Night sculpture of two globes spheres on either side of a partition. There was not really time to talk. He was busy with other artists working on a collective piece of art. Metal bars had been melted into two figures, which were being covered with aluminium foil by Kim Sonto Soemarto and Glenn Fungloy. Jhunry Uden-hout was commenting, Paul Fernandez was taking a break.
They were joking as their work developed through the day. "Which part do we cover in foil, which part do we leave open?" "Hey, is one giving orders to the others, or are we doing this together?" After the aluminium foil the piece was going to be covered with white cloths that had been soaked in hardener. This would give the art work a kind of polyester surface that was going to be painted."
The name of the art work is Togetherness, as was the theme of the Inter Guiana Cultural Festival, and it will rotate among different government buildings in Suriname such as Zanderij Airport.
Jehou Neuza and flowers made from tree leaves
Jegou Neuza is Brazilian but has lived in French Guiana for many years. She makes jewellery, using gold and precious stones as material. "It was not wise to bring those here," she explained, "and I brought examples of my hobby instead to show a whole different kind of art."
Tree leaves are dehydrated through a chemical process which leaves them white and foldable (in contrast to drying leaves, which would make the leaves brittle and easily damageable). The leaves are painted in soft tinges and subsequently arranged into beautiful flower arrangements, which Jegou Neuza uses to decorate her shop window and showcases (see photo below).
"If you like her decorations, you can imagine how beautiful her jewellery is," Mrs Neuza's daughter-in-law comments. Working with leaves is Jegou's hobby. The leaves are even used to make dresses, as you can see tonight in a fashion show. The dresses are not sold, but they have been sent to Paris and Monaco as well to be used in fashion shows."
I make a note that when I will return to Cayenne in French Guiana, I'll make sure to go and have a look at Mrs. Neuza's jewellery as well.
Karin-Marijke Vis - Karin-Marijke Vis is a bilingual writer (Dutch-English) who has been traveling in Asia and South America since 2003.
