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Social media has been abuzz with people’s interpretation of an artist’s rendition of his reality of the First Family, a mother in a sitting position holding her baby with a toddler beside her. In that portrayal President Irfaan Ali is in the background standing, holding his son in his right arm, First Lady Ayra Ali is in the foreground looking slightly off to the side. In between the two, to the center right, is the mother with her baby, and her toddler daughter, who is slightly leaning forward, holding open an empty shopping bag with the First Lady’s name inscribed, looking at her beseechingly.
In Guyana where race takes on additional significance given history, racial stereotyping, racism and racial politics, the artist’s depiction is bound to attract attention and stir reactions. No one but the artist knows what informed his thinking to reproduce the painting. However, it is fair to say such reproduction or thought processes should not have ignored what could be the likely ramification and many possible interpretations.
Persons have argued for and against the rendition. Some looked at the surface level and saw the beauty of the artist’s ability and did not find the representation offensive. While the perspective is understood, art is not only about colours and the ability to reproduce real life looking images beautifully. Others saw the artistry at a deeper level. To them the reproduction represents a negative protrayal of Africans- the absentee father, the derided single parent household, and more importantly Africans having to depend on others for their sustenance. For these people meaning is not superficial and it matters. In their eyes what the art connotes is offensive.
The ideal nuclear family is portrayed for the Indian group but not the African. Viewers are left to interpret a reality of the African mother that may not be so, or even if so it is not criminal. It is no secret Africans have had to live with negative stereotypes about the single parent household, the common law family, and the absentee father structures even though not unique to the race. But such has been the labelling in Guyana even as others have the same family structures. Whilst these are looked down upon in the African family they are justified and find acceptance in others.
Conversely, the rendition depicts mendicancy of and supplication by the African family as the Indian First Family presides over or become their source of sustenance. It is a poor depiction of racial pride or caring if that is what the artist intended. In Guyana this painting would obviously have a different meaning for Africans and Indians.
Whilst for some Africans the deception is an insult to pride and dignity and hurting, the converse is true for some Indians who see it as a true reflection of Africans depending on Indians for their livelihood which is also hurtful. Some Africans also believe and would defend the stereotype. Where some mainstream media may contain bigotry and self-loathing, in social media these are allowed unchecked expression, allowing for unvarnished insight into people’s thinking and understanding. And where persons have expressed offense with the art, it is adding insult to injury arguing they ought not to be.
From childhood we were taught to do unto others as we would like them to do unto us. The artist has apologised and some have accepted his apology. But this is a lesson in our racially diverse and tensed society that any artist must be mindful of if he intends no harm. At the same time to tell those who are offended that they ought not to be is in itself offensive. It is he who feels it knows. This must be respected if Guyana is to be a nation built on dignity and respect for each group, for each individual.
Art is context and content. Had that rendition depicted one race it would have carried a different meaning and reaction. Artistry is much more than surface level; it is interpretation that matters, and any good artist would recognise this. An artwork can be beautiful in terms of the replication but offensive based on interpretation. The intersection of this artist should not lose sight of.
