BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - COLOUR, line, form, design, texture, images and feeling were all brought together in a glorious panorama of Visual Art in an Exhibition which opened for public viewing yesterday (Monday) March 12, 2012 at Port Zante, Basseterre. It runs until the 16th March and is a “must see’ for all who love art or would wish to cultivate the love of it.
The Exhibition consists of the winning works of art from top students entering Art Examinations from 16 islands of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and depicts all areas of Art offered in the Art curriculum.
Each year the Caribbean Examinations Council takes its Art Exhibition to one of its contributing territories. This is the 9th year of execution and the Ministry of Education of St. Kitts and Nevis accepted the opportunity to host this year’s showing.
Everyone’s a winner at these Exhibitions. Students get a chance to see the work of excellent artists and get ideas on ways of depicting their ideas; art teachers get an opportunity to see more clearly how the syllabus can be interpreted and viewers of the Exhibition learn more about Art and may become more sensitized to and inspired by their surroundings.
According to Minister of Education and Information, Nigel Carty, the Exhibition "shows what thinking, creative children have to offer".
There is a lot to see. The works of Art range from two dimensional line drawings in black and white to scenes and images portrayed in colour; from comic style Art to still life to photographic portraits. There were as well three dimensional sculptured pieces fraught with feeling.
There was also a range of textures artistically designed to create works of art; sometimes as collages, sometimes in masks or as seen in the leather crafted articles.
Nothing said here will do justice to the Art displayed at the Exhibition – as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words - hence space will never allow a comprehensive description of the entire showing.
Kudos to the Organising Committee who saw fit to include the other art forms of music and dance in the programme of the Opening Ceremony. It was a notable reminder that Art is really an overflow of feeling and this artistic sensitivity was well portrayed through the W.A.H.S. dancers, the BHS Steel Orchestra and the beautiful blending of the voices of Sylvina Powell and Khyla Brown as they sang the National Anthem
This blending of the Arts is nothing new to one St. Kitts Art student who at an exhibition described his abstract drawing in this way…
“(It is) a number of voices singing together and all go in one rhythm and meet at one place where all the melody explores...” Abdias Samuel, BJHS 1993
The Visual Art Exhibition with compositions from 16 Caribbean countries can indeed be described as a number of voices singing together all in one colourful Caribbean rhythm.
Mr. Cleveland Sam, Assistant Registrar of CXC, accompanying the Exhibition, pointed out that Art is also an area of significant entrepreneurial opportunities and persons need to abandon the archaic thinking that sees Art as just a subject for those who can’t do anything else. On the contrary, he said that it was not for ‘dummies’ as much theory and history accompanied the manual skills needed to master the subject.
One noted educator and writer, Ramon Clines, concluded that basic education should now consist of the 4 R’s – Reading, ‘Riting, ‘Rithmetic and ‘RT. “We know that to live full lives,” he said, “all children , indeed all people, need opportunities to experience, appreciate, create and reflect upon ART.”
The opportunity to experience and appreciate this Exhibition runs until 5.00 pm, Friday 16th March.
