Towards a Barbados National Art Gallery ‘Ceci N’est Pas Un Nag’ By artist Heather-Dawn Scott
In this video Heather-Dawn Scott explains the details of the banner she created and the “why” of the action of placing it at the front entrance of the building that is meant to become our Barbados National Art Gallery.
Heather-Dawn Scott notes; “A vast amount of energy and commitment have been harnessed over the past 64 years towards making a National Art Gallery a reality here in Barbados. None the less for too long the public has been kept unaware of the magnificent collection of art that has literally been kept under wraps, in the dark and out of their view.
Our National Collection consists of sculpture and textiles, conceptual art and film… not just the paintings that come first to mind. These are yours and mine, they belong to us the people of Barbados. They have been acquired through careful vetting, demanding competitions and also bequeathed and gifted by great acts of generosity so that we can all grow from them and derive enjoyment from them. But still they remain out of sight.
I think I can speak on behalf of all the artists when I say – that having their most successful work, born of progressive thinking, hard won skills and sacrifice buried away for over half a century is painful and offensive.
It is clear that the general public is entirely unaware of the situation and that the time to redress the task has past us by once too often and I despair that in waiting the collection faces inevitable decay. The banner at Block A is in protest to the clear lack of progress made by the National Art Gallery Board since its formation and was erected in the hope that we can combine our energies towards a solution without further delay.”
Thursday May 27th, 2021 at BNAG, Block A building at the Garrison, Barbados.
