MINISTER of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. George Norton, on Friday, received a courtesy call from the new Deputy Chief of Mission attached to the United States Embassy in Georgetown, Mr. Mark W. Cullinane.

In a release the ministry said Cullinane was accompanied by US Ambassador to Guyana, Ms. Sarah-Ann Lynch, who made the introduction, and commenced the meeting by congratulating Minister Norton on the victory of the Guyana Amazon Warriors during the second game of the Caribbean Premier League Thursday evening.

The engagement continued with hearty discussions on the development of culture; more specifically, the Art in Embassies (AIE) programme organised by the U.S. Department of State. According to its mission statement, the AIE “Creates vital cross-cultural dialogue and mutual understanding through the visual arts and dynamic artist exchanges.”

The AIE is said to be a public-private partnership project which engages over 20,000 international participants, including artists, museums, galleries, universities, and private collectors. The programme entails the hosting of grand annual exhibitions, from which pieces are extracted to be hung in the Department’s diplomatic facilities all across the world.

So far, in excess of 70 permanent art collections have been installed in over 200 venues in 189 countries. Minister Norton believes that the implementation of such a programme in Guyana will be tremendously beneficial to artists all across Guyana. “Our artists need this kind of exposure, so it is something that I believe we should work towards becoming a part of,” Minister Norton said. Dr. Norton is also examining the possibility of getting Guyana’s Consulate offices in various countries to participate in similar exchanges.