I respond to a letter published by the Curator/Director of the National Gallery of Art, Ms Elfrieda Bissember, wherein she claimed an assortment of false and mistaken views and opinions of letters I had published. To begin with, she said the results were not advertised (information made known or notified to someone else). Ms Bissember did call me with matters to do with the competition (a message is still on my answering machine), and when she got me on the evening of Tuesday October 19th, she informed me that I had won both the Gold and Bronze medals. Many of her staff members were also aware of this fact after the judges had departed. Then there was a subsequent call on Wednesday October 20th when she informed me that owing to a miscalculation she discovered on the judging sheets, I was entirely off the prize list.
I am aware through experience that the best of us cannot win all the time. So it is not the fact that I did not win which peeved me, it was the fact that she did indeed call me and told me I had won. She went so far as to ask me for the English translation of the drawing she said had won the bronze – La Pareja (the couple).
I challenge her to refute these stated facts. How ludicrous were my statements? How foolish and amusing were they? How ridiculous were the assessments I published? Only a fool acts foolishly, is that her opinion of me. Who in Guyana has the international achievements and reputation I have? There was also a statement of international practices in visual art and design competitions. There too, I am the one with the experience. Of the 255 international awards I have received, three are Gold medals, a Silver and a Bronze. And in 1985 in the United States of America I was given the position of National Juror beginning with the National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylics 33rd International Annual.
Again I say, I have the experience in international practices in visual arts competitions, and the procedures in how they are judged. All my assessments are supported by the fact of my international reputation, so when I firmly said that the top two winning entries were not drawings, but paintings, I know what I am saying. Anyone with the innate arrogance to believe they are always right, can find amusement in my assessments, and laugh. But first they must have the knowledge to ensure they are correct. The Curator also states there was no catalogue. I must inform her that a catalogue is a complete list of items arranged in chronological order, and when the awards were finally decided upon, the awards were in chronological order even if not documented. I have fabricated nothing, the judges were asked to tally their total in pencil why? She states too that my reaction was fired by a sense of grievance, and she has no doubt about her assessment. How dare she! My lists of achievements are long, and well documented. I am in Guyana not to find fault, but pass on my knowledge. If some people in the country cannot use my expertise, I will keep it to myself until I get tired and leave. I have left the country many times before, and every time my departure was based on the attitude within the populace. I sense it is going to happen again. Some people who are in position adore the carrying of a big stick. That method does not always work. I never said the matter was publicly advertised, but when she called and told me the results, the matter was advertised. Yes, she did inform me not to tell anyone, but that does not refute the fact she told me. She also mentioned that I had a short-lived expectation of a competition prize. As I mentioned earlier, no one should expect to win all the time. But this sin is in the fact she told me I had.