THE indigenous peoples will this Thursday pay homage to Father John Peter Bennett by displaying some of his work alongside those of other indigenous artists at the National Art Gallery, Castellani House. Celebrated artist George Simon identifies Father Bennett as not only a priest, but a linguist, and obviously, an artist.

He says Father Bennett identified with the Arawak language since some of the words were adopted from his native Spanish; for example, the Lokono (Arawak) name for horse, Kawaio, is clearly inherited from the Spanish Caballo.
“So suddenly I had the idea to identify words with a Spanish origin in Father Bennett’s Arawak-English dictionary. The words would provide us with a sort of picture of the specific universe of what was new and didn’t exist in the Lokono world before colonisation, an imprint and vivid testimony to the Spanish Inquisition.”
It was after reading Father Bennett’s works that Simon said, “Immediately, it dawned on me that it would be an ideal occasion to pay homage to Father John P. Bennett and his conscientious and thorough work on such a wonderful dictionary.”
Simon credits the dictionary as being one of the great contributions to preserve the Lokono culture.
Whereas, in the past, the exhibition was dedicated to the works of painters and sculptors, on this occasion the exhibition will also feature the work of craftsmen and women. Some of the craftsmen and women are expected to be at the exhibition showing patrons how they make specific items.
“Craft work is integral to indigenous people’s lives. The fine arts emerged from the making of utility objects; and sculptures in wood developed from the fashioning of items like canoes, mortar and pestle, walking sticks, paddles, “hesso” (a wooden spatula used for spreading cassava flour on the baking pan when making cassava bread) gauge-pins (which are inserted in holes drilled into the canoe to gauge the even thickness of the vessel), arrow points and bows, flutes, stools, and a wooden tool to smooth fibre for weaving fans.”
On show will be craft work of two women from St. Cuthbert’s Mission.

They will demonstrate the technique of “tibisiri” craft making. The Master “Balata” craftsman George Tancredo and his assistant Guy Fredericks, both from the Macushi village of Nappi in North Rupununi, will exhibit their “Balata” sculptures. Traditionally the Moving Circle of Lokono artists from the St. Cuthbert’s school takes the opportunity to introduce the work of an indigenous artist. This year there will be on display the wooden sculpture of a Lokono artist, Shirland Patoir. Shirland is from Maraicobai village in the Mahaicony River.
The exhibition will feature the works of famous artists Oswald Hussein, Winslow Craig, Desmond Ali, Foster Simon, and George Simon.
Simon is not satisfied with the recognition given to arts and craft done by the indigenous peoples, and he was averse to the idea of the exhibition being held at the Amerindian Village in Sophia, where he says the atmosphere “allows for more mileage to be given to the indigenous food and drink and little or no attention given to arts and craft.” (Rebecca Ganesh)