7 News Belize

BEYOND THE BORDER
posted (October 13, 2010)
Selling the Belize brand as a unique tourist destination has always been a challenge for those in the Tourism industry, but the folks at the Image Factory believe that their most recent collection of visions from a cross-section of young gifted and established Belizean artists can provide "an appetizer of Belizean culture and identity".

An art exhibition which opens at the Mexican Institute of Culture and aptly dubbed "Beyond the Border" is designed to give the rest of the World a snapshot of who we are, says Gilvano Swasey, of the Image Factory.

Gilvano Swasey, Curator and Artist
"The idea was Belizean artist was doing more than that, than painting. we have been sculpting, maybe realistic objects, dream objects and so forth and I highlight stuff like painting on feng wood, illustration art by Mali Cayetano, I did a bamboo furniture by Janice Young, I did works by Michael Gordon, there is metal sculpture by George Gabb, there is a conch shell sculpture by Franco Cano, Calabash art by Leslie Gillespie, there is functional natural art by Anthony Vacario and then I wanted to mix it up with new art so there is black and white photography from kids from Arenal and the beauty of that is it was not just only pictures; the kids had to write stories about their works, so they had to defend it in a sense which is very crucial; many artist make things but the second you put a mike at them they don't know how to explain it, so it was very crucial. And then new art which was digital photography from students of Yasser Musa at St. John's College. So it was a whole mixture of old and new and new dreams and new visions and that's why the name 'beyond the border' usually when we hit the border is to buy cheap Mexican beer but also it was beyond the border of the artwork, usually when we think of it its painting and to show people that there is more to Belize, there is more to art, there is more to culture than just what we think it is."

The exhibit was recently on display at the Mayan Cultural Museum in Chetumal where according to Mexican Embassy spokesperson, Marcelino Miranda, it received rave reviews.

Marcelino Miranda, Mexican Embassy spokesperson
"This exhibition was very successful in Chetumal. It was presented at the best museum in Quintana Roo 'Mayan Culture Museum' and it was visited by more than 2,000 people. So this was very important because for years Belizean artists hadn't presented any work in Chetumal and it was an important moment for the Mexican public to admire and to visit this exhibition. The interesting thing of this exhibition is that you have different Belizean artist, so it's different styles, different ways in which they regard their own country and also the way that they express the arts. It was very educating for Mexican public to look at different visions about Belize."

The exhibition will officially open tomorrow at 7 P.M. and is free to the general public.

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize