Artists display Garifuna culture

They may not be household names, but two local artists are staging an exhibit at El Café on Eve Street in Belize City. Raymond Gomez and Shelton Arana highlight their Garifuna heritage by painting scenes of life in Dangriga and Punta Gorda. News 5’s Jose Sanchez caught up with Gomez who spoke of his love of culture and colour.

Raymond Gomez, Artist

“My mentor, the guy who introduced me to art, both of us work inside. His work is mainly Garifuna scenes, life around the Garifuna village, beating the hudut, baking the cassava bread, paddling the dory, catching some fish, basically Garifuna scenes. Nature has many beautiful things and instead of just looking at it with the naked eye, I tend to put it on paper. It may be by pen, pencil or by the brush, it doesn’t really matter, I just put it on paper. It keeps the mind afloat.

This is just a part of my overall project. This is just the beginning of what I have planned to do. I am Garifuna and I am for Garifuna, everything that is Garifuna. This is just a part of my project to show that the Garifuna culture is rich, it’s not only the food and the dance. We also have additional things that we can do with our hands, like painting.”

The pieces are on sale and the exhibit will continue through the end of next week.