Art show exhibits one man’s contribution to culture
There are many people who spend a lot of time talking about preserving culture…but precious few who actually live the culture that is supposedly being preserved. Tonight we meet a man who works with his head and hands to defy that trend.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
“Culture for Development–A Man at Work,” is Robert Mariano’s first art exhibit. Mariano is a wood carver living in Port Loyola, an area often highlighted in the media for crime. But in the midst of that chaos there are some people using their skills to help others become self-sufficient.
Robert Mariano, Sr., Artist
“Many children drop out from school and don’t have a job. They are out there just wasting their time. If you notice, this guy that I have here with me, this guy was a little sprang head. I keep him around me by giving him little jobs, like sand papering. Everything that you see here is hand made. And because of that, this guy now he can make his own drums.”
“I make various things. I do drums, shakas, John Canoe, knee shells, paddles. I made these small boats for souvenirs.
I can make nets. I can make it as long as it’s wood.”
His love of wood began when he was a child, but he had no time for it during his career as a police officer. But now the sixty-one year old has nurtured the talent, which is now his primary source of income.
Robert Mariano Sr., Artist
“I would say it started out as a hobby, but I might end up using it as a career, because a lot of people rush in and ask me to do this do that because the chair that I build, was just to relax on and to do my digging. Somebody came there and offered me forty dollars and I said hey it’s sold. And I just keep on cutting mangroves. These mangrove sticks are just cut down in the port area and wasted. People come in to settle and squat and just wasting them. I said there must be use for mangroves, so I start using the mangroves. And I realize it’s very good material, tough and everything and very beautiful if you take time to work on it.”
His creations make a perfect cultural decoration for any home, but they also have practical uses. The kis-kis can be used to move hot coal, and instead of putting them on your table, the buoys can also be used as a floating device. And yes, the drums do produce that very familiar Garifuna rhythm.
Robert Mariano Sr.
“We have to become self-sufficient, and we have to become very creative. And the more you start doing things, the more you learn to do it, is what I found out. And the people out there have to understand that we can not depend on others by going out everyday expecting a hand-out. We have to learn to do something. If one of these youths carve out something and take it, when the tourists come out they will sell it, they will sell it.”
All the pieces are on sale and Mariano says he’s willing to teach youths how make a living using the resources that are abundant all over Belize. Reporting for News 5, Jose Sanchez.
The exhibit will officially open Wednesday morning at nine and will run through May twenty-ninth.
