WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
Chairman of the National Council for Indian Culture of Jamaica Beryl Singh (second left) with council member Seragh Lakersingh (left) congratulate two of the council's awardees Justices Mahadev Dukharan and Ingrid Mangatal at a reception held at the Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston
on Friday night February 11.
Chester Francis-Jackson, Gleaner Writer
IT'S ALWAYS refreshing, to realise that the beauty and natural fabulousness of this island, that most Jamaicans take for granted, is treated with more than just a passing interest by others. A fact made more interesting when those who embrace its beauty and, warmth consistently make it their winter home and or island get-away. This is done against the background of informed choice, because these international residents and or visitors, make their decision with pretty much the world from which to choose, but decide on this country of ours!
Jamaica is a simply fabulous island, its people the gem of the region, given to naturalness when it comes to hosting and entertaining visitors. This speaks volumes to their kind-heartedness and wholesome nature.
Jamaicans are a proud people! Trend-setters in things fashionable! In music and culinary arts, maestros all - with the ability to rise to every occasion, in serving up mouth-watering culinary delights, at a moment's notice.
But dears, perhaps the one area of pride, most frequently overlooked or ignored, when it comes to assessing the Jamaican cultural, social, and historical heritage is perhaps in the area of his domicile!
FIERCE SENSE OF PRIDE
Dears, whether it be the rural peasant, the urban polloi, the genteel classes of both rural and urban centres, the well-to-do and or the social snob Jamaicans all exercise and display a fierce sense of pride in their dwellings!
Perhaps, more so than others, but most certainly with no less commitment, the poorer classes have always been more industrious and creative in their approach to the construction of their dwellings, as here it is the personal application and detailing that helps in bestowing the much sought after social elevation that will set them apart from each other, after all, a man's home is not just his castle, it represents his social aspirations and is his ultimate sign of empowerment!
Now, Prince George Galitzine, has been a regular visitor to our shores, since the early 1970s. And like many a foreigners to the island, he too became enchanted with not just the beauty of the people and the island, but also the architecture, particularly the small hand made houses and structures that were built and continues to be created by "persons at the lower end of the socio-economic scale, as they contain the fabric and history of the country".
To this end, in his many visits over the years, Prince Galitzine, has been documenting various structures of interest to be found across the island, and in this respect, last Sunday, presented a selection of his water-colours of "Handmade" Jamaican Houses, in an exhibition mounted at that bastion of art, craft and culture - The Harmony Hall Great House over there near Ocho Rios, that indeed, proved not only a fabulous inspiring artsy outing, but was also a faultlessly charming rendezvous of North Coast snob and fab society!
Dears, it was like that, and then some!
Born the son of a Russian Prince and an Austrian Baroness, Prince George Galitzine, did his growing up between London and Ireland.
OXFORD GRADUATE
A graduate from Oxford, he also studied etching in Paris and obtained a degree in printmaking, from the Central School of Art, London, before embarking on an eighteen year long career in the international film industry, before retiring in 1996, to take up painting on a full-time basis. It was his fascination with the Jamaican architecture, particularly 'handmade houses' that led him to the mounting of this his first solo exhibition here in Jamaica, as a documentary effort, to capture the essence of this disappearing architectural heritage. And here, the visiting Prince, shone in his chosen medium, managing to capture the very essence, spirit, thought and energy that goes into the creation of the colourful subjects, that
was the meet of last Sunday's exhibition.
Officially opened by the president of the Georgian Society of Jamaica, George Faria, who was introduced to the august gathering of art lovers and aficionados by Co-chair of the Harmony Hall Centre, Peter Proudlock, the exhibition was in every way, an artistic and social triumph and had the leading denizens of North Coast society out in summery numbers at sixes and nines, as it were. It made for a refreshingly fabulous outing.
