The Tribune

NOELLE NICOLLS

Tribune Features Editor

nnicolls@tribunemedia.net

The “Beacon of Hope” mural by visual artist Kishan Munroe could find a new home in one of the most prestigious Bahamian resorts if the artist has his way. Currently on display at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas (NAGB) in its Kingdom Come exhibit is the 8 x 16 foot acrylic and oil painting on wood. It could find itself hanging on the walls of the new ‘Bahamian Riviera’, said Kishan, as the Baha Mar resort is “thinking about buying it”.

“The piece is gaining attention, so much so that even Baha Mar has expressed interest. They have seen the beauty in the passionate expressions of the social climate in the Bahamas. So it is something more true to the Bahamas. It is something more current. At the same time it is designed to engage people. You want to look at it, even though the content could have heavy implications for some people,” said Kishan.

He created the mural in 2012 for then political candidate Wayne Munroe, who wanted something to beautify the exterior of his Democratic National Alliance constituency headquarters.

“He gave me full freedom to do whatever. I used my artistic license to kill two birds with one stone by making a socio political statement. A few months later after he saw it, he said it couldn’t go outside, it was too good. Wayne was willing to allow me to exhibit wherever,” said Kishan. He entered it into the NAGB exhibit after being invited to participate.

“All of my work right now is geared towards a contribution to society, a contribution towards culture. Where Bahamians and foreigners alike can come and experience art that makes our culture a lot more tangible and understandable. I feel that is one of my duties as a visual artist and a multimedia artist working in the Bahamas,” said Kishan.

“It is a political statement that was created in the heat of the political environment and it speaks of the contemporary issues. It uses direct and indirect illusions through various metaphors. It is a strong statement about Bahamian history as well, something that is lacking in public spaces especially when it comes to culture. We don’t show that part of Bahamian reality. We don’t show the spirit and the feelings of the Bahamian people in that way, something that is more passionate and serious in a more socio political way. I think it would be a step in the right direction,” said Kishan.

Large format painting is a passion of Kishan’s. He enjoys pushing the boundaries and challenging himself to do things differently.

“Most of my work is bigger than me and greater than me in terms of size and endurance,” said Kishan. “It has to be a challenge and size is one of the biggest challenges. I like to make work that I can step into literally,” he said.

One of his other great large format pieces was the ‘Lift Up Your Head’ wall mural in the Coca-Cola Love My Bahamas exhibit. It was destroyed in the downtown fire that also captured part of the Pompey Museum. The mural covered the upstairs exterior wall of the Balcony nightclub, located in the historical church building.

Participating artists had their choice of mural spaces. Kishan embraced the challenge of the church wall.

“Churches always have so much history, something significant about them. That church is one of the oldest buildings downtown. You never knew its significance; it was run down and it was night club. I wanted to use the project as an opportunity to make a statement based on my experience. I wanted that to be my contribution. That is the reason for the title ‘Lift Up Your Head’ because that is in our national anthem,” said Kishan.

Kishan was downtown shooting photos of the fire when he realised the painting had been consumed by the fire.

“It was shocking. I went downtown to take pictures of the fire. I heard conflicting reports that it was on the next side. When I banked the corner I saw the building. It was a surprised,” said Kishan.

The initial agreement had the mural scheduled to come down two years after its completion, so Kishan always considered it a temporal piece. It remained up for several additional years.

“When you put anything out there in the public arena there is the opportunity that it can be vandalized or destroyed. When you do stuff like that you don’t expect things to last hundreds of years. There is a certain expected life of a piece,” said Kishan.

“It went down with the Pompey Museum that houses so much of our historic artefacts. When they speak about my mural they think about it in the same reference to the Pompey. In that respect it is paying homage to the piece,” he said.

Although he loves to work in large format, Kishan can also handle more micro forms of design. He participated in the unveiling of the new 40th anniversary of independence logo last night, which he co-designed with designer Addis Huyler.