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December 2010
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Panel Discussion
“As a consequence of this situation, we as a society do not know what art is. We certainly do not know what good art is. And we do not know—we have not done the work to establish- what are the critical terms of reference by which our own indigenous art forms can be assessed. This puts our artists and our culture —a culture that is inherently creative, and creatively participatory—at a terrible disadvantage. Artists cannot build on precedents if the precedents have not been identified. Artists cannot meet standards of quality if the standards have not been articulated. “Now, I know little about how a university goes about setting its curriculum and developing its academic program. But it just seems to me that in the area of critical analysis a university can and should have a role to play. And it also seems to me that in a small place like an island, a university should not be an ivory tower set apart from the rest of the community, but can and should have its intellectual activities integrated into the cultural life of the island community. I know there are programs at the university that teach art. This is good. But I wonder if more could be done to teach not only how to do it but what makes it good, or not. And certainly more could be done, beyond trying to produce people who can make art, to develop a culture of aesthetic analysis, critical rigour, to scour the international field for the most rigorous standards and then to incorporate these into our island experience and to develop our own rigorous standards.” –Renowned artist and thinker, Peter Minshall, one of four panellists at a discussion on “The Future of the University” on October 11, at the Daaga Auditorium. In the photograph, Mr Minshall is greeted by UWI Chancellor, Sir George Alleyne, who moderated the discussion.
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“At a certain scholarly remove, my work has been the subject of some analysis, mostly “from foreign”, but almost always this analysis has been anthropological, or sociological, not aesthetic, not artistic.