Government buys 10 Cazabon paintings for $3.1 million

[Dizzy28]

one of the biggest problems i have locally is the operation of the blood bank

the way they treat donors...its as if they dont want people to donate

This is a big problem...my dad had triple bypass surgery earlier this year. Went to give blood towards his surgery (I had two pints in from when the mobile blood bank came to work thankfully). Was told I have to come back a next day. Mind you this was early in the morning around 9am however they already filled the numbers they could take for the day.

I don't blame the nurses or the blood bank because in all my previous interactions they have been some of the nicest and most hardworking persons in public health care I have come across.
IMO Its a management problem that exists given the lack of resources (not enough nurses to run longer or more shifts)

[Chimera]

i blame everybody

think about it

they have a 25 or 30 number policy...after that,they dont accept anymore people

to get one of those numbers...you have to be there by 6:30 am (blood bank opens at 8 )

so you going to get less sleep, you proabably going to have a shitty breakfast and you most likely going through traffic stress

plus if you in the situation that you need to give blood for an emergency, you already under stress



so they give out 30 numbers the morning i was there, out of that 30....like 6 people were eligible to donate

me and 8 friends went,only 1 of us was eligible (not me)
everyone else have high pressure (because of all the above mentioned associated problems with having to go so early as well as it was a friend/family member who urgently needed blood...plenty of us didnt sleep good for a week)



my main issue is, out of 30 numbers you give you, only 6 people could donate blood, why the firetruck allyuh doh give out more numbers or supplemental numbers?

once the guard give out 30 numbers for the mrn, that is that. if one person eligible...they guh take one person blood and call it a day

probably someone from mt hope/sando general can clear it up to me

me eh know if they have a valid reason for being dotish

[MG Man]

when you're a registered donor and donating just because you can, they will schedule you for an appointment...no waiting no hassle, and the service it good...Been donating since 1995 and never had a bad experience....but when people wait until there's an emergency, they suddenly expect instant service....it just doesn't work that way....and then the kind of characters you see coming to give blood because someone's desperate, you really can't blame the staff......I've never seen them 'call it a day' early either...

[Dizzy28]

i blame everybody

think about it

they have a 25 or 30 number policy...after that,they dont accept anymore people

to get one of those numbers...you have to be there by 6:30 am (blood bank opens at 8 )

so you going to get less sleep, you proabably going to have a shitty breakfast and you most likely going through traffic stress

plus if you in the situation that you need to give blood for an emergency, you already under stress

Didn't realize the numbers they take are so low though!!! Yea given the rate of attrition till you get an actual donor they should take much more people. Pre screening should be the key here then.


so they give out 30 numbers the morning i was there, out of that 30....like 6 people were eligible to donate

me and 8 friends went,only 1 of us was eligible (not me)
everyone else have high pressure (because of all the above mentioned associated problems with having to go so early as well as it was a friend/family member who urgently needed blood...plenty of us didnt sleep good for a week)



my main issue is, out of 30 numbers you give you, only 6 people could donate blood, why the firetruck allyuh doh give out more numbers or supplemental numbers?

once the guard give out 30 numbers for the mrn, that is that. if one person eligible...they guh take one person blood and call it a day

probably someone from mt hope/sando general can clear it up to me

me eh know if they have a valid reason for being dotish

[djaggs]

If it was the PP.it would.have cost an extra 143,000,000
they would have paid SIS in Jan 2014,
And we would have recieved 8 paintings.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[stev]

If it was the PP.it would.have cost an extra 143,000,000
they would have paid SIS in Jan 2014,
And we would have recieved 8 paintings.

oh lawd...long time i eh laugh so hard

[shogun]

If it was the PP.it would.have cost an extra 143,000,000
they would have paid SIS in Jan 2014,
And we would have recieved 8 paintings.

[Habit7]

Limited access to Cazabon room

...after art stolen from National Museum
Joshua Surtees
Published: Sunday, July 28, 2013


Two Michel Jean Cazabon paintings worth $250,000 each were stolen from the National Museum’s collection in August 2012, the T&T Guardian has learned. The paintings, whose identities were withheld by the museum, were recovered just weeks after the theft when an art dealer, whose identity was also undisclosed, tried to sell them back to the museum curators. There are still doubts amongst art experts as to whether the watercolours now hanging on the museum wall are in fact the originals.

The theft has raised concerns about security in the gallery that holds some of the country’s finest artworks, in particular the Cazabon collection, which sits in a separate air-conditioned room on the top floor of the museum. The theft has been known to the art community in Port-of-Spain for some months. Artists and local gallery owners have discussed the matter in private and at an event hosted by the Art Society of T&T on July 18, LeRoy Clarke became the first artist to speak about it publicly.

Clarke said, “Do you know what is happening to your museum right now? Do you know the rumour around that so many pieces of art are missing? People steal and then the next day a print comes back as if it were the original, and we do not have the facilities to check or authenticate anything.” The theft occurred whilst former museum curator Nimah Muwakil was on maternity leave. Tej Ramlogan, cultural arts officer at the Ministry of Arts, was technically in charge of the museum at the time, deputising for Muwakil.

Ramlogan confirmed to the Guardian that the stolen paintings were from the collection of works by Cazabon, Trinidad’s best-known 19th-century artist. A museum attendant noticed the missing painting on a Saturday afternoon last August and reported it to Ramlogan, who closed the Cazabon room for some months and asked the curatorial team at the gallery to produce a report.

That report never materialised, however, and the incident was not reported to the police until January, when Muwakil returned from maternity leave and produced a full report on the incident for the permanent secretary of the Ministry of National Diversity and Social Integration, Jacinta Bailey-Sobers. Muwakil then reported the theft to Belmont Police Station.

‘Art dealer not reported to police for questioning’
It is unclear why the art dealer was not reported to the police for questioning when he visited the museum with the painting in his possession, amongst several works of art he was trying to sell on behalf of a client. In May, Muwakil resigned to take up a position at the Central Bank museum. The Guardian asked her for a copy of the incident report, but following professional protocol, Muwakil said it was the ministry’s responsibility to disclose the report.

Speaking to the Guardian last Tuesday, Bailey-Sobers said the ministry had only become aware of the incident when the Guardian told her what had happened and she was “not prepared to accept that a theft has happened.” In a seemingly contradictory statement she also said the matter was being investigated by the police and a media statement would be released in the next two days.

When pressed for details of the alleged robbery she said she could not disclose details while the matter was being investigated. She said, however, no arrests had been made. Asked about the length of time it had taken to investigate, she said the police had spoken to the ministry on July 6 to say “administrative problems had delayed their investigations.”

Deputy Police Commissioner Mervyn Richardson told the Guardian, “I’m not aware that they stole anything from the National Museum, but now that you’re telling me this I will look into it.” It is not the first time artworks have gone missing from the museum. In the mid-90s a collection of ancient West African art disappeared and subsequent investigations revealed that the pieces had not been properly documented when they were acquired. It is unclear whether the curatorial procedure has improved since.

‘Paintings worth around $250,000 each’
Geoffrey MacLean, owner of the Medulla Gallery, estimated the paintings were worth around $250,000 each. He said, “Part of the problem at the National Museum is the inventories. Important collections should have a detailed inventory—titles, dates, sizes and photographs. There is very little control over what goes on in the museum generally.

“I do not blame the curators, they are not assisted in terms of resources. It’s a mess and typical of the whole attitude to conservation in this country.” MacLean, LeRoy Clarke and Diana Mahabir-Wyatt, a director of the Art Society, all said they hoped publicising the incident would help raise the important issue of preserving and protecting the nation’s public collection.

The gallery has been understaffed for some time. At one stage in her tenure, Muwakil single-handedly ran the museum. She had been deputy under curator Vel Lewis and was promoted when Lewis was made deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of the Arts and Multiculturalism. She acted not just as curator for the gallery but for the whole museum, including the natural history collection, whilst also acting as administrative director.

Responsibility for the National Museum has been passed between three different ministries in the past five years. Senior figures in the art community told the Guardian they feel the Ministry of National Diversity and Social Integration will now be persuaded to fully staff the museum with assistants and trainees and provide sufficient funds to run the museum correctly.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-07- ... zabon-room

[88sins]

Maybe it's the system.

what d hell u mean"maybe"

but KR didn't talk about belt tightening the other day?
this acquisition seems to be one of those do as I say doh watch what I do games local politicians like to play

[Chimera]

put them thing in a safe for the next 10-40 years yes

get some replicas made and put that in museum

[sylphy_titan]

yes, these painting are valuable to preserving the interests of National Heritage... but NOT NOW!

Not when the price of oil is $37 and we are in so-called recession... Yuh takin we for fools now man...

[RASC]

yes, these painting are valuable to preserving the interests of National Heritage... but NOT NOW!

Not when the price of oil is $37 and we are in so-called recession... Yuh takin we for fools now man...

Don't buy it now when it's affordable.
Wait until it belongs in a private foreign collection in God knows where, the price of oil has rebounded... (5-10 years from now) and pay only 10-15times the amounts.

Sounds like a great idea! /s

[Redman]

Maybe it's the system.

what d hell u mean"maybe"

but KR didn't talk about belt tightening the other day?
this acquisition seems to be one of those do as I say doh watch what I do games local politicians like to play

But the paintings are available now....
you can only buy something when its offered for sale.

[88sins]

He said that there will be a need to curb expenditure and in his own words tighten our belts. Spending that kinda change on 12 oil paintings doesnt sound like a belt tightening move to me at all. Daz all i sayin.
Whether they were up for sale now or 5 years ago or next week is irrelevant.

Ppl that have no other choice but to face the public hospitals still hadda wait 3-6 months for a simple cxr that takes less than 4 minutes to take & process and 5 minutes to report. I kno a young lady that had a mass that needed investigation by sonogram. They gave her an appoinntment for 18 months later and told her it'd take 6-8 weeks to be reported on. That same sonogram was done and reported on privately in less than 30 minutes.

All i sayin really is that kr is just like every other politician that ever took office in T&T from what i could see from this acquisition when compared to his lil oration after being sworn in a few short months ago. Very little forsight and no management skills worth mentioning.

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

The funny thing is those that feel the government doesn't have money to spend on both.

Whether they bought the paintings or not would have little effect on what gets fixed in other areas.

[rspann]

DEAL WITH IT!

[rollingstock]

No back pay, ah wonder if I could get ah Cazabon borrow in lieu of payment?

[civicman]

Good investment.
Now let's shut the he'll up.
We running on fumes.
But waz a two million.
That's small thing.
Do as I say mentality.

[nos_specialist]

Tings financially bad..but 3 mil spend on paintings...that generate no profit...interesting way to spend money...


Hmmm i wonder.... where wud the paintings end up

[zoom rader]

Everyone that knows me here know that I more anti PNM than anyone on here.

This time I support this government move in acquiring those paintings or anyone valued Trini artworks.

Lacking in Trini is real artwork and those that appreciate it.

Carnival promotes wajangness while real art promotes a stable culture.

[kjaglal76v2]

Good move PNM

Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

[j.o.e]

Men feel art is bodi .... Talking about buy it when things why better. Who knows when they might be for sale again and at what price

[EFFECTIC DESIGNS]

Is it 2 million or 3.1 million?

In any event I overheard a couple today arguing about how the government have money to buy paintings but don't have to pay their backpay.

But the thing is backpay will cost way more than this, in any event when we spend millions on useless Prado for every ministry that don't even need it we does keep quiet where as the prados will depreciate in value but these paintings will increase in value as time goes by.

[Cantmis]

If the paintings are to be kept as part of our heritage, then there will be no monetary gain by reselling.

[EFFECTIC DESIGNS]

These are examples of Cazabon's paintings, he really was a talented artist.

Michel-Jean Cazabon- Pitch Lake, Trinidad.



Michel-Jean Cazabon- Sunset, Queen’s Park Savannah.



Michel-Jean Cazabon- Mulatto Girl



Michel-Jean Cazabon- Dry River



Lady Colgrain, His Excellency Garvin Nicholas and Lord Colgrain viewing the oil paintings. Belmont House
Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Michel-Jean Cazabon
6 July 2013



http://arcthemagazine.com/arc/2013/07/m ... ont-trust/

[EFFECTIC DESIGNS]

http://www.looptt.com/content/prime-min ... ok-cazabon

Prime Minister receives book on Cazabon
BY: Loop News
14:05, December 12, 2015



Following the announcement that the Government has purcahsed 10 paintings by Michel Jean Cazabon, the Prime Minister has received a book about the artist's paintings.

Geoffrey MacLean presented his book which is the first ever to be published on Cazabon’s paintings, to the Prime Minister on Friday, December 11 at his office.

MacLean is the leading authority on Cazabon, who was a National Hero and great 19 century artist. He also represented the Government at an Auction for Cazabon’s paintings in London this year.

A release from the Prime Minister says the 10 Cazabon paintings that the Government successfully acquired will be housed at the museum as a significant part of our history captured by the first Trinidad and Tobago artist to attain international acclaim.

Exhibitions will be held next year for citizens to gain deeper appreciation and respect for the great works of Cazabon which has become a part of our nation’s heritage.

Caption:Geoffrey MacLean (left) presents the Prime Minister (right) with his book on Cazabon Paintings

[Chimera]

Woi free book iymc.

[zoom rader]

Well done PNM, but yuh still cah trust dem fcukers

[K74T]

Well done PNM, but yuh still cah trust dem fcukers

Agreed, those dirty PP folks will never be trusted again.