Hinkson's Game of Words: Artist transforms Fisher Avenue with Carnival-commentary murals

The walls on both sides of the street on Fisher Avenue, St Ann’s have once again been transformed into a storyteller's dream with the street exhibit mounted by artist Donald "Jackie" Hinkson.

In 2021, with the official cancellation of Carnival celebrations, Hinkson exhibited his Carnival-inspired murals, ranging 55 to over 100 inches, attracting a diverse audience.

This year he has decided to exhibit again, and with support from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts has added 120 feet to the Band of the Year mural he started working on two years ago. The 2022 edition, Game of Words, opened on February 20 and runs until March 4.

The artwork gives a pictorial commentary on issues that have been raised and events that have been taking place throughout TT.

"The gayelle in the Parliament, the vaccines, the anti-vaxxers, floods, sou sou, Petrotrin and so many other things were added to the mural, reading like a chronological sequence of what was happening," Hinkson told Sunday Newsday.

He said the main objective behind the exhibit, then and now, is also the basic inspiration behind any piece of art – to communicate with the public. And although a lot of it is Carnival-inspired, he said it is not a depiction of Carnival, but a metaphor of how he views society using Carnival.

"So whether or not we have Carnival is not a deterrent."

For him, a street exhibit was the most logical choice given the size of his works.

"They (the artworks) require a certain monumentality of scale...The evolution of man, society, an era, time, all requires a monumental approach. I couldn't put it in an art gallery, so I had to find somewhere where they can sit comfortably. Besides, how many people go into an art gallery or a museum? I like the idea of being able to communicate with as wide a public as possible."

And the fact that it is mounted on the street on which he lives is a bonus because it is convenient and he can easily monitor it.

"I have the best neighbours," he said with a laugh, as his neighbours allowed him to mount the pieces on the walls of their homes.

Hinkson's artistic experience involves the use of various media and subjects, and his production of mural-size work began in the 1980s. He has produced four books on his life and art, and in 2010 his over 100 sketch pads have been inscribed by Unesco into TT’s Memory of the World Register. But even with his over 60 years of artistic experience, he said identifying the issues he wants to showcase remains the easy part. Figuring out how to create a work of art based on the subject matter is challenging, even for the most experienced of artists.

"On the surface, looking at the mural, you will see references to the sou sou and what happens in the Parliament, for example. But to me, it's far more important how I use the format and elements of visual art...How do I visually take one issue and juxtapose it with another? It is not an intellectual process, but more of an emotional process. With experience, you might get more skilful, technically, but there remains a constant challenge for the artist to present in his work, his vision of the world, society and human condition because things are evolving all the time. Artists always have to be aware and keep evolving."

As it regards the meaning behind the theme, Game of Words, Hinkson said it is somewhat of a play on the television series Game of Thrones.

Over the years, he said, he became increasingly conscious of how, for some people, everything seems to be a game.

"At all levels in our daily lives, I kept getting the impression that there was too much emphasis on words – in the Parliament, in the media, on the street – and not enough about what is being done about the matters at hand."

He said he began to "place emphasis on the words visually" on the mural and the theme materialised.

"I wanted a title that would give viewers the role of the words."

And in as much as he would like to make it an annual event, even when Carnival celebrations revert to its usual scale, he said he will play it by ear because such an undertaking is very demanding physically, mentally and financially.

"I’m going to be 80 this year, so it will all depend on whether or not I have the energy. This is constant work, and not just in terms of finding the money to do it. You have to find the space to produce it, storage for hundreds of feet of canvas. Then you have to consider the weather. These are works that are meant to be shown in a sheltered place. Rain and sun, over an extended period, will damage the work. UV light will fade the works and every time that happens, I have to go back and strengthen them. It’s not easy."

The 2019 Chaconia Medal Gold awardee said he would love to see other younger artists trying it and taking their works to a wider public, possibly using a different medium that can withstand the harshness of the elements.

"There are lots of questions to be asked and answered, but the communication of art is necessary...I’m still astonished by not just how well last year’s showing was received, but the way it was experienced by people of all walks. I think the magic is in it being held on the street, which, as Trinidadians, we know instinctively is intrinsic to the experience of Carnival.”

Members of the public can walk or drive by between 9 am and 7 pm while observing all pandemic protocols. Visitors are advised to park near the top of Fisher Avenue and around the small park. Hinkson is committed to being on-site daily 4-6 pm to answer questions. Schools are encouraged to contact him at jackiehinkson@gmail.com to arrange visits for small groups of art students accompanied by a teacher. To learn more about Hinkson’s 2022 Game of Words street exhibition, and the artist’s work in general, follow him on his Instagram and Facebook pages.