(Click on photo for a bigger image)Glenn Roopchand’s recreation of “The Inherent Nobility of Man”, the famous mural by Carlisle Chang at the old Piarco Airport building, notoriously destroyed in the late seventies, is on show at the main gallery of the National Museum until the end of November. Accompanying the mural are numerous studies, mainly in colour and standing as paintings in their own right, as well as several medium-to-large other pieces by Roopchand. Also accompanying the show is a free booklet with colour reproductions of many of the pieces on show (but not the mural itself) as well as photos of Roopchand at work on the mural. The booklet has essays by Kenwyn Crichlow and Pat Bishop, a statement by the Art Society, brief biographies of Chang and Roopchand, and a transcript of most of an interview with Roopchand by Kwynn Johnson, who did her thesis on the Chang mural. The actual video of the interview is running on a loop in the gallery, a welcome bonus for the visitor, even though it’s on a B/W monitor.
