How does one respond to racist, xenophobic populism? Art plays a part, says Natalie Hopkinson
Artists resist in Guyana. Natalie Hopkinson marks the trajectory of the country's painters, poets, intellectuals and activists in "A Mouth Is Always Muzzled: Six Dissidents, Five Continents, and the Art of Resistance." The book - a mix of journalism, essays and academic research - is a sociological, historical tome that looks at democracy and art in postcolonial Guyana through the lens of identity and free speech during Guyana's 2015 election year.
Hopkinson's analysis focuses on the crossroads where two legacies meet: art created in response to white oppression and one of empire-building and their profiteers. By looking at Guyanese artists like painter Bernadette Persaud and
