On Friday, September 3 and Saturday, September 4, a display of cartoons in Guyanese newspapers from 1900 to 2004 was presented as part of the Guyana Festival 2004 symposium.
The theme for this year's symposium was 'Guyanese Words: Spoken, Written, Sung, Drawn.' Among the cartoonists celebrated were Al DeLima, H Edwards, Hawley Harris, S Harris, P Harris, Lowe, and Rudy Seymour.
The display revealed that throughout the 20th century, newspaper cartoons in Guyana have served a number of functions. Through the use of metaphors, popular words, catch phrases, mythology, and stereotypes, newspaper cartoons have commented on every aspect of Guyanese life, including the opinions of the ruling class, and the frustrations of citizens. They have contributed to our heritage of 'Tanta-lies' and 'Tanta-facts.'
Cartoons have played an important role in Guyanese political life. The colonial establishment used them to 'educate' the people. The modern political parties have used, and continue to use, cartoons to further their political agendas.
Since the 1950s, Guyanese have been creating some of these cartoons. The pioneer in this field is Rudy Seymour, who gave to Guyana characters such as Peter Palava, Sweet Sago, The Preacher, and Big Mama.
Seymour was born in Georgetown on September 26, 1926, to Agatha (nee Tute) and Charles Hubert Seymour. He attended St Stephens Primary School. His path to cartooning started with doodling. Doodling was his way of coping with a stammer.
Seymour became so engrossed in this activity that his academics began to suffer. Initially, his doodling was not supported by his family or his teachers.
It was "licks in the morning, in the evening every day and at home," said Seymour. "Still I couldn't stop this urge, compulsion to draw."
This all changed when Mr Stephens became headmaster. He requested the teachers to stop flogging Seymour. After sixth standard, he went to Central High School, but economic circumstances caused him to leave early.
After leaving Central High School, Seymour made several attempts to join the art department at the B G Lithographic Co. He really wanted to work closely with Moshette, Antrobus, and Pang. There were no vacancies, but Moshette, noting his skills, got Seymour a position with Ervin Stuart in the camera department as an apprentice. His colleagues in that department included Emerson Samuels and Vivian McDonald, who subsequently made significant contributions to Guyanese visual arts.
Seymour's participation in a strike at the B G Lithographic led to his dismissal. So, he sought a position as a plate-maker and camera man at the Guiana Graphic. He was able to secure an interview with Mr Rawlings, the manager, who pointed out that the only position that was open was one in block-making. Seymour did not have that skill.
He recalled Rawlings as saying, "I am sorry, son."
He also recalled that on his way out of the office, Rawlings remarked, "The only thing this company is searching for is a political cartoonist."
Seymour replied, "I can draw, but know nothing about politics."
He was asked to return the next morning with samples of his drawings, and he did.
"Rawlings was impressed," said Seymour.
Rawlings became Seymour's mentor and gave him a crash course in cartooning: how to read editorials, how to find an angle, and how to use language. After that quick orientation, Seymour was hired as a Sunday editorial cartoonist.
When Seymour started, he was part of a strategy of the colonial establishment to use cartoons to counter the political ideas that were being introduced by the emergent PPP.
Seymour was not the only cartoonist at work in British Guiana at that time, and the Guiana Graphic was also not the only newspaper with a cartoon. The Daily Argosy contained a popular cartoon centred around the character, Peter Pimpernel. In 1950, to counter this situation, John L Garbutt, Montague Smith, and Seymour came up with Peter Palaver, the wise all-seeing donkey.
Peter Palaver became an instant success, and Seymour was in demand. Through his cousin A J Seymour, he was invited to work for the Government Information Service (GIS). Here he created Sweet Sago.
"Sweet Sago's role was to teach, inform, educate, and entertain," said Seymour.
Through this project, he was able to work with Henry Josiah, Wordsworth McAndrew, Ivan Van Sertima, Billy Carto, and Lloyd Searwar.
Seymour's roster of cartoon characters includes A Man Called Change, Big Mama, Big Sam, Bumbasto, Joe Dougla, Peter Palaver, Preacher, Professor Twikle, Sam Smart, and Sucy Shark.
In the post-independence era, Seymour's work began to amplify national development themes. In addition to working on the traditional political cartoons, he developed strip cartoons that told the story of national heroes and historical moments.
For example, he worked with Alan Fenty to develop strips on Cuffy and Quamina. With Ovid Isaacs, he developed a strip on the Enmore Martyrs. Seymour also used cartoons to address pressing social issues, such as promoting agriculture, education, and public safety. With Marc Matthews, he developed the comic book Vaci the Very Good Germ for the Ministry of Heath.
In addition, in the late 1970s, Seymour began to develop comics and colouring books. During his stint with the Guyana National Service, he wrote and illustrated the 62-page comic book A Man called Change.
His Benjie and Peter Palaver Colouring Book introduced his cartoon characters to the younger generation.
Seymour is also a musician. As a teenager, he was a member of the British Guiana Militia Band.
He had hoped to become a jazz drummer; however, in the band he learned to play the saxophone. He became a saxophonist in Sonny Thomas's band.
Seymour initially migrated to the United States in 1968 and returned to Guyana in 1974. He finally settled in the US during the 1980s.
In the United States, Seymour has worked on Walt Disney products. In 1989, along with the late Hank Harper, he produced a cartoon series on the evils of drug abuse. In 2004, Seymour's cartoons were published in New York, Trinidad, and Jamaica.
Rudy Seymour is another example of Guyanese tenacity. His life demonstrates that Guyanese can overcome setbacks to become successful.
He has also demonstrated that the Guyanese word can be delivered in many modes.
Seymour has been married to Claudia (nee Culley) for more than 50 years. They have seven children, all of whom have successful professional careers.
Sources
Telephone interview Vibert Cambridge and Rudy Seymour, August 12, 2004
Letter to Vibert Cambridge from Rudy Seymour received August 27, 2004