BELIZE CITY, Fri. July 31, 2020– Katie Numi Usher, a Belizean artist who studied the arts in Mexico and who is an affiliate of the Image Factory of Belize, has launched her new book, entitled “Kathie Numi Usher”.
In the book, which is a collection of photos and commentaries that span her career, she explores the correlation between art and history, and she challenges readers to question existing norms.
Usher told us that on the 25th anniversary of the Image Factory Art Foundation, her writings and artwork were selected to be the content of a special publication to commemorate the foundation’s anniversary, and she was thrilled when she learned that her work would receive such recognition.
She hopes that those reading the book will start to question and analyze the norms that are in place around them, and to challenge the knowledge that has been handed down to them. For example, she referred to the designation of one part of Belize City as the Southside and the other part as the Northside and commented that the only aspect of the Southside that has been highlighted is the high crime rate. There are beautiful things in the Southside, but these are seldom highlighted or mentioned, and she challenges readers to answer the question, why.
She remembers sitting in front of a wall exhibit on which there were 70 names of young men who lost their lives to the ongoing, senseless gun violence in 2015, and among the persons whose names were listed is Kareem Clarke, Amandala’s very own esteemed reporter who was murdered senselessly in June 2015. She said that she was sad, because Clarke was her favorite writer, and she enjoyed reading his articles. Clarke always reminded readers that the young men killed are not statistics but are loved ones — fathers, brothers, uncles, and that they meant a lot to others who knew them. Ultimately, Clarke himself became a victim of the senseless violence that he had documented.
Usher said that she does not want money to be an obstructing factor that would prevent people from obtaining and reading her book. There is a limited quantity of hard copies which can be bought from the Image Factory for $20, or it can be ordered from the Image Factory at [email protected]. Usher said that those who do not have money can download a free copy of the book at àt www.docdroid.net/FfKQbGY/knu-ebook-july-15-2020-pdf.