Local designer humbled by Coat of Arms task

Senior Reporter

kay-marie.fletcher@guardian.co.tt

Surprised at being chosen by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to design Trinidad and Tobago’s new Coat of Arms, designer/draughtswoman Gillian Bishop yesterday said she was humbled to be given the opportunity.

And she is also prepared for the potential backlash that could come her way as the issue of the new Coat of Arms continues to be a polarising topic, especially on social media.

When Guardian Media visited Bishop at her Woodbrook studio yesterday, she disclosed that it had only been two days since she received a letter from the Office of the Prime Minister requesting that she submit her drawings.

She said at the time, she thought letters were sent to several local designers but was surprised when Rowley announced her name during Wednesday’s post-Cabinet media briefing at Whitehall, Port-of-Spain.

Bishop said, “I did not know that I was the one being asked to do it. I thought other people would be invited to submit as well, since everybody has got an opinion about this thing and so I figured they’d pick a couple of artists to ask. I didn’t know it was going to be me until yesterday (Wednesday).”

During the media briefing, Dr Rowley said Bishop was tasked with coming up with designs that could potentially be used for the new emblem, which will see the steelpan replacing explorer Christopher Columbus’ three ships on the Coat of Arms.

Prior to the announcement, her sister and beloved deceased musical director Pat Bishop was the one who lived in the limelight.

During that time, Bishop, now 80, had already enjoyed a decades-long private life working diligently behind the scenes to design many national awards, including T&T’s highest honour, the Order of the Republic, African Emancipation monuments like Arise, which sits outside the Treasury in the Capital, and local jewellery.

Now, however, her name is on the lips of everyone who wants to know who she is and why Dr Rowley chose her to re-design the Coat of Arms.

Nevertheless, she revealed she was up to the task.

“All I can do is the best I can do. I can’t do any better. If my country asks me to do something, I do it to the best of my ability,” Bishop said.

“It happens all the time. I am asked to do things and I do them… I do a lot of work for the state for official gifts and so on.”

And despite all the controversy around Coat of Arms, Bishop said she is not bothered by what people may say about her designs.

Instead, she wishes people would respect the national instrument and the hardworking panmen and women.

Asked if she was prepared for the ridicule that could follow, she teased, “No, why should it? Where are they going to do this ridicule? In my workplace or in my home? Because that’s my route. Home to work and work to home.”

She added, “The challenge is not my problem. It is the people who ask me to do it. I can’t do better than what I can do. That is not my problem. There is a lot of talk, and I don’t know why there is so much talk about it.

“A lot of people have a lot of views about whether the pan should be doing this or doing that, and I just wish people would be a lot more supportive of the pan and the people who play it.”

Bishop also remained tight-lipped about how the new design would look, how long it would take to create and how much it would cost.

However, she did admit to staying awake until 4 am yesterday designing the prototype after the PM announced she was his choice.

She also revealed that the OPM’s letter had a deadline date to submit the new emblem but refused to disclose the details.

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