The Dutch-gabled Royal Victoria Institute building in Port of Spain, Trinidad, was erected in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubillee. Since 1965 it has housed the National Museum and Art Gallery.
This week the art’s community of Trinidad and Tobago is mourning the murder of gallerist Mark Pereira. (above) The Dutch-gabled Royal Victoria Institute building in Port of Spain, Trinidad, was erected in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubillee. Since 1965 it has housed the National Museum and Art Gallery.
David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Mark Pereria, a much-admired art dealer and curator from Trinidad and Tobago, was killed on December 19, justhoursbefore his 67thbirthday, local news outlets reported Tuesday.

Pereria was reportedly alone in his bed reading a book when he was fatally shot by burglars at his vacation home in Blanchissuese, an idyllic beach town in northern Trinidad.

Pereira, who owned 101 Gallery in the Newtown district of Port of Spain, was mourned by the island’s art community on social media,reportssaid.

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“[The] entire Visual Art Community mourns his passing. We will miss his presence, which was always accompanied with a sophisticated flair. Mark was always generous with his wisdom which contributed significantly to the promotion and development of visual art in Trinidad and Tobago. Thank you for your service Mark,” The Art Society of Trinidad & Tobagopostedto its Facebook page.

Pereira was born in 1955 in Trinidad, according toGlobal Voices,and after dabbling in sales, hospitality, and other fields, discovered his passion for Caribbean art in 1980. In the years that followed, Pereira championed local and long-forgotten Caribbean artists from both the modern and colonial era.

According to theUnited Nations, the number of intentional homicides in Trinidad and Tobago per 100,000 people has risen from 29.7 in 2014 to 38.5 in 2019. According to a November report byThe Trinidad Express, there were 523 murders in the country as of that month, only 14% of which resulted in charges.According to the website World Population Review, the country ranks 12th globally for highest number of murders per capita, just after the Bahamas and before Mexico. The local publicationNewsday said thatpolice are investigating the murder.