Tag Archives: culture

It’s an idea just taking root, and having thrown it out last week, I figure I could try to see how it could take shape. By headlining that column “A Ministry of Festivals” people got locked inside an idea of an entity akin to the existing Ministry of Culture, although …

I don’t actually mean that we should have a ministry of festivals, in the sense of a state-controlled body—that kind of lumbering oversight has done little to develop anything meaningfully. Not for an entity that has to be agile and innovative and intimate with our history and traditions. Last year, …

I am thinking amphitheatre for pan and for a place into which to throw those who damage the institutional integrity of our supposedly independent constitutional bodies to be subjected to public heckling. Unlawful and deeply troubling actions such as those taken by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission against Marcia …

In the aftermath of the annual ritual of the presentation of the Budget, three of Trinidad and Tobago’s most credible and authentic practitioners in the arts and culture were reported in the Trinidad Express newspaper, last week, as expressing reservations about what is passed off as Government support for culture …

“[…] In musical terms, T&T punches well above its geographic and demographic weight. Many artistes have brought great poetic, musical and lyrical richness to the global table—but none of them brings the feels like David Rudder. “[…] You’ll not find more deftly written words to describe a particular sexy woman …

The speakers at the handover ceremony of the new Despers pan theatre on Monday last, failed to connect the dots between the new theatre and the revitalisation and rebranding of downtown East Port of Spain. The Prime Minister expressed an expectation that the theatre would be a public asset available …

President Christine Kangaloo played a hopeful string of chords for me with her inaugural address. She spoke of modernising the protocols that govern how citizens and her office interact, and “having its facilities put to even greater use in hosting cultural, educational and artistic ventures, particularly among the youth”. My …

Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) has provided quality coverage of this season’s Panorama competitions, particularly through the engagement of knowledgeable commentators. In the course of her closing remarks last Sunday morning when the medium and large band semi-finals concluded after midnight, Michelle Huggins-Watts, musicologist and formidable pan practitioner, commented on …

“[…] The main argument in defence of what’s in effect a Machel Monday redux on Carnival Friday was that ISM was dying anyway, so what’s the problem letting Monk have his way and have the day? “It’s a strikingly bad argument. If your beloved relative is dying, you don’t finish …

Last Sunday’s Junior Panorama was a scintillating competition. The crowds were so large that, as the Primary Schools category was completed, their supporters were politely asked to leave and make space for the next category, Secondary Schools. The quality of the musical performances of the participants in each of the …

“Pan is in good hands,” they said—after experiencing the energy and exuberance of the Junior Panorama finals at the Queen’s Park Savannah. But is it? The Presbyterian schools dominated the 2023 competition. Guaico Presbyterian Steel Orchestra scored a hattrick by winning its third National Primary Schools Trophy. NAPs Combined (students of Naparima …

Sadly, the wonderful atmosphere of last Wednesday’s celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Independence may be merely a transient feel good moment given the sorry state of our country. The work week began on Monday with remarkable chaos as a result of the confluence of continued protests, ostensibly about the …