ECYS Minister Melissa Gumbs with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley.
~ Opportunity for artists to grow, evolve ~
BARBADOS--Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS) Melissa Gumbs is attending the Caribbean Festival of Arts CARIFESTA XV for the first time and described her first impressions of the regional festival thus far as “organized chaos.”
With more than 150 events taking place over 10 days in Barbados, Gumbs said the scale of the celebrations can feel overwhelming, especially for artists hoping to experience as much as possible. “However, I have focused my schedule on the Big Conversations series, which tackles a variety of topics. For example, Monday's Big Conversation is on HAIR-itage, which is timely, considering the current local discussion on harmful hair policies and the discrimination against black and brown hair over centuries of colonisation,” she said.
Gumbs said it was her first time at CARIFESTA and her first real visit to Barbados, recalling that her only previous trip had been a brief 24-hour stay in 2005 to obtain a US student visa. “My impression so far: organised chaos. 150 events over 10 days is no easy feat and it can seem overwhelming, particularly for artists of different disciplines who want to consume as much knowledge as possible,” she said.
Gumbs has so far attended the Super Concert on Friday, August 22, which launched the official CARIFESTA XV events. On Saturday, she joined the opening of the Big Conversations series, which featured a panel discussion on Caribbean Civilization with panellists Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, Sir Hilary Beckles of University of the West Indies, and Dr. June Soomer, St. Lucia’s Ambassador to the OECS.
“The discussion focused on key moves that the region must make and it was interesting to hear both PM Gonsalves and Dr. Soomer discuss the notion of ‘associate’ members of CARICOM and how that was just another barrier for many island nations to the full power of what CARICOM offers. Will be interesting to follow that topic as it is raised in other circles,” she said.
Reflecting on the opportunities for artists, Gumbs said: “I believe the artists in our delegation have the opportunity to gain knowledge, establish networks and build collaborations where they normally would not. Much of the challenge for smaller islands is on evolving and growing in their craft and these types of events offer the kind of environment where you might look around and say ‘oh, I've really been doing this the same way for 15 years, maybe it's time for a shake up’ and that then allows for an ‘Aha!’ moment, as they say, to take place.
“Lifelong learning is for everyone. Even if on St. Maarten we consider someone an amazing poet, there's always more to learn and once you take that person out of St. Maarten, where they're not one of five doing that craft, it can encourage the type of shift where their competitiveness and hunger for their craft erupts and then evolves.”
The official St. Maarten delegation includes Minister Gumbs, her Chief of Staff Suzette Moses-Burton, Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport, and Telecommunication (TEATT) Grisha Heyliger-Marten, Culture Department Head Clara Reyes, Charisse Piper, Lisandro Suriel, Rochelle Ward, Lucinda Audain, Zillah Duzong-Hazel, King James, and DJ King Kembe. The delegation is also carrying two submitted works under the film discipline from Peter Sagnia and Jonathan van Arneman.
Additionally, a travel group of cultural figures has been joining the delegation at events, including former Ombudsman Dr. Nilda Arduin and former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles Suzy Camelia-Römer.
