Culture Minister pays tribute to late Fielding Babb

FIELDING Babb’s contribution to the cultural development of Barbados can only be described as phenomenal and outstanding.

This description from Minister of Culture Stephen Lashley as he paid tribute to the renowned artist who passed away on Saturday.

Minister Lashley told The Barbados Advocate that Fielding who was born in 1935, and was one of the rare artistes who used his artistic ability to capture on canvas the landscapes of Barbados to tell the rich history of the island.

“Many of those landscapes have since disappeared from our eyes either through the vagaries of development or through the affliction of time, but he has been able to capture them on canvas. He has been able to motivate so many young artists, so many senior artists, with his unique style of using the knife instead of the brush to do what he loved to do.”

The Culture Minister who is also the parliamentary representative of Christ Church West Central in which this outstanding son of the soil resided, described him as jovial, yet humble. He was also a vibrant member of the community. He said he was able to visit his home studio on many occasions and see him work and see his pieces on display.

“I first encountered Fielding when I first went into that constituency just about 2004 -2005 and he has always been a tower of strength and offered advice. He served on one of the first committees that I set up in that constituency to look at culture and sports and he would have been very active. He had a vision of reaching out to young people and always would have given advice where he felt that the youth of Barbados had to be reached and he certainly gave me that advice.”

“He has made an indelible impression on the Visual Arts in Barbados. NIFCA would always be a special part of his work and he would have dedicated quite a bit of his time to ensuring he could be a part of very important exhibitions where his story could be told. I believe that Fielding would not only be missed in Barbados but his work would have extended across the Caribbean and in many other countries in the world,” he said. (JH)