Article Image Alt Text

The group from Her Majesty’s Prison, Social Engineers, posing with Acting PM of Barbados, Richard Sealy after receiving a gold award for their Theatre piece.

High point

2017 best year for culture for Barbados

Acting Prime Minister of Barbados, the Hon. Richard Sealy believes that 2017 has been a great year for the creative arts in this country.

His comment came as he delivered his feature address during the NIFCA Gold Awards Ceremony, which took place at Ilaro Court on Friday night.

“Support for my positive assessment of the creative arts further manifests itself through the recent hosting of CARIFESTA XIII right here on our shores. At this cultural extravaganza, which showcased the practices, customs and expressions of countries throughout our region, we were treated to a variety of cultural presentations from our sister islands, as well as from our local talent,” he said.

Overall, the acting PM believes that credit should be given to participants and stakeholders alike for the effort, energy and dedication that Barbados put into ensuring that the 13th edition of CARIFESTA went down in history as one of the best festivals to be held on the island.

“The global exposure accrued to Barbados from events such as these, coupled with our ever-expanding Crop Over celebrations, serve as critical tools which can utilise to introduce the Barbados brand to the world,” he said.

“Just as importantly, they also provide ample evidence that, thanks to our human resource, the creative arts are alive and well here in our island, a prognosis that augurs well for the expansion of various fields of cultural expression, right here in Barbados.”

He believes that Barbados’ cultural products are strong and are able to serve as springboards to launch the careers of several young people, who could now regard the creative arts as a viable avenue that they could use to make a decent living for them and their families.

He also reported that Barbados was able to plan and execute another successful Food and Rum Festival, which allowed patrons to have the unique opportunity to interact with and sample “a myriad of culinary delights of chefs and mixologists of both local and international acclaim”.

These events were just two of the many hosted throughout the year, which he believes played a role in making 2017 the best year for Barbados’ cultural industry.

Barbados Advocate

Mailing Address:
Advocate Publishers (2000) Inc
Fontabelle, St. Michael, Barbados

Phone: (246) 467-2000
Fax: (246) 434-2020 / (246) 434-1000