NASSAU, The Bahamas – Director of Culture for The Bahamas Dr. Nicolette Bethel said recently that the 120-member Bahamian contingent that will representing the country at the Caribbean Festival of the Arts (CARIFESTA) IX, shows the cultural diversity and depth of the nation.
The Bahamian delegation is made up of writers, dancers, actors, musicians and the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas is slated to provide a digital art exhibition. The musical offering will include classical, folk and popular music, Junkanoo and Rake-and-Scrape. The two main performances for the contingent will be the play “You Can Lead a Horse to Water” and the variety extravaganza “A Taste of The Bahamas.” The Bahamas is also slated to host CARIFESTA X in 2008.
“The importance of the Bahamian contingent, which is the largest non-Trinidadian contingent, is that we need to position ourselves as a cultural giant in the Caribbean,” Dr. Bethel said.
The countries considered cultural giants in the region are Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados.
Trinidad and Jamaica, in particular, have affected world culture and music at a level they are not truly getting the credit for.
“For example, Jamaican music – reggae and dancehall and all the things that have come from it – are mainstream popular music. That’s how much Jamaica has impacted the world,” said Dr. Bethel.
“Jamaica has changed the (musical) aesthetics of the world.
“Trinidad has changed the aesthetics of the performing arts. The Lion King right now is using
puppetry and using all kinds of techniques that were developed in Trinidadian Carnival for Trinidadian Carnival.”
Dr. Bethel said that Bahamians have already started their journey to such a high cultural status with the fundamental impact that Bahamian folk music and musicians, such as Joseph Spence,
had on American folk music.
“But we, as Bahamians, do not know that,” Dr. Bethel added. “We do not know the connection that we have and that’s the other reason why the Bahamian participation in CARIFESTA is important … it is important for Bahamians.”
Also, Dr. Bethel said that one of the problems with the development of the cultural scene in The
Bahamas is that “we are much too satisfied with mediocrity” and events like CARIFESTA could help in changing that.
“We have a bad habit of rewarding people just for doing something,” Dr. Bethel said. “We are still at the point where we think ‘Oh, it’s wonderful that he or she could do that,’ and we do not look at or measure or reward the quality of the work that is done.”
Dr. Bethel said that this condition is generally because of a lack of exposure to artistic endeavours in The Bahamas. The limit of the average Bahamian’s exposure to artistic endeavours in The Bahamas is what they see on television or on the cinema screen.
On the other hand, she said, Bahamians are extremely creative people.
“So, what we are doing is squandering what it is that is inside of us,” Dr. Bethel said. “In order to survive off of rocks in the sea, you have to be creative. You have to be, in your everyday life, just to get something to grow. You have got to be creative.”
“You cannot be boring. Your brain is going all the time and you are always inventing, always
creating,” she added. “Every Bahamian is fundamentally a very creative person; but we do not recognize and celebrate (creativity) and our young people do not have anything to look at.”
With this is mind, Dr. Bethel said that for many of the contingent members to go to the Caribbean,
where they do know how to judge art, will be an “eye-opener.”
“The fact that we are so creative, it should be inspiration for us to go higher and do better,” she said.
Dr. Bethel said that Bahamians should be going around the world to artistic events in the same way that Bahamians are going around the world for sporting events, gleaming an understanding of what “world-class” means and rising to that level.
“As soon as we the same thing with our art, we will create world-class artists,” she said. “I have no doubt.”
She said that is why she encouraged all Bahamians who can attend CARIFESTA IX to do so.
“The production value (of CARIFESTA IX) is going to be very high,” Dr. Bethel said. “Remember, we are going to the land of Carnival, we are going to the land of Peter Minshall (an Emmy-award-winning costume structure designer and ‘dancing mobile” artist), we are going to the land of theatricality and I expect that there will be some spectacular stuff during its opening gala.”
“I think the experience is going to be an incredible one,” she said.
