NCF commends SVG’s 17 cultural ambassadors at Carifesta XI in Suriname

The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) has commended the 17 cultural ambassadors who represented St Vincent and the Grenadines at the recently concluded Caribbean Festival of Arts and Culture, Carifesta 11th in Suriname.{{more}}

The Vincentian cultural team, though small in number, relative to other contingents, was reported to have created quite a stir at the cultural festival.

“Our ambassadors were able to use their tremendous talents to present to the region a true glimpse of our Vincentian culture. They were able to develop and present costume designs, dance pieces, folk presentations, and, of course, music that impressed crowds wherever they appeared. We are particularly pleased to learn that our soca artistes were exemplary at the festival. They were able to wow the crowds with all their performances. It suggests strongly that our Vincy brand soca has a strong commercial potential beyond the our shores,” a release from the NCF said.

According to the release, the team of Vincentian cultural practitioners felt that we do not give enough recognition to our own cultural practices. They felt that we take our cultural practices too much for granted and venerate everything foreign. The experience in Suriname was a wake-up call to some members.

“The NCF joins with members of the contingent in making the call for more facilities to assist in the development of culture across SVG. They echoed the need for a place for better preparation and production of dance and drama. The need for better sound systems and engineers was also pointed out. One artiste suggested that more support should be given to our rural communities to aid in the development of culture at the community level,” the release said.

The NCF hopes to utilize the experience of our cultural ambassadors as we develop programmes to sustain our cultural heritage.

Haiti will host the 12th edition of Carifesta in 2015, as agreed by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government during their annual meeting in July 2012 in Castries, St Lucia. SVG is planning to be there.