Barbados by CaribNet (Michelle Cox)

Many of these artistes have participated in ongoing workshops hosted by the Cultural Development Department of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), the organisation which is responsible for the production of both.

The Crop Over Festival encourages regional exchange primarily through some of its musical events. Similarly, local competition winners are given the opportunity to perform at selected regional and/or international festivals. However, the main focus of both Crop Over and NIFCA is the development of local music and artists.

Crop Over has especially changed over the years with much influence being seen from carnivals such as that of our neighbours in Trinidad. Consequently, we see more of the "pretty mas" and less of the activities which reflect the historical significance which defines the festival- the end of the sugar cane harvest. Unlike heritage events, the large fetes and masquerade events typical get a significant amount of support from sponsors and patrons. In our 40th year in 2014, it has therefore been necessary to critically examine the philosophy behind the festival in order to plan for its future.

Michelle Cox
CaribNet member representing Barbados for KAMACUKA

More detailled

2014 BARBADOS COUNTRY REPORT
This report will be presented at the CaribNet general Assembly in Puerto Rico, November 2014
 

2014 has been a good year for Theatre in Barbados.  In the first quarter of the year alone, there were at least 10 plays being produced, with several others in rehearsal.  Many of these plays were staged by private companies and the 2 tertiary institutions which offer degrees in the Theatre Arts, the Barbados Community College (BCC) and the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination (EBCCI) at the University of the West Indies). 

The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) also launched its Performing Arts Ensemble on World Theatre Day.  27th MArch). This Ensemble was the brainchild of then Cultural Officer – Theatre Arts, Mrs Michelle Cox, and was intended to be a developmental project towards the establishment of a national performing arts company. 

However, as with many other countries globally, the arts were severely affected by the economic recession and the Ensemble structure then had to be revised.  This project is currently still under revision.  Through the Ensemble, theatre arts has now returned to its former home at the Barbados Museum and Historical Society (BMHS), which has itself seen an upsurge of performance-related events.

This year also saw the national original production of How Hard the Times, a father-daughter collaboration between theatre stalwart Anthony Hinkson and Mrs Cox.  This play was staged for the Day of National Significance which is in commemoration of the 1937 riots in Barbados. Traditionally a one-night event during the Crop Over season, the success of this sold-out production brought has guaranteed an additional performance night for this event in 2015. 

Mrs Cox has since left the NCF and is the Coordinator for the Theatre Arts Associate Degree Programme at the BCC where she is continuing to foster collaborations between her department and other stakeholders of the arts such as the BMHS, NCF and the EBCCI.

Mrs Cox has also been collaborating with private entities such as the Multi-National Women’s Fair organising committee, through which students have been afforded the opportunity to perform in non-conventional spaces. It is hoped that similar collaborations and exchanges can be fostered with regional tertiary and arts-based institutions.

 Another notable appointment in the Theatre fraternity is that of Ms Yvonne Weekes who now holds the position of Coordinator for the Bachelor Degree Programme at the EBCCI.

The NCF and the Ministry of Youth Affairs are also collaborating on an annual developmental programme called Youth Achieving Results. Through this 1-year programme, a group of 20 young people are exposed to the performing and technical arts. 

Other national initiatives implemented by the NCF’s Cultural Development Department (CDD) include the Visual Arts Plen Air Outdoor Painting Workshops; Guitar Workshops; the on-going Read-In Stage playwriting workshop (in collaboration with BCC); the National Oral History Programme; Dance Desk Summer Internship Programme; Film and Photography Workshops and other specialist training workshops in the creative arts. 

It is important to note that the developmental initiatives of the NCF are non-for-profit and therefore funding is often problematic.  These programmes do not benefit from the significant economic support of larger festivals produced by the organisations (National Independence Festival of Creative Arts and the Crop Over Festival) and they are consequently at the mercy of the availability of adequate funding.