BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - WITH the Caribbean’s biggest art and culture festival slated for Barbados in August, the Department of Culture is engaged in deep talks about the Federation’s participation.
According to Director Culture Troy Mill, officials are currently holding meetings to discuss budgetary support for sending a team from St. Kitts to the event.
He indicated that it is their wish to have the Federation participate but that depends on the compilation of the budget, adding that he held discussions on Monday (Mar 20) with the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture on the way forward.
“We have had some meetings with the Permanent Secretary and myself recently… and we are continuing. We are looking at putting a group of persons together because… we would like to have a significant contingent going.
It was last year while speaking at a function that the Director indicated his intention to have a contingent from St. Kitts and Nevis participate, after missing the last event in Haiti back in 2015.
Mills told SKNVibes that by sending a sizable contingent to the event, it would cover all aspects of the Federation’s culture.
“We would want the culinary arts, the visual arts, and the literary arts to actually be represented. So we are in discussions and putting plans in place to come up with a budget and sort of identify the different sectors we would like to be represented.
“We are currently trying to put the structure and the systems in place,” Mills said.
Asked for the number of individuals they are looking at taking to the Barbados event, Mills said it is early for them to put that figure in the public’s domain.
“We might say that we want dance to be represented, we would want folklore to be represented; as opposed to, at this stage, identifying the numbers we want to take to Barbados.”
However, he noted that a significant number is being looked at for participation in the August 17-27 event.
The Caribbean Festival of Art was first held in 1972 to showcase the region’s culture while giving artistes and writers the opportunity to showcase their work.
Mills noted that the Federation last hosted the event in 2000 and consideration is being given to having it staged here again.
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