Guyana shines at the Inter Guianas Cultural Festival

Petamber Persaud reports on the literary arts at the Suriname Cultural Festival, staged to commemorate the Year of Culture

The inaugural Inter-Guianas Cultural Festival, which included participation from French Guiana and Guyana, was held from August 25 to 29, 2011, and was touted by the host country, Suriname, as a test case for their hosting of the Caribbean Festival of Arts (Carifesta) in the year 2013. The three-day festival will also serve as a platform to involve other countries from the Guiana Shield, including Brazil and Venezuela. The festival was staged by Suriname to commemorate the Year of Culture, an initiative of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Guyana’s contingent was about forty persons, and six disciplines were showcased, namely the performing arts, visual arts, literary arts, culinary arts, fashion, and craft. All venues in Paramaribo were within close proximity of each other.

Performing Arts and Fashion were staged at Theatre Thalia, Visual Arts at the Conference Hall, Culinary Arts and Craft at the Palm Garden, and Literary Arts at two locations – the Louise School and Suriname Museum at Fort Zeelandia.

The Literary Arts

The Literary Arts contingent was a three-man team: Ms Carrington and Mr Boston of the University of Guyana Library, and this writer. I took part in the creative writing exercise held at the Louise School. This exercise was conducted by Ms Ismene Krishnadath.

My presence and contribution served as inspiration; the participants envisaged extended writing workshops not unlike the one-week creative writing workshop I had organised in Guyana from August 8 to 12, 2011.

The official opening of the book exhibition was attended by representatives of the other Guianas and Guyana’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony. Dr Anthony warmed to the idea that Guyanese Literature is in a healthy state, making reference to the role of The Guyana Prize for Literature and the importance of The Caribbean Press.

The official opening was graced with sterling performances by writers of the host country, including Soecy Gummels, Rappa, Jeffrey Quartier and Sombra, among others.

The showpiece of the literary arts was the book exhibition and ‘talk show’ (symposium) held at Fort Zeelandia, the oldest building in that country.

(Reference to that bastion of defence is not without significance.) During interaction among writers of the three countries, many ideas for collaboration were birthed and discussed. One very attractive idea was the call for a publication or series of publications of writing translated into the official languages of the three Guianas. It was noted that such a publication was done before and on a larger scale.

In 1972, for the first staging of Carifesta in Guyana, a monumental book entitled “New Writing in the Caribbean” was produced by Guyana’s A J Seymour. It included writings of prose, poetry and drama in Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese and English.

The format for the “talk show” was a moderator, Krishnadath, posing questions to a panel comprising Cynthia McLeod (Suriname), Tchisseka Lobelt and Rene-Claude Coeta (French Guiana) and yours truly (Guyana), leading to interaction from the floor. Much of the discussion focused on reasons why contemporary writers shy away from contemporary issues, instead too often harping back to slavery (and indentureship).

Self-publishing continues to be the way to go, despite all the shortcomings and pitfalls. Government support is imperative for the literature of a country to develop.

Here Guyana scored admirably, having instituted The Guyana Prize and having launched The Caribbean Press. The Prize was initiated for more than one reason, but the main reason was to “provide a focus for the recognition of the creative writing of Guyanese at home and abroad, and stimulate interest in, and provide encouragement for, the development of good creative writing among Guyanese…” The Caribbean Press was launched to reissue out-of-print and rare Guyanese books; twenty-six of the proposed thirty-six already being launched. Most of those books are for free distribution to schools and libraries.

Guyana took to the table, as it were, winning books of The Guyana Prize for Literature, books of the Guyana Classics Library reissued by The Caribbean Press; books by and on Sir Wilson Harris, and writings by young writers published in The Guyana Annual magazine.

Our counterparts in the area of literature were amazed at the level of state contribution and involvement in the literature of Guyana.

Guyana came away from the table better for the experience, and better equipped to take the literary arts exhibition to another level.

All of this augurs well for Guyana and the shaping of Guyanese Literature.

Guyana will host the second Inter-Guianas Cultural Festival in 2012.

Responses to this author: telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com