The Artistic Director of the Cayman National Cultural Foundation, Henry Muttoo, believes that the entire structure of Carifesta needs to be revamped.
In a recent interview with this newspaper Muttoo, who is Guyanese, said that Carifesta is excellent for the Caribbean but suggested that it needed to be re-examined. He believes that it would be better if Carifesta is reduced to a smaller festival in which only the very best artists of the region participate.
According to him, “Carifesta is now a free-for-all since anybody can come.” He feels that in featuring only the very best artistes of the region at the festival, the others who are not so accomplished will have an added incentive to improve. He noted that artists are driven by their egos and would want to be recognised for outstanding work and will no doubt improve.
He went on to explain how the very best could be selected. He said that different territories could be picked to host preliminary festivals for a specific discipline to which all the regional artists in that particular field would be invited. From these preliminary festivals, the best should be determined and only they should be allowed to participate in Carifesta. Muttoo said further that under this system, the festival would have to return to the initial format of being hosted every four years, so as to allow time for the preliminary events to be held. Currently the festival is held every two years.
He also asserted that the organising committee of Carifesta should be free of political interference. “The government of the host country should fund the event and stay out. Let the artists do their thing,” he told this newspaper.
Run Carifesta like a
business
Yet, he is adamant that “Carifesta needs to be run like a business.” He said that there needs to be a strategic plan and then finances should be provided by the government to implement this plan. But he insisted that the Secretariat or whoever is in charge of Carifesta needs to be audited.
Muttoo said that he is glad to be in Guyana to celebrate Carifesta in his home country once again.
He identified the first Carifesta in 1972 as leaving an indelible mark on him and suggested that was one of the main reasons why he returned for this Carifesta.
He admitted that when he first heard that Guyana had agreed to host the festival after The Bahamas withdrew, he was skeptical that the country could do so successfully.
But now that he is here, he is fairly satisfied.
He said that although there have been glitches, these may have been avoided had the country had two years to prepare for the event.
In his view Carifesta offers a tremendous opportunity for artists to meet and learn from each other, but they must learn the right thing. And that is why, he said, the festival should exemplify professionalism at its best.
Henry Muttoo
According to him, the young artists need good examples to follow, and therefore certain things should never be encouraged. He identified the simple discipline of starting events on time as an example of professionalism which needs to put in place at Carifesta events.
The playwright and director also stated that CARICOM should play a greater role in preserving the cultural heritage of the Caribbean. According to Muttoo, the organisation should become the arts repository for the region.
This, he said, will not only preserve the rich cultural heritage of the region but if opened to the public can foster greater interest in the arts.
This does`nt make any sense whats so ever.Infact this will only discourage artist in the Caribbean who is looking to show their talent.Carifesta is for everyone except money grabbers…
Dear editor, my understanding of Carifesta is that it’s a showcase of the caribbean region’s arts and talents and not that of a competition, therefore I just couldn’t agree with those ideas of Mr: Muttoo, however I do agree with above contributor that Carifesta is for everyone. Importantly, let us have a different country or island in the region play host to the festival every two years and not every four years as was suggested by my learnt friend Mr: Muttoo. Four years in my opinion is two long and this mega event could find itself fighting for a spot alongside the elections of some countries during this four years cycle. Please, lets leave it the way it is except that the government should continue to finance it and leave the rest to the experts in this field.
Sounds good to me! It should be free, because it is a vehicle for sharing the region’s rich and exotic culture. Divide the performances into categories like Amateur and Pro. which will give the audience an opportunity to participate and opine in many of the budding cultural entertainers careers by encouraging them like what happens in the region’s individual carnivals.
I agree with Mr. Muttoo, and the reason for this is that you have a lot of talents that still need a lot of work on, and they are seen doing their thing on stage like in one of the videos on your (SN) blog I saw at the beginning of the show a set of persons running onto the grounds with different flags and each person was doing their own thing which looked some what disorganised it was not uniformed in the same like manner some artists were just the same the sound systm was also poor. It is also correct to say that the Government should not be a part of this in most of the video clips you saw the president and had I not been a Guyanaese I would have felt that Guyana was some what an Indian state.
Check the Browse photos and you would think Guyana is an Annexe to Pakistan or India, what a mess!
It is so sad that we Guyanese only see things through a racial lens.
Sagga, what you failed to realize these photos are not PPP government propaganda but pictures taken by Stabroek News. So if you want to insinuate some racial overtones blame this newspaper.
I agree with Mr Muttoo.All should be given a chance to participate in their respective countries,and the best should advance to the big stage.I disagree with the suggestion that govt should fund the festival and leave it be.The govt should fund it ,monitor for proper spending ,thereby reducing fallout at an audit.
I agree it should be a business enterprise.All revenue should be used to promote and sustain gains for its participants .A valuable lesson could be learnt from the present structure of Caribana.
In addition. The Government of the host country makes money from the commerce etc., generated by the large influx of “visitors”.
……………….its a festival of Arts and nothing more……………….can you remember the performance of the indigenous people of Guyana in ‘72…………………can you remember the performance of the kque-kque dancers from West Berbice…………..
if you Guyanese then you need to do go reserch you roots…………….who will judge the above the perfection of the Bow & Arrow and the Kque-kque is art that you gain perfection as you grow and master……………………..indiginous culture in Guyana and the Caribbean is fragmented and sometime hard for some to even understand and is not welcome to many because it was never introduce to the natives……………………….some loose it after away for somtime and I do understand your lost ……………you have to come home to you roots and you will say things diferently………………with respect to Caricom no one know if its going or coming………………most Caribbean leaders are about themselves and a few……………not the country and the people…………………there egos
I think that from a transportation point of view a carifesta venue circuit at least in Georgetown should have been established and demarcated and Government provided busses or privately owned busses contracted or otherwise enabled to run the circuit continuously, thus enabling people to move smoothly from event to event. Programme guides should be provided in each bus thus enabling people to move comprehensively.