Cultural anthropologist and folklorist Wordsworth McAndrew devoted his working life in Guyana to the promotion of practices and traditions which gave the then new post-independent nation identity, the Ministry of Culture said in a release. The Guyanese cultural icon passed away on Friday in a hospital in New Jersey, USA after a short illness.
McAndrew who was also a radio personality, actor, steel-pan player and researcher produced work in folkloric beliefs, rituals, and other forms of expressions which were the hallmark of a pioneer.
His work, the release noted, matched and supplemented the efforts of people like Vesta Lowe, Peter Kempadoo, Marc Matthews and a little later, Lakshmi Kallicharran.
In the release Minister of Culture Dr Frank Anthony recorded the ministry’s deep appreciation of Wordsworth’s work in unearthing Guyana’s traditions from among the grassroots folk especially, as well as his research into their origins and meanings at the more academic level.
Dr Anthony said: “Perhaps I was born a little too late to savour Wordsworth’s creative outputs as they were delivered live, but from his recordings, writings and cultural colleagues still around, I have appreciated his vast array of work in folk music, rituals and on stage and radio…” The minister added that his work and memory will not go unnoticed when Guyana hosts Carifesta X in August.
The ministry also offered condolences to his family, relatives and friends in Guyana and the USA, including the Guyana Cultural Association of New York and the Guyana Folk Festival Committee in New York.
The ministry will organize a more significant observance shortly, the release added.
