The Ministry of Culture has attempted to make good on its pledge to “widen the menu of activities” that it was sponsoring or endorsing as part of its official Republic Anniversary programme this year.
The celebratory merry–making aspect of the annual observance, named “Mashramani”, is given to song and dance, to music and masquerade, public entertainment, national stress relief. I did my little bit, for years to goad the Ministry and its Mashramani Management Committee, into staging debates, lectures on the 1763 Berbice Slave Rebellion which threw up the February 23 date; to host book exhibitions, readings, film and folk festivals, art and food exhibitions, all to complement the now familiar Republic Anniversary School debates, quizzes and essay competitions on the relevant issues.
So I was pleased to see, even participate in, Monday’s cultural workshop with the theme of “Sustaining Guyanese Culture in the Era of Globalisation”. Later that Monday, Professor Vibert Cambridge also
