If there are still unmistakable indications that the socio-cultural cohesion that we continually seek continues to elude us, it is not for the want of pressing street fairs and cultural events into service in the hope that these might make some kind of contribution, however modest, to that elusive goal. On Thursday April 12 the Ministry of Social Cohesion staged its second ever Harmony Village, a public display of multi-cultural performances, food, fashion and art and craft in the Main Street Avenue that sought to place the spotlight on the respective creative contributions of our various peoples.
What emerged was the customary modest support for the range of creative talent which, above everything else, provided a modest, one-off market for the food, craft and other items that collectively gave shape to the event.
Events like the Harmony Village have never succeeded in delivering the social cohesion that we have sought for years; what they have done instead is to afford the vendors of craft and clothing short-term spurts of patronage that only do far less than enough to make any sort of sustained commercial success. Hence, they must return for the next event with little more than a faint hope that next time around it will be different.
