Arts on Sunday

Just a week after celebrating Sir Derek Walcott, we have the opportunity to celebrate Wole Soyinka.

By the setting of the final decade of the twentieth century, Derek Walcott (January 23, 1930 – March 17, 2017) had advanced to be regarded as the world’s best poet.

We present an article on the fine arts, reviewing the Guyana Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition which was revived in 2012.

Because it is always taken for granted, it is useful to underline the place of satire in any society, and its standing as a functional strategy in Caribbean culture.

The road make to walk on carnival day And I don’t like to talk, but I’ve got to say …                           Lord Kitchener, “The Road” (1963) The carnival season ended last Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday, otherwise called Mardi Gras) and the contrasting period of Lent started on Wednesday (Ash Wednesday).

Recession doh bother we Promote a fete and you go see How we go party to the full extreme And light it up with kerosene            Ultimate Rejects As the Republic of Guyana winds down Mashramani celebrations, carnival races to its peak in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in another year when the two festivals overlap. 

New Year’s Day Amid the boom of firecrackers a year has come to an end, And the spring wind has wafted warm breath to the wine.

The staging of a production titled Sociarama by Lloyd n De Arts Production at the Theatre Guild Playhouse at the end of January, provided a good opportunity for a review of the state of drama in contemporary Guyanese society.

It is the carnival season. In the very strong carnival countries in this part of the world – Brazil, and Trinidad and Tobago – events are heating up to fever pitch for the climax of the festival on February 28.

 A Rolling Stone Once upon a time you dressed so fine You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?

Two weeks ago we paid a brief visit to the Guyanese storytelling tradition.

(for khalam) Long, long have you held between your hands the black face                  of the warrior Held as if already there fell on it a twilight of death.

One kill Polly, Polly kill seven And the living was crossed by the dead.

An interesting form of theatre with ancient origins that is well known at this time of the year is the pantomime.

Christmas is a religious festival. There are two festivals of equal importance in the Christian religion – Christmas and Easter – although the former is larger and grander.

Guyana’s National Drama Festival (NDF) 2016 completed all its performances on November 27 last, but the final curtain will not close until after the winners are announced and the prizes distributed.

What is one of the major festivals of the Caribbean and a unique event in the region has just ended in Guyana.

Reviewed by Romona Bennett This week we present a book review.

The finals of the National Drama Festival (NDF) begins tonight at the National Cultural Centre with one of the plays in the Open Full-Length Category.

The National Drama Festival (NDF) 2016 is now in progress. Among its key objectives are the grand exhibition of the best of Guyanese theatre; the advancement of the dramatic arts and the improvement of theatrical skills; the promotion of new theatre both in terms of written plays to enlarge the corpus of Guyanese drama and extending the frontiers of theatrical form, dramatic styles in both writing and directing techniques; providing instruction through drama; and addressing national and social issues through the use of the stage.