The Caribbean Festival of Creative Arts (CARIFESTA)
was conceived out of an appeal from a regional gathering of artists who were at
the time participating in a Writers and Artists Convention in Georgetown, Guyana
in 1970 and which coincided with Guyana’s move to Republican Status.
The three main considerations
with regard to the staging of CARIFESTA
were:
- the Festival should be inspirational and should provide artists with the
opportunity
- to discuss among themselves techniques and motivations
- it should be educational in that the people of the Caribbean would be
exposed to the values emerging from the various art forms
- and it should relate to people and be entertaining on a scale and in a
fashion that would commend itself to the Caribbean people
The regional creative festival was first held in
Georgetown, Guyana in 1972, attracting creative artistes from over 30 Caribbean
and Latin American countries.
It is a celebration of the ethnic and racial diversity which separately
and collectively created cultural expressions that are wonderfully unique to the
Caribbean.
The cultural village life of CARIFESTA is intended to be a mixture of the
States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); the wider Caribbean, Latin America;
and a representation of Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.
It is a vision of the peoples with roots deep in
Asia, Europe and Africa, coming together to preform their art forms and
embracing literature inspired by the Caribbean’s own peculiar temperament;
paintings drawn from the awe inspiring tropical ecology; and the visionary
inheritance of our forefathers
The symbol of the first CARIFESTA
was a dark hand rising grasping the sun, depicting the skills and aspirations of
the tropical man with talent untold.
CARIFESTA aims to:
- depict the life of the people of the Region, their heroes, morale, myth,
traditions, beliefs, creativeness, and ways of expression
- show the similarities and differences of the people of the Caribbean
generally
- create a climate in which art can flourish so that artists would be
encouraged to return to their homeland; and
- awaken a regional identity in Literature
Ten years later, the occasion of CARIFESTA
V which was held in Trinidad and Tobago in 1992 was a
watershed event in the development and promotion of the arts and culture in the
Region.
This exposition took on a new focus with linkages
to the overall national programmes for the development of the arts and culture
to ensure the complete harmonisation of objectives and effectiveness across the
Region.
CARIFESTAs STAGED TO DATE
| |
DATE |
LOCATION |
THEME |
|
CARIFESTA I |
1972
August 25-September 15
|
Guyana |
The
Artist in Society with Special Reference to the Third World |
|
CARIFESTA II |
1976
July 23 - August 2
|
Jamaica |
A
Hallmark of Cultural Extravagance |
|
CARIFESTA III |
1979 |
Cuba |
A
Rainbow of Peoples Under One Caribbean Sun
|
|
CARIFESTA IV |
1981
July 19-August 3
|
Barbados |
Living Images of the Sun |
|
CARIFESTA V |
1992
August 22-28
|
Trinidad and Tobago |
Together is Strength |
|
CARIFESTA VI |
1995
August
|
Trinidad and Tobago
|
The
World's Best Cultural Mix |
|
CARIFESTA VII |
2000
August 17-26
|
St.
Kitts and Nevis |
Caribbean Arts and Culture ... Reflecting, Consolidating, Moving
On
|
|
CARIFESTA VIII |
2003
August 25-30
|
Suriname |
Many
Cultures: The Essence of Togetherness, The Spirit of the
Caribbean
|
|
CARIFESTA IX |
2006
September 22-October 1
|
Trinidad and Tobago |
Celebrating Our People, Contesting the World Stage |
|
CARIFESTA X |
2008
August 22-31
|
Guyana |
One
Caribbean, One Purpose - Our Culture Our Life
|
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