(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Preparations for CARIFESTA X, the Caribbean Community’s premier Festival of the Arts will be one of the key issues high on the agenda of the Eighteenth Meeting of the Regional Cultural Committee (RCC) slated for Havana Cuba, on 8-9 June 2007.
The Bahamas, which has responsibility for hosting CARIFESTA X in August, 2008 will be expected to provide the Meeting with a comprehensive report on the status of preparations for the festival.
The RCC is also expected to review the role of the Interim Festival Directorate (IFD), the regional advisory body, which was established to gradually implement the new CARIFESTA Governance Model, introduced in 2004.
The Meeting will also receive and discuss two evaluation reports on the implementation of CARIFESTA IX, which was hosted by Trinidad and Tobago in 2006; one of the reports to be presented will be based on the findings of the CARIFESTA Consultant and the other will be based on an evaluation survey conducted by the CARICOM Secretariat.
The CARICOM Secretariat’s Programme Manager for Culture, Dr Hilary Brown observed that, “both reports will provide valuable lessons to inform the planning and implementation of CARIFESTA X.”
In addition, Dr Brown says that the RCC will also discuss the reports from Member States on the free movement of artists and cultural workers from their respective countries and propose further follow-up action by the Council of Human and Social Development (COHSOD).
“The Seventeenth Meeting of the RCC, raised a number of concerns about restrictions on the free movement of artists with their tools of trade and creative works. However no new regulations or changes to existing ones were introduced during the year, “Dr Brown explains.
“We are hoping that the Eighteenth RCC will provide follow-up action and recommendations on how some of these challenges could be resolved,” she adds.
Dr Brown also points out that critical on the RCC agenda will be discussions on the main findings of a study titled, The Cultural Industries in CARICOM: Trade and Development Challenges, commissioned by the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM).
“This study,” she asserts, “is the first to present a comprehensive analysis of the creative industries in the Caribbean as most of the prior studies had the tendency to focus on the music industry.” According to Dr Brown, the study assesses the economic contribution of the cultural / creative industries in CARICOM, to identify the factors constraining the global competitiveness of the sector, and to analyse the relevant trade and investment issues with a view to formulating a strategic action plan for the development of the sector. “The aim is to increase the penetration of Caribbean cultural products and services in the global market,” she emphasises. The Eighteenth Regional Cultural Committee will also review the status of the merger of the CARICOM Foundation for Art and Culture and the CARIFORUM Cultural Support Fund and make recommendations for COHSOD. The Meeting will discuss other elements of the 2007 culture work programme of the CARICOM Secretariat and review the RCC’s action plan for 2007-2008.
The RCC meeting is being convened immediately preceding the International Congress on Culture and Development that will be held June 11 to 14 2007 at the Havana International Conference Center, Cuba during which, highly acclaimed Barbadian writer George Lamming, will be honoured.
