Trinidad

In addition to sitting in meetings for three days, and then sitting on planes for two more, we were treated to a number of activities (in the evenings, natch). They were all related to culture, and they were all stimulating in different ways.On the first night, the members of the Interim Festival Directorate of CARIFESTA were taken to the National Museum and Art Gallery for a tour and a reception. I'd been there before -- my sister-in-law Tammy's sister, JoAnn, took me there two years ago. The lower floor is the museum, which is efficiently arranged, with a variety of exhibits in different rooms, and the upper floor is the art gallery. Last time I went, I saw what I can only presume was a sample of the national collection, which included paintings from a number of Trini luminaries. But as it was Holy Week, there was a special exhibition on, called Christ in Trinidad. The artist, Jackie Hinkson, was there to meet us. More on that later.On the second night, we (now all the members of the Regional Cultural Committee) were given what was called a "Window on CARIFESTA", at which the Trinidadian logo was unveiled, the jingle was played, and some taste of the kind of show that we might see in September was shared. The evening was a multidisciplinary event, though the disciplines were primarily theatre and music. More on that later.On the third night, we were treated to seats at a production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Queen's Hall, courtesy of the Minister of Culture, and then we were further treated to a visit to the All Stars Pan Yard. That was the highlight of the evening. After that we were taken to dinner and were returned home in the wee hours.More on that later.