A cultural potpourri heralded the opening of the historic Golden Square Freedom Park on Saturday, a fitting tribute to the ancestors and National Hero, Clement Payne on the eve of a new parliamentary era.
From the blessing of event done by the Council of Spiritual Baptist Churches of Barbados who were accompanied by the Israel Lovell Foundation Drummers to the stiltmen and dancers who performed with calypsonian TC, there was something for everyone to enjoy as the event was also streamed live.
The music of the tuk band featured prominently during the spirited performances of Dancin’ Africa, Pinelands Creative Workshop who depicted the Landship, and Kenneth Lewis and dance troupe Of Another Nature, who did a rhythm poetry piece titled Water Woes.
Entertainers Jus D and Asher Dynamo Murrell performed the classic songs How Many More and Riots in de Land respectively. Dynamo, a former junior monarch, was accompanied by saxophonist Mylon Clarke and the Israel Lovell Foundation Drummers.
Poet Akeem Chandler-Prescod delivered Payne’s famous 1937 speech in Golden Square and Victory by TC before she sang Paradise.
The National Cultural Foundation production, headed by festival and events planner Stacia Bryan, featured video presentations titled A Word from the Artist. This provided the audience with insights into how the artists conceptualised their ideas.
The artists are: Art Edwards who created the bust of Clement Payne; Denyse Menard-Greenidge and Walter Bailey – The Builders of Barbados Wall; Oneka Small – the Community Wall: ‘Shards of Life’; Julianna Inniss, Gail Riley, and Jamila Haynes – Vessels of Dreams and Aspirations:n‘Peltin’ Bare Big Rocks’; Daniel Alleyne, Ishi Butcher, Kwami Hunte, Akyemi-I Ramsay, and Heshimu Akin-Yemi – the 1937 Memorial Wall; and Katherine Kennedy, Kraigg Yearwood, and Ronald Williams, who make up the Annalee Davis Collective, created the Park Benches. (GBM)
