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Programme Update
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Homeland & Heartland – An essay in honour of The Hon. Kamau Brathwaite, CHB ( Barbados & Ghana) by David Comissiong
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Facility Closures
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NIFCA 2019 Photography Catalogue
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Clay Exhibition 1986
Please click the image below to enter the Clay Exhibition
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Notice of Closure
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How Hard The Times Comic written by Michelle Cox
Click the image below to read HOW HARD THE TIMES COMIC
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Fielding Babb in Retrospect
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Festival Cancellation
PRESS RELEASE
2020 CROP OVER AND THE NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE FESTIVAL OF CREATIVE ARTS
Sunday, April 19, 2020
The Cabinet of Barbados at its meeting of Thursday, April 16th approved a recommendation of the Ministry of Creative Economy, Culture and Sports to cancel the 2020 Crop Over Festival and National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA).
This decision was made in light of ongoing global efforts to contain and manage the COVID – 19 pandemic as well as Government’s negative short term projections for the local economy, regional and international travel and trade and weakened public confidence in attending mass gatherings in the current environment and immediately thereafter.
Cabinet further agreed that the Ministry of Creative Economy, Culture and Sports, through the National Cultural Foundation will replace the two major festivals this year with a national training programme in schools and communities, and a wide-reaching campaign to both fund and produce radio, television and digital content that will be accessible across multiple delivery channels including the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation.
The Ministry of Creative Economy, Culture and Sports remains committed to its mission of the creation of opportunities in the cultural industries and in pursuit of this objective the National Cultural Foundation will shortly convene a series of stakeholder consultations to discuss ways in which cultural practitioners can participate in, and benefit from, the programmes identified to replace Crop Over and NIFCA.
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Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund
Taken from the Caribbean Development Bank Website
https://www.caribank.org/our-work/programmes/cultural-and-creative-industries-innovation-fund
Overview
WHO WE ARE
The Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund (CIIF) was established in 2017 with an initial USD2.6 million in capitalisation from the Caribbean Development Bank. It is intended to be a multi-donor fund, which will support the development of the creative industries (CI) sector in the Caribbean. CIIF’s goal is to enable the region’s cultural and creative industries to be globally competitive.
WHAT WE DO
The CIIF provides grant funding for innovative projects within the creative industries sector. These projects should be focused on:
supporting the enabling environment for the development of the creative industry
improving the quality and dissemination of research on the CI sector
enhancing or creating data intelligence or data collection methods in ways that can move the sector forward and;
enhancing the technical capacity of creative entrepreneurs.
Projects must demonstrate a significant measure of innovation, collaboration and sustainability.
Apply
WHO CAN APPLY
Governments, Business Support Organisations, Universities, Non-Governmental Organisations and Creative Enterprises from all sectors can apply. However, CIIF has five priority sub-sectors. These include:
1. Fashion
2. Visual Arts
3. Audio-visual (Film, Animation, Gaming)
4. Festivals and Carnivals
5. Music
How to Apply
There are three grant streams available under CIIF – Enabling Environment, Data Intelligence, and Improved Competitiveness of Creative MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises). Potential applicants should first review the selection criteria to help them determine which stream would best suit their projects. Applicants are required to complete the specific application form for the grant for which they are applying.
Download CIIF Booklet for selection criteria
Calls Open
In light of the loss of revenue by creative industry practitioners due to the effects of COVID-19, CDB has allocated USD 50,000 for the Music sub-sector and USD 50,000 for the Festivals and Carnivals sub-sector for CIIF Emergency Relief Grants.
This grant is targeted at CI entrepreneurs who can demonstrate loss of income for music, festival and carnival events that have been cancelled as a result of COVID-19….click here to read more
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NCF set to release digital comic book –‘COVID COMIC’
The National Cultural Foundation has teamed up with Beyond Publishing Caribbean, a locally based production team, to launch a new digital comic series entitled, “Covid-Comic”.
Written by Reyda Gay with artwork by Tristan Roach, the series will debut April 29th 2020 on the NCF’s website (www.ncf.bb) and will also be shared on the NCF’s Facebook page.
Covid-Comic is a six-episode, edutainment series following events that unfold in three Barbadian households with two lovers, a stubborn old lady and a paranoid teen; not many people are practicing social distancing or observing the safety protocols recommended by the Health authorities when the first case of COVID-19 is detected on the island.
“The NCF is excited to partner with Beyond Publishing Caribbean on this project. These are challenging times for everyone. We are all forced to deal with the pandemic crisis in our own ways, and thanks to efforts of the Literary Arts, Marketing and Senior Business Development Officers, the NCF remains committed to creating and sharing content that will entertain and stimulate Barbadians of all ages and interests, via our digital platforms, while at the same time providing opportunities for the creative sector to both showcase their tremendous skills and continue to earn a living, however modest. This comic-series is another outlet for Barbadians on island and in the Diaspora to see themselves and some of their own realities being represented, even as we are physically separated due to the COVID-19 pandemic” said NCF’s CEO, Carol Roberts-Reifer. The creativity of the writer, graphic artist and editor must be acknowledged as work of a very high standard and I hope you both enjoy the story and live the messages therein.
The first five pages are expected to be released in e-book format on Wednesday, April 29 available on the NCF website (www.ncf.bb) and issued every Wednesday following a 6 week period culminating on June 3.
Last year, the NCF is partnership with Beyond Publishing Caribbean produced the comic series “How Hard The Times” based on a stage play written by Michelle Cox and Anthony Hinkson. [http://www.ncf.bb/how-hard-the-times-comic-written-by-michelle-cox/]. Both were coordinated by the Literary Arts desk at the NCF, managed by Cultural Officer, Ayesha Gibson-Gill
ABOUT THE WRITER
Enamoured by the creative world, Reyda Gay has been pursuing an artistic career from a young age. Her path has led her from theatre arts at Christ Church Foundation to Mass Communication at the Barbados Community College (BCC) and then cinematic arts at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Arts (EBCCI). At EBCCI, she developed a love for screenwriting, video editing and motion graphics. Her most noted work thus far is Beneath the Dock, a fantasy film involving the Barbados Landship. Reyda continues to work in the film industry, gaining experience on local and international film productions and is further specializing in screenwriting at Falmouth University.
BEYOND PUBLISHING CARIBBEAN
Beyond Publishing specializes in the production and distribution of graphic novels. The company was established in 2009 and has flourished since then. Their team comprises of the Project Manager, Nigel Lynch, writer of the graphic novels Shades of Grey: Life and Death in Paradise and the Crossroads comic series, Matthew Clarke, artist of Hardears graphic novel and Tristan Roach, the artist of the Hardears and Crossroads comic series. Over the past ten years, the company has garnered numerous awards for its work, including an ADDY and NIFCA Literary Arts awards. Recently, the company was selected to produce a series of graphic novels for the United States Embassy, to highlight social issues affecting the Caribbean.
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COVID COMIC Episode 1
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COVID-19 Prevent the Spread Contest
Children across Barbados are being called on to help in the fight against corona virus by using their creative talents.
The National Cultural Foundation is running a digital competition for children between the ages 6 to 17 to create posters, films, short stories and spoken word videos. This virtual opportunity allows school-aged children to create under the broad theme ‘COVID-19 Prevent the Spread’ with prizes ranging from $500 to $1000. This opportunity will keep their minds occupied in this time and educate their like-minded peers along with the general public.
“This pandemic has interrupted our normal weekday routines and many children will find it hard to cope and creativity can be a powerful antidote. Children will have the opportunity to promote positive messages and educate their like-minded peers long with the general public while trying to find some normalcy in their lives and keep their minds occupied while at home,” said NCF CEO, Carol Roberts-Reifer.
Entries will be shared and promoted via NCF’s online platforms. All entries will be uploaded via the digital registration form on the NCF’s Website at www.ncf.bb. Deadline for entries is Friday, May 23rd, 2020.
Click this link for rules and registration.
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BAJAN FOLK SONGS TO REACH THE WORLD WIDE WEB
BAJAN FOLK SONGS TO REACH THE WORLD WIDE WEB
The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) and 1688 Dingolay Inc, the not-for-profit arm of 1688 Collective partnered to create six lyric videos from an mp3 album featuring nursery rhymes and Barbadian folk songs.
The videos were animated by Reeka-Lyn Selman of the Selman Group and feature the voices of Barbadian children Aziza Butcher, Zenobia Walcott, Darian Forde and Leilani Forde; directed by vocal teacher and former Junior Monarch Aisha ‘Mandisa’ Butcher; mixed, arranged and mastered by Dr. Stefan Walcott and recorded by Canefield Studio.
1688 Dingolay’s Inc. Director, Dr. Stefan Walcott stated,” The 1688 Dingolay Kidz YouTube Video project was created in response to the absence of Caribbean content geared to children. We chose to start with Bajan folk songs as recordings of these are in short supply. 1688 Dingolay Kidz YouTube, therefore, tries to solve two problems:
- the lack of Caribbean children’s content
- the lack of adequately produced recordings of Bajan folk songs
We are thankful to the National Cultural Foundation for its tremendous support in our first venture as a non-profit institution. We hope that this public-NGO partnership will continue to serve the children and people of Barbados and the wider Caribbean.”
At this time, with all Barbadian and Caribbean children out of school, it is crucial to produce and make public content that reflects a cultural perspective. Last year the NCF produced a Crop Over colouring and activity book featuring many of our Barbadian folk characters, and this project with 1688 Dingolay is a continuation of the role of the Foundation to create, educate and entertain persons on Barbadian culture and heritage.
NCF’s CEO, Carol Roberts-Reifer indicated, “Today many changes have taken place in the methods of education. Traditional methods of teaching are becoming relics of a pre-technological era. The use of television and computers are increasingly being used to educate and entertain children and we need to continuously adapt our methods and meet them where they are. These Bajan Folk lyric videos were created with straightforward, colourful graphics to grab the attention of children so they can sing along to music indigenous to us.
All the videos will be placed on the NCF’s online platforms and shared with various media houses and the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training.
Click the image to view John Belly Mama
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Empowering Youth for Heritage: 10 Years of the World Heritage Volunteers Initiative
UNESCO launched a new publication- ‘Empowering Youth for Heritage: 10 Years of the World Heritage Volunteers Initiative’, which provides a retrospective on the first fruitful decade of the World Heritage Volunteers Initiative. Click the photograph below to read the publication.
The World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) Initiative has been carried out with the aim to mobilize youth organizations, NGOs, as well as national and international volunteers through concrete preservation activities and awareness-raising campaigns for the protection and preservation of World Heritage.
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Clay Exhibition 1986
Please click the image below to enter the Clay Exhibition
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The Ritual by Zeno Obi Constance
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Dueling Voices
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Carifesta XIII Visual Arts Exhibition
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COVID COMIC Episode 1-6
Click the image below to find out what happens in COVID COMIC
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