The National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) is back after a two-year pandemic break featuring a wide range of cultural events and exhibitions that may showcase the abilities and skills of Barbadians.
At Wednesday’s launch of NIFCA 2022 at Queen’s Park House, National Cultural Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Carol Roberts-Reifer said this yr’s festival has been designed to answer lessons learned by the challenges of operating in a pandemic environment.
She said NIFCA 2022 can be delivered in a hybrid format that mixes each digital and face-to-face events and experiences, generating content that can be available for distribution online in the long run.
“Each of the seven disciplines normally featured at NIFCA can be showcased… Prior to this evening’s launch, we’d have engaged with the NIFCA community over a period of weeks and loads of the comments and proposals out of that series of interactions actually informs the NIFCA programme this yr,” Roberts-Reifer said.
The Chief Executive Officer indicated that NIFCA will proceed to play its role as an incubator for the nation’s creative expression, and to present Barbadians of all generations a platform and a chance to create and to be seen, heard and appreciated.
Roberts-Reifer outlined that the highly-popular NIFCA Dance Desk scheduled to be held on Sunday November 27 will see a special focus placed on the art of choreography this yr with a forum designed for individuals with a particular interest in that aspect of dance production. She said a live dance showcase featuring a few of Barbados’ top NIFCA awarded dance groups and works, including individuals, will happen at Frank Collymore Hall on Saturday November 26 under the theme Rebirth of a Nation.
“NIFCA Music will take the shape of a series of live shows held over 4 Fridays in November entitled NIFCA within the Square and it starts this Friday November 4. For this showcase in music, a select number of colleges and community groups can be featured on stage in Golden Square,” she said.
The NIFCA Weekend of Theatre will showcase chosen performances starting from Thursday November 17 to Sunday November 20, on the Daphne Joseph Hackett Theatre.
Themed Resurgence, NIFCA literary arts will feature three categories of competition this yr, including the adult Short Story and Poetry, Junior Prose and Poetry, and the Unpublished Manuscript.
“We will even be publishing a set of editorial opinion essays. These essays have been commissioned from ten Barbadian writers and so they explore Barbados’ resurgence from the crises of the pandemic within the context of its impact on various elements of Barbadian life.
“The NIFCA visual arts can be celebrated with a series of exciting activities. There may be an in-person workshop on mural design and painting. That workshop has actually just been accomplished and it attracted over 45 artists. Out of this workshop we’ll then mount 4 zone murals on the broad theme, The People Who Got here,” Roberts-Reifer said.
“We then have a NIFCA Visual Arts Masters Exhibition, and this exhibition will feature the works of previous NIFCA top award-winning participants. There can be a virtual exhibition for adults submitting art, craft and photography and this can be hosted totally on the NCF website,” she added.
The NIFCA culinary arts celebration of All Things Bajan will showcase a Bajan to De Bone Culinary Expo designed to position this aspect of the festival as a possible business opportunity. The event is scheduled to be held within the eastern automotive park of Ilaro Court on Saturday November 26 and can include the return of the Celebrity Showcase, featuring local celebrities who’re also keen amateur chefs.
Minister within the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr Shantal Munro-Knight who made the announcement of the official opening of the festival said NIFCA 2022 gives participants the timely opportunity to flex their creative muscle and to encourage and captivate audiences.
“NIFCA grants us the chance to immerse ourselves in the humanities and culture and have a good time and appreciate the works of fellow Barbadians,” Munro-Knight said. (AH)
Read our ePaper. Fast. Factual. Free.
Join and stay awake up to now with Barbados’ FREE latest news.
