The resuscitation of the Guyana Music Festival fits exactly into government’s plan to create a cultural renaissance in Guyana, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony says.
Speaking at the launching of the Guyana Music Festival 2009, held at the National Cultural Centre on Wednesday, Minister Anthony noted that next year Guyana would be hosting CARIFESTA X and the momentum that would be created in hosting this mega festival will certainly engender awareness of why the arts are necessary in society.
“The preparation of venues, the development of infrastructure, the workshops and training in the arts would significantly contribute to the preparation for hosting the music festival in 2009,” Dr Anthony observed.
Against that background, he invited members of the Guyana Music Festival Committee to play an integral role in the CARIFESTA X preparations, telling them that “the experience that you acquire would assist you in holding a great music festival in 2009.”
The minister also commended the organizing committee for undertaking what he referred to as “such a challenging but necessary and rewarding task” and expressed confidence that they would be successful.
And recalling briefly the long and rich history of the Guyana Music Festival, Anthony said that since its inauguration in 1952, “not only did it contribute to the development of music in Guyana, but also it created many social benefits for all the people of this country.”
However for some years now the festival has been defunct and this, he opined, has contributed to the decline in music in Guyana.
Therefore, he said, he was quite pleased when the organizing committee for the Guyana Music Festival, including members of the Guyana Music Teachers Association, approached him to be patron of the festival in 2009.
Anthony declared that it was a privilege he could not refuse and committed the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport to giving its support to ensure that the biennial music festival is restarted.
Meanwhile, the minister pointed out that Guyana needs to develop its creative industries and the music festival would help discover musical talent, and stimulate cultural growth in the country.
In the modern world, Anthony said, the creative industries are one of the greatest contributors to the GDP of the developed countries.
“We would be able to systematically create good musicians. It would help to create new jobs and industries for our young people and all our creative minds,” Anthony asserted.
Highlighting the value of music which transcends cultural, political and religious boundaries as a universal language, the Minister of Culture said, “We can amplify our effect on the world stage if we can school more of our musicians in the rudiments of musical performance.”
He contended that this basic training would be experienced and learnt while preparing and taking part in a music festival and the training would never be lost.
Anthony also noted that Guyanese and Caribbean artists have contributed many indigenous West Indian art forms such as shanto, calypso, soca, reggae and the hip-hop, rock, R and B and so on.