Given my own interests in cultural matters and the arts, generally, coupled with my wife’s own interests in other areas, it’s fair to say that evenings in Georgetown will often find me in various gatherings where those subjects are on the menu and, as to be expected, these occasions can vary in quality from official to exhilarating, and so one can go to these things hoping to encounter the latter. This past week I accompanied my wife, Annette Martins to an event that she assured me would be one of the exhilarating ones as we joined the crowd at the End of Year Review hosted by our National Commission for UNESCO.
Staged on the lawns of the Commission, the evening started off with the traditional welcome and opening remarks smoothly delivered by Minister of Education Nicolette Henry and the Commission’s Secretary General Patrice La Fleur. The entertainment items that followed on the programme included the St. John’s Bosco Steel Orchestra, some dance items, and a particularly vibrant piece of hand drumming from a young musician (I did not catch his name) who was providing musical accompaniment using only a drum – a very difficult task indeed – and doing it superbly.