This week the Stabroek Business’ continues its ‘look in’ on some of the better-known trading spaces that add their special offerings of ‘color to Sunday Trading. Here in the capital such an exercise cannot exclude the La Penitence Market.
Markets, incidentally, are not just trading spaces; they can be cultural hubs, places where a bewildering array of influences converge. Contextually, they have become different things to different people. The weekend Markets have long had a reputation for entertaining and fro making shopping ‘an experience. Here in Guyana markets sometimes house the din of the bars, the blare of the music far exceeding the voices of the vendors ‘marketing’ their wares. In this socio-cultural mix the La Penitence Market holds its own. On Sundays, you get a full sense of the splendid chaos, the unbridled ‘rough and tumble’ that derive from visiting La Penitence Market. The street market, particularly, provides numerous snapshots of the vicissitudes of the trading culture.