Seaga digs deep

Marcia Rowe, Gleaner Writer

Last Thursday, the campus of Jamaica's cultural Mecca of learning, The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMC), was abuzz with excitement.

It was day one (of two) of the institution's inaugural Rex Nettleford Arts Conference under the banner 'The Arts: Catalyst for Caribbean Development'. The day was marked by various presentations and an opening ceremony.

Guests, on hand for the opening ceremony, were ushered into the relatively small Vera Moody Concert Hall, located at the School of Music, to the sounds of steel-pan music. Later, as the programme unfolded, they were treated to an engaging discourse from the keynote speaker, the Most Honourable Edward Seaga, a display of the talent and creativity of students from the four schools, lecturers and affiliates of the college.

After the singing of the National Anthem, the programme got off to an unusual start - with a fashion show. The presentation allowed students of the School of the Visual Arts to showcase their talent in a collection, labelled 'Alternative Fabrics: Caribbean Development in Wearable Art'.

Nikiann Chambers, Carroyra McNuff and Margaret Stanley's all-female designs were lovely for the stage. Made from what appeared to be straws, the short, off-shoulder dresses with their pointed cones strategically placed over the breasts of the models showed signs of creativity and were very vibrant.

Fashion and students made way for a song and the performances of lecturers. Pauline Watson, head of the Voice Department, accompanied on piano by Roger Williams, director of the School of music, gave a nice rendition of the Jamaican song, No Man Is An Island.

Again, the format of presentation changed, this time to remarks from Keino Senior, conference chair, and Olivia Grange, minister of youth, sports and culture.

Grange first acknowledged the organisation of the conference as an act of recognition and tribute to the late professor Rex Nettleford for his outstanding contribution to the development of the arts and the culture of Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.

She also commended the organisers for their choice of keynote speaker "one of the foremost minds of the industry, the most Honourable Philip George Seaga," who, Grange said, understood "from its earliest intervention the social, spiritual and economic power of the arts".

Lively performances

There were two colourful and energetic performances; Goodbye Motherland and Kaya, excerpts from Nettleford's popular choreography, performed by The National Dance Theatre Company.

The lively performances came after Seaga's keynote address.

In his opening remarks, Seaga said the conference was long overdue, but chided the industry for not digging deep enough to find the origins of what is seen, heard and appreciated. Instead, Seaga explained, the focus is almost always placed on the performance level. And so the culture which underpins much of the art we see today was presented in a rather lengthy and at times humorous, but very informative discourse titled 'Folk Roots of Jamaica's Cultural Identity'.

The former prime minister of Jamaica explained, with statistical evidence at times, the composite of the Jamaican cultural identity, which is a mix of two Jamaicas - the rich and the poor.

The composite includes the experiences that begin at birth with improper nutrition or lack of food, which affects the brain. This results in the inability to perform well at school and lends itself to the formation of aggressive personalities. This is compounded when corporal punishment is added to the mix.

Cultural identity

Seaga also spoke of overcrowded households. These facts of growing up poor serve to form part of Jamaica's cultural identity. Anancyism, abstention from school and the family structure, as well as colonisation and the Church, also make up the Jamaican cultural identity or the "Jamaican folk society".

"Dancehall is the musical expression of these realities, gathering the strains of social and cultural traits which comprises traditional Jamaica - this is the mold from which the artiste is taught his work," Seaga explains.

"The cunning and the ambitious emerges, the epitome of the Jamaican struggle, leaving behind the frustrated sufferer waiting in hope and faith," he said.

From that struggle comes our music.

"In particular, it is the success of the artistes and their creation that have profoundly helped Jamaica from adversity, producing achievers of world acclaim," Seaga told the gathering, his conclusion greeted with a standing ovation.

The evening's package was completed with the most engaging performance of the programme from the students of the School of Drama in a piece titled, 'Education Hunger'.

There was also the combined effort of students from the schools of dance and music titled, 'Change - Towards a New Direction'.