With November the annual “season of excellence” has returned, the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) declared on Thursday, as it virtually launched the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts – NIFCA 2021 – the first national festival since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
But in a departure from previous years and in a manner now characteristic of life in the time of the coronavirus, patrons will participate virtually in the events.
Music will continue to form a large part of the NIFCA experience, the organisers assured. NCF Music Officer Kevin Moore said that this year’s main production, Bajan Song Book, will be a celebration of the 55 most popular songs over the past 55 years of Barbadian independence, as voted by the public.
Moore said: “It also shines a spotlight on some of the island’s most promising young talent such as Jeliah Boyce, Janisa Alleyne, Reniece Bonnett and Darren Watson who would’ve auditioned to fill the cast of the production, whilst juxtaposing them in and amongst some of the undeniable gems of our musical history.
“There will also be a feature for experienced stalwarts such as Adrian Clarke, Natalee and Andre Woodvine, who will guide and hone the skills of the young performers.”
In dance, an online production will be staged to honour dance icon Gene Carson Cumberbatch-Lynch, the NCF announced. In the culinary arts, there is to be a Mystery Basket Cook-Off competition featuring semi-professional chefs between the ages of 18 and 25 who would have attended a culinary institution here, it added.
A Visual Arts Virtual Exhibition will be part of a collaboration between the NCF and the National Art Gallery Committee (NAGC), along with a number of events in other categories.
Chief Cultural Officer Andrea Wells acknowledged that this edition of the festival presented some difficulties for organizers, given the traditional interpersonal contact between the organisers and participants. But she said the lessons learnt over the past year through several online showcases by artists taking part in several NCF-backed initiatives provide much needed experience for the cultural agency.
Wells said: “It did have its challenges; we are moving from live productions to an entirely online production but I think we have a lot of good experiences and lessons learned over the last 18 months, and I think we have gotten not just locally [and] regionally, but internationally very positive responses for all of the content we have been producing.
“We actually attracted over 100,000 views on our series dealing with Barbadian botanical bush teas, so the interest is there. In terms of the transition, we are trying something new for NIFCA online, we are calling it NIFCA TV Online because even after the launch, there will be possibilities for persons to go back at any time and at their own schedule and view anything that we posted for the season.”
While most NIFCA events will be online only, there will be two in-person film screenings on the calendar, said Film Commissioner Annette Nias, adding that COVID-19 protocols will be in place at a pop-up drive-in cinema in the car park of the NCF’s West Terrace, St James offices on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th, beginning at 5 p.m.
Nias announced: “This year, while we are still in the midst of the pandemic threat, it is proposed to host two nights of drive-in film screenings which would serve to provide an opportunity to showcase the NIFCA Film and Video gold award winners of the past three decades. These events would not only provide an opportunity for older products to be showcased to new audiences, but they would also provide comfortable conditions for patrons.
The drive-in screenings will be two-hour screenings of shorts and full-length features, said the film commissioner, with sound to be provided to car radios on the FM band.
More information on NIFCA events can be accessed from www.nifcaonline.com. (SB)
