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week ending February 20, 2014 | www.caribbeantimesinternational.com
Guyanese-born curator to present “Modern Guyana” at NY exhibition
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Shirley Pryce. (Jamaica Observer photo)
er work with championing the cause of domestic workers is well documented, and now president of the Jamaica Household Workers Association Shirley Pryce is looking forward to pleading the cause for women all over as one of the newest elected members of the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID). Pryce was one of two members who were nominated and then elected to the AWID international board of directors earlier this year. The other newly elected member is Alice Odingo, who is the chairperson of the Women and Climate Change Project of the Soroptimist International Union of Denmark and Kenya. Both women are expected to join the group of other women policymakers, academics, researchers, activists, business leaders and gender advocates to strengthen the voice of women worldwide and to advance their rights. As the only Caribbean representative on the board of directors, Pryce said she hopes to help to bring more visibility to issues affecting women in the region. "We will work to eliminate violence and poverty. I want to see a world where we can smell, taste, live in freedom and where we all can enjoy our rights free from discrimination," she said. Pryce said she was pleased to learn of her nomination and is now looking forward to what this opportunity affords. "I am honoured to serve on this outstanding international board. I look forward to working with the other board members as this can only enrich our organisation and those with whom we work. And at the same time I am sure that in turn I will also be able to offer something new to the network," she said. Pryce, who is a former domestic worker, also chairs the Caribbean Domestic Workers Network and has been a human rights advocate for over 20 years. She sits on several other boards and committees including the International Domestic Workers Federation, the Association of Women's Organisation of Jamaica, the 51 per cent Coalition and the Consumer Affairs Commission. The humanitarian was also one of two Caribbean representatives who participated in the International Labour Conference to develop and adopt the Domestic Workers Convention in 2011 which was aimed at adopting the historic set of international standards geared towards improving the working conditions of an estimated 53 million domestic workers worldwide. However, despite agreeing to adopt the convention, Jamaica is yet to ratify it. Nontheless Pryce remains hopeful that laws regarding the treatment of domestic workers will be passed soon. "I am hopeful that the government will ratify the convention from early, because we have been working real hard with that. The Ministry of Labour, the International Labour Organisation and UN Women gave funding and we are going around the island sensitising domestic workers and employers alike," she said. (Jamaica Observer)
ast month Guyanese-born curator Grace Ali was awarded a landmark curatorial fellowship by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, to research and present “Modern Guyana”, the first major New York City exhibition featuring Guyanese contemporary photography, in 2015. This April, at New York Public Library’s Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture, she will host a discussion with some of the participating photographers. She will return to Guyana as part of her research for the project. Over the past several years, Ali has been collecting and sharing scholarship about Guyana. In 2003, she leveraged a Fulbright scholarship to travel to India, excavating the transplanted roots of her Indian background. As a “Young Global Shaper” at World
Guyanese-born curator Grace Ali
Economic Forum’s 2013 annual meeting, she participated in high-level conversations focused on raising awareness of Guyana’s art and culture. That same year, she
wrote the cover story and curated a landmark issue of the Nueva Luz Journal featuring Guyanese photographers. She is, perhaps, the only individual doing this work, looking
at the artistic and cultural production from Guyana, a nation stereotyped by poverty and the People’s Temple suicide tragedy decades ago. Ali is also the founder and editorial director of OF NOTE, one of the first online magazines focused on global artists using the arts as catalysts for activism and social change. She is an adjunct professor of literature for the City University of New York. Ali currently hosts the Visually Speaking series at the Schomburg Centre, which examines the state of photojournalism through the lens of contemporary photographers and image-makers. Ali was born in Guyana and immigrated to the U.S. when she was 14 years old. Guyana continues to inform and influence her worldview. The artist can be reached on telephone number (646)4214283 or via e-mail at havelockn@gmail.com.
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ocal mas band Dream Team is scheduled to take Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival into the homes of millions of Americans this summer. The Picton Streetbased band will have its 2014 presentation ‘I Am’ recorded by U.S.Television, an independent production company specialising in business features, for inclusion in a 30-minute documentary on investment opportunities in TT. A release said the video package is scheduled to air on the New York based Fox-5 station at the start of the U.S. Summer. Fox-5 currently broadcasts to over 20 million households in the tri-state area: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. “The goal is really to promote Trinidad as an investment destination. But the thing is while it’s great to know about returns on investment, if the country is not a good place to live then it’s not going to get you very far. That’s why we include a tourism focus and the bulk of that focus for Trinidad will be on Carnival this year,” explained Carleen Krug, U.S.-Television regional manager. Krug and her project co-ordinator Leah Smith
Dream Team bandleader Paul Singh, centre, shows off the band’s 2014 presentation ‘I Am’ to U.S.-Television regional manager Carleen Krug, left, and project co-ordinator Leah Smith at the band’s mas camp on Picton Street, Port-of-Spain on Monday. (TT Guardian photo)
are in Trinidad on the behest of TT ambassador to the U.S. Dr Neil Parsan and are effectively holding preliminary interviews with public and private sector energy players, as well as, scouting shooting locations. Dream Team bandleader Paul Singh said he is excited about welcoming the U.S. camera crew on the road Carnival Monday and Tuesday not only because of the visibility it provides his band, but also for the exposure it guarantees for TT cul-
ture on the whole. “We have a product that the world needs to see and every opportunity to showcase our creativity to virgin markets should be embraced,” Singh said. Krugg said in the U.S. Carnival is synonymous with Rio de Janeiro’s display and hope their work in TT could help change that perspective and position the twin-island republic as the premier carnival destination. “Every Trini you talk to just assumes that the world is aware of this
magical event that takes place every year. I think that aspect of country branding has been missing for a long time and I think the government is working to change that and we’re really excited to be able to play a role.” “Personally I’m excited to be a part of Dream Team and everybody letting their hair down and having a good time. It’s going to be incredible I have nothing but high expectations. I’m sure after this experience I’m going to be a lifer,” she concluded. (TT Guardian)