Carnival opens the way for cultural diplomacy.
The Meeting Place Festival, under the theme ‘Urban Transit Carnival of Creatives’, aims to highlight the profound influence of Carnival traditions on the evolution of urban landscapes, cultural identity, and the expansion of the creative economy.
The fifth edition of the Festival highlighted how the creative arts act as a cornerstone of cultural identity, drawing striking parallels between Trinidad and Tobago and European and Latin American countries.
In his keynote address, the Ambassador of France, Guillaume Pierre, emphasised the importance of culture and cultural diplomacy in centring a country’s identity.
He noted that there’s more to creativity than just economics.
“Everything is not equal, everything is not just about controlling resource, land, everything is not simply about making money. To face this attitude, which is sometimes dominant, we believe that the balance of power is also about ideas and values, that the power is also in speech, representation, artistic creation.”
Echoing the sentiments of the French Ambassador, Director of Global Partnerships at Caribbean & Transit, Tricia Barrow, highlighted the similarities in culture in the Caribbean region.
She argued that commercialising Carnival traditions is a vital step toward strengthening the region’s creative economy and global reach.
“The Ambassador of France just spoke to the importance of culture and cultural diplomacy in centring a country’s identity, but also projecting its identity onto the world for the good of those who have the privilege of enjoying it. We have the same, and it’s unique, and it’s a melting pot of all the cultures that came here first. How do we share that with the world in a way that generates revenue in a sustainable manner to continue to grow?”
She further explained that the Meeting Place Festival aims to promote arts education and cultural industries, providing solutions to shape the future of the creative industries.
“More than that, they help you to understand how far along the spectrum of answering those questions countries are and just how much we have in common, including dealing with the same challenges but also dealing with the same rich production and interest, and how, really, creating an ecosystem where the relevant stakeholders, the creators of content, the consumers of content, the policymakers, the private sector, local and municipal governments, national governments, really need to, and have in some cases that we’ve heard here, come together to make sure that these enterprises, these undertakings, don’t stay static in the immediate space but really can be expanded and exported to the rest of the world.”
The three-day event at the Central Bank Auditorium featured curated engagements including educational exchanges, food sampling, and a showcase of clothes and jewellery.