Trinidad and Tobago is hosting an international symposium to examine the role of Carnival festivals in urban spaces.
Organised in collaboration with local non-profit organisation Caribbean InTransit, the symposium began with a cultural reception on Monday at the French Embassy, where creatives, diplomats, academics, and policymakers gathered to explore how Carnival traditions transform urban spaces, affect poverty, and generate income.
Founder and CEO of Caribbean InTransit, Dr. Marielle Maignan, said Trinidad and Tobago is at a pivotal point in its cultural evolution.
“We are at the stage in our development where we have to ensure that it is a feasible career for our youth, that we can monetise our creative output in a way that puts the Caribbean on the world stage and contributes to our GDP. This particular conference is about creating a festival dashboard where we begin to measure the inputs into our festivals, track what happens during the festival, and then measure the output. And as we bring more and more festivals onboard, we get more data, we own our own data, we aggregate our own data.”
France’s Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, Guillaume Pierre, highlighted the importance of the symposium to this country.
“Moments to share on the possibility to use culture as a very strong tool to develop Trinidad and Tobago both internally, but also its image outside, and to really prove once more that this island is a powerhouse in the Caribbean in terms of creativity, inventiveness, culture, and arts.”
Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Culture and Community Development, Dr. Narindra Roopnarine, noted that there are different forms of cultural interactions.
“Cultural diplomacy is an important aspect of our Trinidadian experience. And what we could utilise is to showcase our traditions, our culture, our people, our food. And you could hear the tassa in the background, and that’s wonderful. That’s just one aspect of our culture.”
The three-day symposium will focus on how Carnival traditions contribute to poverty alleviation, inclusion, gender equity, economic growth, cultural exchange, and understanding societal development.