Cayfest, the Cayman Islands National Festival of the Arts is now underway and offering a wide selection of events throughout the Cayman Islands.
The Cayman National Cultural Foundation produced festival brings together a collage of performing, visual, culinary and literary arts, heritage, and intellectual dialogue.
Events take place in Grand Cayman through 19 April and in the Sister Islands until 9 May.
ART
One of the major events of the festival is produced in partnership with the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands.
The Cayfest Art Exhibition and Sale is a juried exhibit of works from some of Cayman’s best artists.
Only the best among the pieces submitted are selected for exhibition. New work is ensured as pieces previously exhibited in the Cayman Islands are not accepted.
Photography is also included in the show. Photographs on display are the winning entries in the Cayfest Photography Competition along with other selected photos that were submitted in the contest.
The Art Exhibition and Sale continues at the National Gallery through April 12.
HIGH FASHION
Now in its second year, Fresh! Cayman Couture is coming back to the Harquail Theatre stage due to popular demand on Sunday, 13 April, from 6pm. Building on their experience from last year, fashion designers have returned to the show with improved work and joined by new designers. Fresh! is the only fashion show to feature the creations of only Caymanian designers.
CARIBBEAN COMEDY
Toping off the Grand Cayman Cayfest events are two nights of comedy from the man that many people consider the best comedian in the Caribbean – Paul Keens-Douglas on Friday, 18 and Saturday, 19 April from 8pm.
His material appeals to all classes and age groups, is pointed yet wholesome and family oriented.
That appeal extends outside the Caribbean, very likely because his presentation is easily understood by non-Caribbean people. He has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Rotary International, the Billy Holiday Theatre, and on Nickelodeon, NBC Washington and Capitol Radio in the UK, just to mention a few of his international performances.
Opening the show is a cabaret performance by the up and coming KRI Performing Arts Company. Tickets are available at the Cultural Foundation, Fosters Food Fair, Funky Tangs & Singh’s Roti Shop.
MOVIES
Lights…Camera…Action showcases video and cinematic arts of and in the Caribbean.
Included in the entries is the Cayman made series ‘Seven Mile Vice’ – a spoof of Miami Vice offering lots of laughs, and a documentary of the 2004 Gimistory storytelling festival, which portrays the effort to put the festival on just two months after Hurricane Ivan devastated the island.
Others include ‘Rue Cases Negres’ (Black Shack Alley), a film from Martinique that tells the story of a dirt poor boy who struggles for education and a better life amid the prejudice of the plantation society of Martinique.
Calypso fans will enjoy the documentary ‘Calypso Dreams’ which contains rare footage of the great Calypsonians of yesteryear.
For the children there is ‘Ring Ding Again’ featuring Jamaican cultural icon ‘Miss Lou’ along with Charles Hyatt and a host of children. Fans of dance should catch Jamaica’s National Dance Theatre Company while art lovers will want to see Romanticism.
Lights… Camera… Action begins at 12 noon in the Harquail Studio Theatre on April 6. For the schedule of screenings call 949-5477. Admission is free.
LITERATURE
Promoting the literary arts is part of the mission of CNCF and literature is well represented in Cayfest.
The Literary Arts Competition rewards budding writers for promising work with cash prizes. Writers were able submit poetry or short stories. The awards ceremony for the winning writers is at the University College of the Cayman Islands. Selected readings from the winning poems and stories are presented at the awards ceremony.
Literature also takes to the airwaves. Cayfest On Air brings stories to the studio of Radio Cayman. On April 7 at 7:30 pm selected stories from Roy Bodden’s ‘Stories My Grandfather Never Told Me’ will be read by the author, Rita Estevanovich and Pricilla Pouchie. ‘Stories My Grandfather Never Told Me’ can be heard on Radio Cayman 89.9 FM.
Twyla Vargas reads her original children’s stories on Radio Cayman on April 8 at 7:30. Stories from Cayman Brac can be heard on April 11 at 7:30. The air time was donated by Radio Cayman.
CULTURE TALK
Intellectual discussion on arts and culture takes place on Radio Cayman and at the Harquail Theatre.
Two Radio Cayman Talk Today shows are dedicated to cultural discussions. On Thursday April 3 Joel Francis returns to Talk Today to lead a discussion on Responding to a Crisis: Saving Cayman’s Culture. Joining Mr. Francis in the studio are: Nancy Barnard, director the National Gallery, Tammi Selzer of the National Archives, Frank Roulstone, general manager of the National Trust and Henry Muttoo, artistic director of the Cayman National Cultural Foundation.
A second discussion takes place on Radio Cayman’s Talk Today show on 8 April. The topic is Historic Preservation: Preserving Our Tangible Cultural Heritage. Among the panellists are Denise Bodden of the National Trust and Natalie Coleman of the National Gallery.
This Wednesday, CNCF Artistic Director Henry Muttoo will speak on The Artist in Cayman Society at the Harquail Theatre. Admission is free.
Other Cayfest events are: Dance Vibes… an evening of dance showcasing dance groups in the community at the Harquail Theatre this Saturday at 7 pm and Praise, a free gospel concert at the Governor’s residence on Saturday, 12 April.
For Cayfest on TV see the TV listings.
SISTER ISLANDS
Cayfest Sister Islands offers many similar events to those in Grand Cayman. A Churches Exhibition is on now through 17 April. The exhibit features various churches showing the history and outreach of churches in the Sister Islands.
Cayfest begins in Little Cayman this Saturday with the Photography & CNCF Exhibition. It is an exhibit of photo entries in the Cayfest Photography Competition and also the work of the Cayman National Cultural Foundation and the Sister Islands CNCF awardees.
Cayfest events continue in the Brac through 9 May 9 and in Little Cayman until 3 May.
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