By: Precious Mills
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Thursday 17th March 2022) — Minister responsible for the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Entertainment & Talent Development (MoENT) Akilah Byron-Nisbett has expressed that the more creative arts are put into focus, the more creatives will thrive and reap benefits from their works. She made the disclosure at the ministry’s opening press conference for its first project for 2022 dubbed ‘Month of The Arts’ — with focus on visual and literary arts — held at the Innovation Hub at the National ICT Center.
“The idea behind the ‘Month of The Arts’ is to shine a spotlight on various areas of the creative industry. This year the focus is visual and literary arts; areas that we are all very much aware of but for which we believe not much emphasis has been placed. We all know the work of artistes such as Vaughn Anslyn, Sasha The Artist, and we would have noted last year that we saw an uptake in the number of persons who published various books or literary works,” Byron-Nisbett said.
The Month of the Arts calendar includes a Spoken Word Extravaganza on 21st March, a Music & Message World Theatre Day on 27th March, and school creativity campaigns and poetry and story book competitions from 14th March to 14th April. Following the competitions, the announced winners will have their work featured in compiled publications. MoENT Permanent Secretary Cheryleann Pemberton noted four sectors within the orange economy: film and photography, music and entertainment, technology and innovation, and literary and performing arts. “Our aim is to provide that enabling environment for entrepreneurs to flourish, to be exposed and to monetize their talents,” she said.