Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

As the 2017 Mentoring by the Masters Program began on June 10, participants were exhorted to be serious about the great opportunity they are being presented with. Over 80 participants, past and present mentors and officials of the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts gathered for the launch at the Queen’s Park Savannah.

Permanent Secretary Angela Edwards said she was excited to see that the culture, history and legacy that makes T&T unique were being preserved through the program. “The initiative facilitates the transfer of our cultural traditions and high standards of creativity to future generations, as well as creating a space for specific dialogue between accomplished artists, cultural workers and our upcoming professionals. It also gives us the opportunity to pay tribute to those cultural icons and practitioners who have worked tirelessly in promoting our culture and the Arts.”
Edwards said she hoped the program would empower the mentees and ignite their entrepreneurial spirits, as they would be exposed to strategic thinking, skills building and the creation of mentoring and networking opportunities. “These will be critical in bridging the gaps between having the potential which you already do and actually realizing success. We expect that you would utilize the knowledge and experiences gained from these enriching interactions with our cultural icons to enhance your creative endeavours and approach your particular areas of interest with passion and with vigour.”
Director of Culture Ingrid Ryan-Ruben said when the program was begun in 2012, the Ministry wanted to be in a place where “we have hundreds of people who have shared the knowledge of master artists, of master craftsmen, master knowledge-bearers and master cultural workers. It is wonderful to say we’ve had an impact on large groups of mentees who have been able to sit at the feet of a master.”
She said, having lost mentors Narcenio Gomez and Stephen Derek recently, she was glad the program had brought them to the fore before they passed on, so there had been people who had had the opportunity to share in their knowledge. “I want to encourage those of you who have decided to sign up for this program to think carefully how you’re going to give of yourself. Sometimes people get excited in the beginning and they want to be part of it and then somewhere down the line they begin to slow down and when they do that, they really lose an opportunity that they cannot capture another time.”
2016 mentor Rudylynn De Four Roberts said the mentorship program is part of nation building and encouraged the mentees to teach other people what they knew and would learn. “Be sponges, absorb whatever you can and learn from your mentors. You need to ask questions and go the extra mile, because you will only get out of this what you put into it.”
Ryan-Ruben said Carnival Arts is an area where there are a lot of Masters and not enough mentees, and many of the Masters are dying. “You the mentees are the people who will give our Carnival life when you sit at the feet of your mentors. You have an opportunity to be able to take from people who have mastered their craft and to be able, not necessarily to do exactly what they do but to learn from them and begin to use your own creativity, to inject new life into art forms that are pivotal to our cultural heritage.”
This year, the program features Rosalind Gabriel in Children’s Mas; Lionel Jagessar in Fancy Indian Mas; Simeon Sandiford in Aspects of Music Production and the Business of Music; Janice Patricia McLeod in Ifa/Orisha Traditions and Sharon Pitt in Professional Development in Broadcasting. The program will run from June to August, culminating with showcases in September.