Arts and Multiculturalism Minister Winston "Gypsy" Peters has assured that under his direction "things would be put in place" to recognise for posterity, the contributions of Pat Bishop. Peters, in a news release said: "Bishop would have touched the life of every national in some form or fashion. "Because of this, her unexpected death is a colossal cultural loss to this country. "Three paragraphs are insufficient to effectively outline her talents and contributions. "I dare say three days are inadequate to aptly describe and articulate her accomplishments."
Peters said Bishop was the proverbial salt in every cultural concoction of note produced in T&T over the last 50 years. Listing some of the things Bishop was to people, he added: "The lady with the baton in front of the orchestra at the National Steelband Festival, the overtly-outspoken nationalist who could expound on virtually any subject, the political commentator who often annoyed powerful people with her strong analytical opinions...those are but some of what makes Pat Bishop's loss so epic and immeasurable to the cultural landscape of T&T. "She lived for culture and literally died in the pursuit of it as well."
Bishop collapsed last Saturday during a panel meeting on culture at the Ministry of Planning and the Economy. She died shortly after at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. Joining in paying tribute to Bishop was the National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA). The NCBA noted that Bishop was just as popular in the mas fraternity as she was in other artistic aspects of the Carnival scenario. It added: "She always was passionate in her quest for excellence to ensure the highest standard and quality of mas costuming. "It was her firm belief that art should enlighten, advocate and reflect the society and make a statement about its ills as well as its beauty."She focussed great attention on keeping all aspects of traditional Carnival alive and relevant. "To this end she became involved on mas adjudication, not as a judge, but as critic and facilitator." Bishop was the driving force behind the National Carnival Commission's Carnival Institute, the release added.