SAN­DRA L BLOOD

D es­cribed as a bumper two months of sweep­ing art, fun, re­flec­tion, in­tro­spec­tion, ed­u­ca­tion, his­to­ry, con­nec­tion, and re­con­nec­tion, the third an­nu­al Sea­son of Anan­si Folk­lore Na­tion­al Fes­ti­val cul­mi­nat­ed on June 5 with a very emo­tion­al cer­e­mo­ny, Trib­ute to the Sto­ry­tellers.

At the Lit­tle Carib The­atre, Wood­brook, host Rubadiri Vic­tor took pa­trons through the his­to­ry of sto­ry­telling glob­al­ly to the present day, spot­light­ing the re­sis­tance to slav­ery, in­den­ture­ship, and colo­nial­ism that fu­elled Caribbean cul­tur­al tra­di­tions. There were al­so live and record­ed trib­utes to ho­n­ourees from friends, fam­i­ly, and schol­ars.

The high­light was the ho­n­our­ing of icon­ic el­der­ly and younger sto­ry­tellers Paul Keens-Dou­glas and Aun­tie Thea (Theodo­ra Ulerie), who re­ceived works of art re­flect­ing them through time done by Ran­dall Wat­t­ley. Rap­so artiste Broth­er Book (Hol­lis Pe­ters) was ho­n­oured posthu­mous­ly while Roger Alex­is and Ro’Dey (Rodell Cum­ber­batch) were al­so ho­n­oured.

Pop­u­lar­ly known in­ter­na­tion­al­ly as Mr Tim Tim, Keens-Dou­glas cel­e­brates his gold­en ju­bilee as a sto­ry­teller this year. He was al­so ho­n­oured for be­ing one of the most piv­otal artists the Caribbean has ever pro­duced.

Aun­tie Thea has kept West African and Caribbean sto­ry­telling tra­di­tions alive for decades.

Broth­er Book was re­mem­bered for his du­ti­ful com­mit­ment to the East Port-of-Spain and his po­ems Mes­sage to the Young In­tel­lec­tu­al and The Lit­tle Boy From The Shack.

Alex­is is known for his ir­rev­er­ent pup­pet se­ries San­tana, and Ro’Dey, who was ab­sent, for his pi­o­neer­ing work in trans­lat­ing stage comedic rou­tines in­to bril­liant filmed sketch com­e­dy, many times por­tray­ing the char­ac­ters him­self.

Keens-Dou­glas re­cit­ed Pan Rap, Aun­tie Thea told of Anan­si and the Sun God and Alex­is re­flect­ed on the ori­gins of San­tana.

Oth­er high­lights of the fes­ti­val, which was launched on April 16, were a Na­tion­al Book­store Read­ing Tour; a three-week in­ter­na­tion­al mul­ti-me­dia ex­hi­bi­tion, and The Black In­fi­nite: The Rise of Afro-Fu­tur­ism that end­ed on June 7. A play, Anan­si and the 10 Drag­ons, was al­so staged at Queen’s Hall by the Wire Bend Folk­lore The­atre.