The Min­istry of Sport and Com­mu­ni­ty De­vel­op­ment has paid trib­ute to Nor­van Fuller­ton, who it de­scribed as “a tow­er­ing fig­ure in our cul­tur­al ta­pes­try.”

Fuller­ton, al­so called “Fuller,” was the founder of the Mal­ick Folk Per­form­ing Com­pa­ny, and had been a fix­ture in this coun­try’s Best Vil­lage Com­mu­ni­ty for decades.

The Mal­ick Folk Per­form­ing Com­pa­ny an­nounced his pass­ing on Thurs­day. He died at the Er­ic Williams Med­ical Sci­ences Com­plex at the age of 75.

The Min­istry of Com­mu­ni­ty De­vel­op­ment said Fuller­ton’s jour­ney through the arts was not just a per­son­al odyssey but one that im­print­ed it­self on the soul of the na­tion, en­rich­ing Trinidad and To­ba­go’s cul­tur­al her­itage and com­mu­ni­ties be­yond mea­sure.

“In the pass­ing of Nor­van ‘Fuller’ Fuller­ton, we lose not just an artist but a cus­to­di­an of our cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty. His ded­i­ca­tion to the arts and com­mu­ni­ty de­vel­op­ment was un­par­al­leled, leav­ing an en­dur­ing lega­cy that will res­onate for gen­er­a­tions to come,” said Min­is­ter Sham­fa Cud­joe-Lewis.

In 1968, Fuller­ton ig­nit­ed his pas­sion for the arts with the Com­pa­ny of Play­ers. By 1979, he found­ed the Mal­ick Folk Per­form­ing Com­pa­ny, be­com­ing a bea­con of artis­tic bril­liance.

He amassed 13 Prime Min­is­ter’s Best Vil­lage Tro­phies.
Fuller­ton was cred­it­ed with trans­form­ing the Prime Min­is­ter’s Best Vil­lage Tro­phy Com­pe­ti­tion, in­tro­duc­ing ground­break­ing cat­e­gories and ex­pand­ing its reach in­ter­na­tion­al­ly.

“A Cha­co­nia Medal Sil­ver re­cip­i­ent in 2003, Fuller’s ded­i­ca­tion was not just about awards; it was about be­ing a men­tor, an in­spi­ra­tion, and a guid­ing light. His de­par­ture leaves a void, but his spir­it lives on in the beats, move­ments, and sto­ries that de­fine us,” added Min­is­ter Cud­joe-Lewis.