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A MESSAGE From OUR CEO In the January 2020 edition of Caribbean Beat, I wrote: “A new decade has begun, full of the promise of new opportunities, travel, and adventure, especially for those of us lucky enough to live and work in the Caribbean.” A different year and a different decade began to unfold shortly afterwards, underlined with tragedy on a global scale. So many lives lost, and immeasurable economic damage done. Aviation, for one, has been brought to its lowest ebb, with international traffic operating at about ten per cent of normal levels. But this year has also been memorable for better reasons — most markedly, perhaps, the resilience, compassion, and care shown by so many human beings in our region, our countries, and in our business. As we approach the year-end holiday season, we can reflect on lessons learned and appreciate more deeply every accomplishment. Many borders in the Caribbean have reopened, and we’ve adjusted our operations and positioned resources to provide airlift where needed. Flights have resumed between Guyana and New York and Toronto, and we’ve also launched three-times weekly services between Ogle International Airport and Barbados. This network expansion was part of our strategic plan, pre-COVID, and it is heartening to see it fulfilled. In spite of this year’s challenges, our Eastern Caribbean initiative commenced, and we now offer flights from Barbados to St Lucia, St Vincent,
How we’ve met the challenges of 2020
Dominica, Grenada, and Kingston, Jamaica, with other destinations to be added soon. Caribbean Airlines still has the largest network in the Caribbean region, which we will continue to grow strategically to serve the needs of our customers. For example, as you may know, the United States Department of Transportation recently granted us approval to operate flights to Houston, Texas, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 2021. Motivated by our commitment to improve our product and service offerings, we joined forces with Global Leader Points International to enhance our loyalty programme, Caribbean Miles. Also, we remind Caribbean Miles members that your miles balances will be held and all miles that are due to expire during the period 1 March, 2020, to 31 December, 2021, are automatically extended by one year. While the pandemic is not over, in many ways it was the catalyst for more holistic thinking and innovation. We are
Caribbean Airlines has launched a new service between Ogle Airport, Guyana, and Barbados
Our Eastern Caribbean initiative has started, with flights to St Lucia, St Vincent, Dominica, and Grenada
not naïve about the fallout caused by the virus across multiple industries, but we are confident about our determination to overcome the challenges ahead. Our teams continue to work closely with public health officials, airports authorities, and other stakeholders to ensure our safety protocols meet the highest international standards, to protect customers and employees. Importantly, recent research supports the view that the risk of catching COVID-19 on an aircraft is low. This is due to the inherent design features around airflow, HEPA filtration, and high fresh-air exchange rates, combined with mask-wearing and diligent hygiene practices. As a potential service to our customers, and to satisfy entry requirements to various destinations, Caribbean Airlines is exploring testing technology that meets global standards as well as requirements for speed, accuracy, and affordability. We will update you on these measures as they are finalised. From all of us at Caribbean Airlines, best wishes for the holidays, and for health and happiness throughout the coming year. We look forward to reconnecting you with your loved ones in 2021 and beyond.
Garvin Medera Chief Executive Officer
We’ve enhanced our Caribbean Miles loyalty programme and extended miles for one year
Contents November/December 2020 • Digital Issue
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26 EMBARK
8 Wish you were here
Great Icacos Lagoon, Trinidad
10 Need to know
Make the most of November and December, even during the time of COVID-19
76 20 Bookshelf and playlist
Our reading and listening picks
22 Cookup Classic
Christmas presents can be a problem — but perhaps the solution is in your very own kitchen, Anu Lakhan discovers
CaribbeanBeat CaribbeanBeat Media & Editorial Projects Ltd. 6 Prospect Avenue, Maraval, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago T: (868) 622 3821/5813/6138 F: (868) 628 0639 E: caribbean-beat@meppublishers.com Website: www.meppublishers.com
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Editor Nicholas Laughlin General manager Halcyon Salazar Design artists Kevon Webster, Kriston Chen Production manager Jacqueline Smith Web editor Caroline Taylor Editorial assistants Shelly-Ann Inniss, Kristine De Abreu
ARRIVE
26 Round Trip
The good life Even in hard times — and 2020 brought more than its fair share — the Caribbean is one of the sweetest places on earth, thanks to beautiful landscapes, vibrant culture, and warm, generous people
Business Development Manager, Tobago and International Evelyn Chung T: (868) 684 4409 E: evelyn@meppublishers.com Business Development Representative, Trinidad Tracy Farrag T: (868) 318 1996 E: tracy@meppublishers.com
An MEP publication Cover What do you love most about life in the Caribbean? Our incredible beaches must be near the top of anybody’s list Photo Maridav/Shutterstock.com
71 explore
Only natural The wild places of Dominica, the Caribbean’s Nature Island, aren’t just ravishingly beautiful, writes Paul Crask — there’s room to breathe free, even during COVID-19 restrictions
76 Snapshot
Chasing the dream Cuban actress Ana de Armas may seem like an overnight success, but behind her rise to stardom are fifteen years of hard work, starting at Havana’s famous theatre school. Caroline Taylor says her biggest successes are still to come
80 Icons
Tony Hall (1948–2020) and Dennis “Sprangalang” Hall (1949–2020) Attillah Springer explains the roles of T&T’s irreplaceable theatrical brothers in the ongoing struggle for cultural self-determination
82 the deal
Telecommuting island-Style A handful of Caribbean countries have made it easy for international professionals to work remotely from balmy tropical climes. Natalie Dookie gives the details
90 DID you even know
Our trivia column tests your knowledge of the Caribbean’s Christmas traditions
Dear readers, 2020 wasn’t the year any of us expected. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our lives in almost every way imaginable, changing the way we work and go to school, the way we shop, the way we spend time with family and friends, the way we relax and entertain ourselves, the way we travel. It’s been a year of anxiety and hardship and disappointment — but it’s also been a chance to reflect on what really matters, our priorities and hopes, and to imagine other, better ways of living. 2020 has forced us to innovate, and reminded us of our inner strengths. Despite everything, 2020 has also reminded us what we love about being in the Caribbean. It’s not just the tropical climate which allows us to be in the healthy outdoors, and our gorgeous landscapes of mountains, forests, and shores. It’s the rich cultural heritage forged over centuries, which has nourished our minds and spirits for generations, and will boost us through our current challenges. And it’s the bouyant, defiant personality of Caribbean people, the generosity of neighbours and strangers alike, which makes us determined not just to survive, but to thrive. In this digital issue, we take you to seventeen different destinations across our region in search of those elements that make life in the Caribbean, at its best, such a joy. Let them remind you of good times past — and help you imagine better times to come. The Caribbean Beat team
Read and save issues of Caribbean Beat on your smartphone, tablet, computer, and favourite digital devices! Caribbean Beat is published six times a year for Caribbean Airlines by Media & Editorial Projects Ltd. It is also available on subscription. Copyright © Caribbean Airlines 2020. All rights reserved. ISSN 1680–6158. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the written permission of the publisher. MEP accepts no responsibility for content supplied by our advertisers. The views of the advertisers are theirs and do not represent MEP in any way. Website: www.caribbean-airlines.com
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History isn’t over By Dr Fazal Ali
T
he last temptation must be to find splendid value in past imperial arrangements and to lump the continuation of countless colonial asymmetries in varying forms inside a roadmap out of the economic crisis created by COVID-19. To barricade oneself inside such an inheritance, and lead a life in which resentment against imposed inferiority from past histories comes to dominate one’s priorities, cannot but be unjust to oneself. It also deflects attention away from new priorities that those emerging from imperialism have good reason to value and pursue. The persistence of a plantation model of schooling across the West Indies is one such asymmetry. Planters remain tall because the hapless still stand on their knees. But today their children are unfearful. Now it is not the marks of leg irons that limit their prospects, but the marks from examinations syndicates and the interruption of schools during the pandemic. Governments in the Anglophone and Dutch Caribbean have closed schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving seven million learners and over ninety thousand teachers across twentythree countries and territories grappling with inequality. Countless children have no tools or connectivity. But before the present predicament, these children would have had to cross the obstacles of a Concordat and the lifethreatening eleven-plus selections that shape destiny and identity. Their vigilant mothers have witnessed how inequalities at an early age cast the longest shadow, because of cumulative consequences. And so those who wrote the high-stakes selections examinations at eleven-plus know that once their parents could only hope to silently sweep the floors of those high temples of light and learning. After all, the bridge into the tower is lowered only for a select twenty percent. This is precisely why the future of Barbados is messianic under the leadership of Prime Minister Mia Mottley. It is a future that is galloping towards the people of Barbados. George Santayana defined culture — all culture, any culture — as a knife pressed against the future. Culture must be about making things different from what they are, the future unlike the present. This is why Governor-General Dame Sandra Mason read a speech in which she delivered the country’s plan to replace the British monarch, Elizabeth II, with a Barbadian head of state. The time has come for Barbados to fully leave its colonial past behind. The word “underdevelopment” carries with it the undertow that some desirable thing that is going to happen has not yet happened. And one such thing is a new ecology of schooling in the West Indies. The contemporary preference for “developing” as a more appropriate adjective than “underdeveloped” introduces a calculated element of euphemism and confusion between a drawback that can be overcome and a drawback that is currently being overcome. Beneath the concept there is clearly a historical vision, but it is not made clear which one that is. While this lack of specificity gives the
concept of development remarkable catholicity, it also makes its use inconsistent. The vagueness of the historical vision of the future is now supplemented by blindness about the present. Our post-plantation world has not yet discovered how to define itself in terms of what it “is” precisely, but only in terms of what it has “just now ceased to be.” The challenge of this postplantation mode is to design an economic proposal that both accommodates and stretches, so that a new transformative and comprehensive re-equilibrium emerges. Well-being and freedom to live a decent human life must be the ultimate objective of the economy. In Francis Fukuyama’s interpretation, inspired by Hegel, history is a protracted struggle to realise the idea of freedom latent in human consciousness. When Fukuyama proclaimed the “end of history” as the unavoidable triumph of liberal capitalist democracy, it was hard to imagine that he was wrong. History isn’t over, and neither liberalism nor democracy is ascendant. The connection between capitalism, democracy, and liberalism has faded. Prosperity is not best served either through the pursuit of laissez-faire economics or by the inexorable extension of economic freedoms. Indeed, quite the opposite. As Thomas Piketty points out, free markets have enlarged the gap between rich and poor, and reduced average incomes across the developed and developing worlds. Countries have abandoned the liberalism that Fukuyama believed they would embrace with open arms. Instead, economic interventionism, nationalism, and racism have attracted voters rather than the causes of liberty, deregulation, fraternity, and equality. Liberal capitalist democracy hasn’t triumphed. Instead, the failures of capitalism have turned democracy against liberalism. In turn, liberalism’s intellectual self-identity has been left in tatters. Nothing is more important now than a New Ecology of Schooling if the West Indies is to find its place in the Black Mirror future that COVID-19 has rushed into being. Dr Fazal Ali is the author of Education for Liberty and former Chairman of the Teaching Service Commission of Trinidad and Tobago. This essay is part of a series reflecting on the Caribbean Identity and what it can be.
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wish you were here
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Great Icacos Lagoon, Trinidad Near the tip of Trinidad’s southwestern peninsula — pointing to Venezuela on the horizon — the Great Icacos Lagoon is a stretch of marshland dotted with clumps of mangrove and surrounded by coconut plantations as far as the eye can see. The Southern Main Road, crossing the lagoon, ends at the village of Icacos and a long, long expanse of sandy beach facing the Orinoco Delta — the farthest daytrip you can make by land from Port of Spain.
Photography by Jason C. Audain
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NEED TO KNOW
WONG YU LIANG/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Essential info to help you make the most of November and December — even in the middle of a pandemic
Don’t Miss Divali
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The first night of the new moon in the month of Kartika is greeted with fanfare anywhere with a large Hindu community. On Divali — the Hindu festival of lights, celebrated this year on 14 November, and commemorated as a public holiday in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname — people venture from far and wide to enjoy the spectacle of tiny deyas — clay lanterns — arranged in hundreds or even thousands, to symbolise the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. Hindu families prepare traditional vegetarian feasts and sweets such as gulab jamun, khurma, and barfi, much to the merriment of neighbours and friends. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic means typical large celebrations must be scaled down, but every observant Hindu household will perform time-honoured prayers to the goddess Lakshmi, light their deyas, and look forward to the time when their doors can once again be opened to guests for the season of joyful sharing.
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need to know The yellow oriole (Icterus nigrogularis) is a common bird species in T&T gardens — and maybe one for your Bioblitz checklist
correct the suggestion. For Bioblitz weekend, we will have both local and international experts on standby to help identify all uploaded photos as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Which past Bioblitz location had the most recorded species?
DEVAN MULCHANSINGH, COURTESY T&T BIOBLITZ
Charlotteville in Tobago, in 2015, had the highest species total of all Bioblitzes — 1,044 species! This was helped by the fact that the five-kilometre radius for this location included coral reefs and other marine habitats that were well-surveyed by teams of scuba divers and snorkellers, in addition to the usual forest, urban, and coastal habitats.
Have you discovered any new species over the years?
Word of Mouth Bioblitz T&T Trinidad and Tobago’s rich biodiversity is a nature-lover’s dream, and the annual Bioblitz — running this year from 21 to 22 November — is a chance for naturalists both professional and amateur to learn more. UK-born Amy Deacon, a zoologist at the University of the West Indies, explains how we can develop a new appreciation for the biodiversity in our very own backyards
The ninth annual T&T Bioblitz will be a backyard edition. What types of species are likely to be seen?
Representatives of almost all the taxa we usually find at a regular Bioblitz are in backyards. The main exception might be marine species, unless any of our bioblitzers live on a boat! Hopefully some of our participants will have ponds, ditches, or even streams running through their gardens. Mammals will also be a challenge, as we usually detect these using camera traps and bat nets. Everyone has birds in their backyard. Look up and spot more unusual birds, such as hawks, flying overhead. Most people will also have their resident geckos. Iguanas and crapauds [cane toads] are common garden reptiles and amphibians, but keep a look out for other frogs, lizards, and snakes. We expect most of our species to come from plants and insects, and both are abundant in gardens. Paying more attention to the small creatures is also how to have the best chance of making new or unusual discoveries.
How can families participate?
This year, all you need is a phone with a camera and the internet to upload to iNaturalist — a free app and website that can identify species from photos. Once you upload your photo, the app gives you a “best guess” as to the species shown. Then, experts from around the world confirm or 12
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In Charlotteville, the herpetology team discovered a lizard that had never been recorded in T&T. It is known as a twig anole, Anolis tigrinus, and was previously known only from the South American mainland.
How many species do you personally intend to observe for Bioblitz 2020?
I am setting a personal target of one hundred species. Some people might think that sounds ambitious, but I think we tend to hugely underestimate the number of species around us, even in our backyards. I know several of my neighbours will be participating, so there is likely to be some friendly competition, too!
What is a Bioblitz? First held in the United States in 1996, and now organised in countries around the world, a Bioblitz is a biological survey done over a twenty-four-hour period, intended to record all the living species in a designated locale. Since 2012, T&T has hosted annual Bioblitzes, each in a different part of the country, involving university faculty and students, members of the T&T Field Naturalists’ Club, and nature-lovers of all ages. Anyone can join in — no special qualifications required. For T&T Bioblitz 2020, given the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, participants are invited to do species surveys in their own gardens and backyards, with the help of a special species identification app.
need to know
Take three
Did you know the invention of television has a Caribbean angle? By some accounts, Scottish engineer John Logie Baird produced the world’s earliest prototype on a cocoa estate in Trinidad, circa 1920. Within three decades, TV was on its way to being the world’s dominant medium for entertainment, education, and public influence. And without a doubt it gets even better when we hear our accents, see our surroundings, and hear our own stories being shared with a wider audience on screen. In honour of World Television Day on 21 November, here are three classic Caribbean TV series to take you down memory lane.
marlon rouse, courtesy westwood park
Classic Caribbean TV series
T&T’s Westwood Park aired from 1997 to 2004 — and since then has been a rerun staple
Royal Palm Estate
Bajan Bus Stop
For twenty-one years, the fictional Blackburn family were regular visitors in the homes of viewers in Jamaica and around the Caribbean. Set on a former plantation, the Royal Palm Estate soap opera centred around the lives of the prominent Blackburns, symbols of an older past. Elements of mystery, comedy, romance, and even murder boosted the plot. In an interview with the Jamaica Gleaner, the series’ director Lennie Little-White once said he believed the secret of its longevity was in portraying characters at all socio-economic levels, so viewers could recognise themselves. You can find a few of the eight hundred episodes on YouTube.
Aptly named after an iconic feature of the island’s landscape, this comedy offered snapshots of ordinary life and provided insight into Bajan culture, in nine hilarious episodes. No secret escaped the ears of Ms Pearly, whose curtain twitched ever so slightly during juicy conversations at the bus stop in front of her house. Sometimes she wasn’t so demure, either. Decades later, fans continue to call for a reboot.
Jamaica, 1994–2015
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Barbados, early 1990s
Westwood Park
on the wealthy Du Soleil and GunnMunroe families, demonstrated that all that glitters is literally not gold. Manipulation and power enveloped the Gunn-Munroe family, while social conscience ruled over the Du Soleils. Against a backdrop of luxurious locations around T&T, the series intricately wove together universal topics of hate and greed, corruption and romance, and a striving for social justice into one captivating TV show. “It still has legs,” says creator Danielle Dieffenthaller. Westwood Park also aired around the Caribbean and internationally.
Trinidad and Tobago, 1997–2004 Shelly-Ann Inniss Reruns and shared clips on social media are proof that some TV series never get old. Westwood Park, centring
need to know
Do you make your own costume?
I am actively involved in the production of my costume every year, from the early 1990s to now. I help with cutting out the cardboard, wiring it up, and painting it, and I paste my costumes by myself for every parade that I participate in.
How has the festival evolved over the years? Duke Of Nassau Photography Courtesy Angelique Mckay
The designs have gotten more creative, detailed, bigger, and more elaborate. More women are participating, too, as it has become more socially acceptable.
How do you feel when you share the Junkanoo experience with the world?
All About . . . Junkanoo rush The streets of Nassau awake in the wee hours of Boxing Day and New Year’s Day to the rush of Junkanoo. Intricate costumes parade to intoxicating goombay drumming, accompanied by brass horns, cowbells, and whistles. For onlookers, it’s almost impossible to sit still. Angeliqué McKay, founder of the Junkanoo Commandos, has taken elements of the festival to over thirty-four cities around the world. She shares her passion and thoughts about its future.
How old were you when you began participating in Junkanoo?
I started as a teenager, after I was in college. Prior to that, my mother didn’t think it was appropriate for a young lady to be in Junkanoo. On the other hand, my father Freddy McKay was actively involved and was one of the founders of the Saxon Superstars. I started as a free dancer in the Superstars.
Which Junkanoo group are you affiliated with?
I’m a member of Genesis Warhawks. I chose to join them based on the foundation that they set to be deep in the community, building the people and having a vision which ensures that their community work is bigger than just the parade. 16
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Every time the Junkanoo Commandos perform outside the Bahamas it is just as magical as our performance on Bay Street in Nassau. Whenever we line up in our costumes, magic happens, and we attract people like moths to a flame. One of my most memorable experiences was taking Junkanoo to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial [in Washington, DC] to perform for the fiftieth anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. That put Junkanoo on the largest stage possible, and I was proud. That goes neck-to-neck with the first year my son lined up next to me to perform on Bay Street.
Junkanoo is deep in your soul. Is there anything you’d change about it?
I would extend the two days of Junkanoo parades into a two-week festival, highlighting every aspect of it. I would also split the groups to perform on different days, allowing more people to have an opportunity to view the parade and to be fully submerged.
Discussions about virtual Carnivals are going on around the Caribbean. What are your thoughts about a virtual Junkanoo?
I would jump at the opportunity for virtual Junkanoo at this time. It is nearly impossible for us to gather in the traditional way, because of COVID-19. Junkanoo is a very intimate thing. We are in close contact, and we are touching and talking and laughing, which are all of the risky activities.
If this year’s Junkanoo is cancelled entirely, what would you do?
My heart would be broken. I’d have no idea what to do with myself at Christmas time. Even before I participated in Junkanoo, my daddy had the house looking like a Junkanoo shack. I got to help with little things that I thought were big, but found out they were to really keep me from his costume. I’m wondering if I have to make and eat Christmas dinner this year, and bake cookies: the type of stuff that nonJunkanoos do at Christmas time.
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need to know
The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest Of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979
Zemi Cohaba Stand (c. 974–1020, wood and shell, 27 x 8 5/8 x 9 1/8 inches)
On View Arte del Mar
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The very same sea that separates the islands of the Caribbean from each other, and from territories on the Central and South American mainland, also connects them: for centuries before 1492, the indigenous peoples of the region travelled by boat between archipelago and continent, sharing “concepts of ritual knowledge, ceremonial performance, and political power.” Arte del Mar: Artistic Exchange in the Caribbean, an exhibition at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum (running until 27 June, 2021), assembles forty-two objects — from ritual artworks to jewellery — exploring connections among the Antilles and regions which today are part of Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Honduras, predating European colonial contact. A highlight is a magnificent zemi of carved wood and seashell, depicting an ancestral figure and dating to the turn of the first millennium. Connecting the works of these early, anonymous artists to the present, the show closes with a 1950 painting by Cuban Wilfredo Lam.
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bookshelf Book of the Little Axe by Lauren Francis-Sharma (Grove Atlantic, 432 pp, ISBN 9780802129369) Call any book ambitious, and it’s likely to be true. The rarity is in finding work that outstrips the pace of its own ambition with blistering promise: you’ll find it in Book of the Little Axe, Lauren FrancisSharma’s second novel. The worlds, at first, couldn’t seem more disparate: the craggy, unflinching terrain of 1830s Montana, hearkening back to the polyglottal self-determination of late-eighteenth-century Trinidad. Fierce, defiant Rosa Rendón grows up in Trinidad, more comfortable with her father’s horses than the life of genteel domesticity she’s expected to lead. An explosive confluence of events, involving territorial upheaval, the threat of suitors, and a series of sea changes for Trinidad itself, compel Rosa to flee to the American Midwest, where the frontiers are both similar and wildly different to what she’s known. Her life among the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation, wearing the mantles of wife and mother, place
The Dyzgraphxst
fresh challenges on her shoulders — key among them the task of guiding her son Victor into the man he is becoming. Weaving across decades, narrators, and acts of brutality twinned with beauty, Book of the Little Axe showcases FrancisSharma’s deeply impressive craft and pacing evolution from her propitious debut, ’Til The Well Runs Dry. As if the historical era terraforming weren’t already a daunting challenge that the author deftly surmounts, the narrative squares its shoulders against colourism, misogyny, xenophobia, racist colonial-settler ideologies, and the everyday cruelties all people in damning times feel ready to commit. In prose that draws you deep with its luminous descriptiveness, and in plot navigations as treacherous — and deeply thrilling — as a herd’s stampede just missing your vital organs, this is a novel that will, unsolicited, attach itself to your long-term memory, your survival instincts, your animate heart.
Jane Jane Eyre: Caribbean Drawings
by Canisia Lubrin (McClelland & Stewart, 176 pp, ISBN 9780771048692)
by Rex Dixon (Hansib Publishers, 119 pp, ISBN 9789768280916)
Dysgraphia relates to the neurological incursion against our human capacity to write. St Lucian-Canadian Canisia Lubrin’s second collection of poems, The Dyzgraphxst, recalibrates the colonial orientation of the tongue that has been taught to language, to hold and protect speech for only one, expected empire. Here are poems that not only trouble the lexicography, they ramfle the library of the regime; they make mas in the gayelles of Black queer survival and thriving. Jejune, who carries themself through a landscape of glut, of stasis, of hardscrabble serenities popping up as stubbornly as bright weeds, is a narrator unlike any you’ve met, a voice who is open to your voice, metatextually inviting you in to insert your “I” in this journey. Open to any page, and Lubrin’s language prompts you to brocade it large in your diary of finest utterances.
Mr Rochester: charmer or consummate coward? Opinions usually vary, depending on whether you’re a Jane Eyre stalwart or a devotee of Wide Sargasso Sea. In these drawings, Rex Dixon circumvents the binary altogether, leaving it up to you to see what he imagines: darkly outlined figures summoning dread and delight starkly populate the frame, hauntingly garlanded by gatherings of inked words not dissimilar to symbolic poems. Here, detailed for us in transgressive illumination, is not only Rochester’s world, or Charlotte Brontë’s realm, but the hybrid evolution of Dixon’s own transplanted, British-Caribbean existence. These drawings are admirably flanked by Patricia Mohammed’s introductory essays, furnishing the images with perspicacious critique — making room, in the same gesture, for the art to take imaginative centrestage. This work conjures windswept moors and archipelagic heat: a keepsake for the eye and spirit. Reviews by Shivanee Ramlochan, Bookshelf editor
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playlist Source Nubya Garcia (Concord Jazz) Caribbean migrations have birthed new generations of creatives, challenging definitions of music in their new homelands. Nubya Garcia is the daughter of Trinidadian and Guyanese parents, and with this heritage the UK-born and -based jazz saxophonist has marked her musical space there with equal parts nature, nurture, and nostalgia. Her new record Source, her first full-length album, plays between the innovative
Vini Bien Raise (3M-Mizik Moun Matinik) Martniquan singer Tony Chasseur calls his music kréyol djaz (creole jazz in its native form): “jazz coming from creole lands in all parts of the globe using the rhythms endemic to each land as a rhythmic base, whatever the level of harmonic elaboration and improvisation.” This reorientation of the jazz aesthetic away from the US is heartening in our Caribbean space. Raise is the new supergroup of Antillean music stars: along
In Search of Lost Time Protoje (In.Digg.Nation Collective/RCA Records) Jamaican reggae artist Protoje is on a mission with the release of this new album, his fifth. In addition to continuing to tell his story, he is now a music businessman controlling his output. “The main goal is that I want this album to reach more ears than any album I have put out before,” he says. And In Search of Lost Time has the right elements to make people get up and listen:
We Home Kes (Kes/Ineffable Records) As the year 2020 comes to a close, music lovers and Carnival fanatics note how the global pandemic decimated the live celebration the region is known for. Soca, the music that drives festivals, became a memory, as island Carnivals were cancelled throughout the year. Out of Trinidad, though, soca superstar Kes focused on the long-term viability of soca by repackaging and re-arranging his and his band’s hits from the last few years into a new album. A kind of “Greatest Hits” live, this album serves as a necessary
soundscapes of the contemporary British jazz scene and a look back to influences that echo the Caribbean and transplanted African music, as captured by children of the diaspora. The controlled tone of her tenor sax dances through dub on “Source”, and splashes up against AfroColumbian rhythmic elements on “La cumbia me está llamando” without ever being discordant. On “Before Us: In Demerara & Cuara”, one hears that calypso bass modernised and influencing a new jazz exploration beyond boundaries. Garcia is finding the centre in a world of influences. with Chasseur are Ronald Tulle on piano, Michel Alibo on bass, Thomas Belon on drums, and Alain Dracius on percussion. Sublime musicianship by all five guides the listener to places where the primacy of zouk and other Caribbean rhythms creates an elegant counterpoint to modern souljazz music. There are songs to make you dance on this album, and there are songs to make you sing along, even if kréyol is not your primary language. Tulle’s playing shines here on tracks like “Dous O Péyi”, while Chasseur’s voice has the tone that keeps listeners attached to the sound. collaborations with Grammy winner Koffee along with Popcaan, Lila Iké, and American rapper Wiz Kalifa; high production values, fusing hip-hop and hints of electronica with modern reggae with a cutting edge sound; and compelling songs. “Mi bring him with me go LA / Is like a him get nominate, him watch the Grammy side a me / ’Cause how much people can you say / Would feed you when you hungry / When you broke dem bless you with money?” These lyrics from “Like Royalty” ring with autobiographical truth. And there are nine more recollections of a life to embrace. fillip for soca lovers going into withdrawal, recognising that Carnivals may not be on in 2021. The intense jam necessary for moving masqueraders on the road and partiers in fetes is dialled down to allow his pure voice to shine, along with a renewed focus on the instrumentation of his bandmates. A Caribbean pop vibe is balanced with Kes’s island-accented vocal delivery to reignite hits like “Savannah Grass” and “Endless Summer”. “Beautiful Life”, a new ballad, closes this showcase. Reviews by Nigel A. Campbell
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cookup classic
A Christmas diary
Originally published in 2004, this old favourite from writer Anu Lakhan tackles a common seasonal dilemma: Christmas presents. Sometimes the solution lies close at hand, in your own kitchen
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he dread I feel at Christmas is entirely owing to the gift situation. A fairly traditional Hindu upbringing has failed to instill a healthy degree of asceticism among my relatives: we are devoted to presents. This poses problems for someone with the shopping aptitude of a watermelon. It has taken me the better part of three decades to figure out that my salvation lies where it inevitably does: in food.
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The 12thDay DayBefore BeforeChristmas Christmas Halfway through December, and though I have not bought a single present, it appears that I still have an unusually large number of siblings, small relatives, and assorted persons in my life. How did I let this happen? Again. Because I am a coward. I fear the rabid shoppers coveting their neighbours’ goods and the slow descent into madness from over-exposure to shrill children’s choirs and cuatros. I stare at the series of gift-lists like I’m reading a tarot deck.
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The 11thDay DayBefore BeforeChristmas Christmas A dozen lamb pastelles later (“consumption pattern” on my retail expeditions measures what is eaten, not bought) and still no presents. No, no one in my family wants a poinsettia-patterned tea-cosy or a manger scene made from egg cartons, but if I eat enough of these very sugary cookies I may fall into a coma and not wake up until Easter. Online shopping has proved unsuccessful because it deprives me of the false hope of impulse purchasing.
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The 10thDay DayBefore BeforeChristmas Christmas And then, as if by divine inspiration, it hits me: food! No one in my family cares much for getting flowers, so I’d thought that, like the perishable blossom, the transient pleasures of the edible would be derided. But is my family not the very one whose only excess greater than gift-giving is lavish cooking? I let the idea, the rightness of it, sink in under the weight of Christmas party ham and homemade bread. This is no box-ofchocolates, tin-of-biscuits idea: it calls for skilled planning, deep character insight, and actual work. But I feel equal to the task: I fear nothing in my own kitchen the way I fear the manic traffic and Santa-driven fire engines.
shalini seereeram
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The 9th Day Before Christmas Day Before Christmas I throw out all the old lists. I line up my cookbooks and recipe files and make notes. No one makes anything easy for me. There are allergies to be considered, vegetarianism and a host of other infirmities. That really good chicken liver paté recipe that insists on feeding about fifty no matter how I adjust it is out. No shellfish, nothing with too much chocolate. This is worse than catering for a party, because there must at least be the appearance of sensitivity to the needs of those being fed.
Coconut shortbread 4 oz flour 2 oz corn starch 4 oz salted butter 2 oz icing sugar 3 tablespoons freshly ground coconut 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Sift together the flour and corn starch (also called corn flour, but definitely not to be confused with corn meal). Cream the butter and icing sugar, and add essence before mixing in the flour and corn starch. Now, about the coconut. A de-husked coconut, referred to as a “dry” coconut, is not hard to find in Trinidad. I can make no claim for any other territory, Caribbean or otherwise. If you’re using a dry coconut, break the shell, remove the hard flesh, peel off the brown skin, and grind, grate, or mince enough to give you three heaped tablespoons. The coconut should be as finely ground as your choice of appliance will allow. “Fresh” frozen coconut will work too, but not the desiccated stuff used to make coconut cream. Mix the coconut in with the rest of the ingredients. On a sheet of wax paper (lightly buttered and dusted with icing sugar) roll out an eight-inch circle, a little more than an inch thick. Anything less feels stingy, more is starting to become a brownie. Use a fork to make tiny holes all over the circle. Bake at 350° for about thirty minutes.
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The 8th Day Before Christmas Day Before Christmas I know what I can’t make and what I won’t make. Pastelles, perhaps the best reason not to hibernate for Christmas, are out of my league. Making them involves something tricky with cornmeal and something intimidating with a banana leaf. Besides, they’re too common just about now. It’s too late to take on the monumental sausage-making task I have started to fantasise about. I don’t know how sorrel became the Christmas drink since I don’t know anyone who willingly consumes it.
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The 5th Day Before Christmas Day Before Christmas The cakes will have to be first: one, because they will keep longest, and two, because they are the easiest to make and will give me encouragement to go on. I find the traditional Trinidadian black cake, the fruitcake to end all fruitcakes, to often be the end of me. Its flavours are so intense as to be daunting. It is one thing for a cake to be difficult to prepare, but I am on principle opposed to foods that ask too much of me at the eating stage. One does not like to feel engaged in a test of wills with dessert.
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Alp Aksoy/Shutterstock.com
I decide on a lightish sponge imbued with fruit that has been soaking in rum for longer than any primate has been upright. The result is fragrant but not overwhelming, flavourful rather than gagging.
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The 6th Day Before Christmas Day Before Christmas I’m still deciding on the best time to deliver the goods — surely five o’clock on Christmas morning, my family’s traditional giftswapping time, is not a propitious time to offload high-calorie treats on either the aged or already-hyper youth. In the meantime, I can work out the problem of presentation. I have intelligently structured my schedule so that there is plenty of time to chase appropriate packaging. Tins, which I am determined to use for their snazzy yet quaint feel, are only deceptively commonplace. In truth, I am on the verge of surrendering to zip-loc bags when I finally find a place willing to sell me unbranded tins. Forget all this “it’s what on the inside that counts” business. If you’ve ever bought anything that was an eighth the size of its blister pack you know that appearances matter. I make labels with a picture of a Zen-like cat in honour of my newfound peace with the holiday and of my newfound pet, who is both a cat and Zen-like.
The 4th Day Before Christmas Day Before Christmas The trouble with the toffee bars is that their delicate balance does not allow for unlimited multiplication. If the recipe is more than doubled, you end up with something more like insulation material than food. Unlike the magic paté recipe that can feed infinite guests, the toffee bar recipe seems to suffer a diminishing effect. Every time I make it, less comes out of the oven than went in. The more people ask for it, the fewer bars are produced. Might the toffee bar have a bright future on the stock exchange?
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The 7th Day Before Christmas Day Before Christmas I settle on three items all from the noble family of baked goods: shortbread, toffee bars, and a very light fruitcake. Shortbread is always a winner because, though easy to make, it has the glamour of things that a long time ago came home in suitcases after international travel. The toffee bars really contain no toffee at all. They fall somewhere between biscuit and brownie texture, are filled with almonds, may or may not be covered in chocolate, and as far as I can tell are not made outside of my family. The misnomer remains something of a mystery, as does the origin of the recipe. The fruitcake is my concession to the spirit of the season.
The 3rd Day Before Christmas Day Before Christmas I have come to feel about shortbread the way I feel about pepper jelly; they are among the most rewarding things to actually
Whatever’s on your Christmas menu, you need to wash it down. And in any Trini household, the two essential seasonal beverages are sorrel and ponche de crème. Here are two more classic recipes, originally published in the magazine in 2002.
Sorrel 1 lb fresh sorrel (or 1/4 lb dry sorrel) 3–5 whole cloves 1 small stick of cinnamon, or cinnamon powder (to taste) 1–2 lb white sugar bay leaf (optional) Put sorrel and spices in a large saucepan and pour boiling water into the pan, enough to cover fresh sorrel (or, with dry sorrel, three inches above the sorrel). Cover, then place over heat for a few minutes, just enough to bring it to a low simmer. Remove from heat and let it steep overnight. Strain, then add sugar, sweetening to taste. Bottle, putting a clove in each, then cap and let stand (you may need to refrigerate to keep it from fermenting) for four days or so. Serve over ice.
Ponche de creme
cook. No one thinks to make them and therefore people are terribly impressed when they are presented. Unfortunately, the thing that would make my shortbread truly magnificent would be its consent to be cut into pleasing shapes. This is not to be. I do not despair. It is crumbly-buttery-light, never mind the pieces look like continental shift charts.
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1½ cup dark rum 4 eggs 14½ fl oz condensed milk Angostura bitters grated nutmeg (to taste) 1 teaspoon lime juice 1 teaspoon vanilla essence Combine the rum, milk, eggs, essence, and lime juice in a blender. Sprinkle on a few drops of Angostura bitters. Add grated nutmeg. Serve chilled.
The 2nd Before Christmas DayDay Before Christmas I have the singular delight of delivering my shiny packages just when everyone else is at breaking point. Not only am I to be congratulated on making it through the season without the traditional panic, but my well-timed distribution seems a nice treat for those still suffering. O tidings of comfort and joy.
Christmas Eve A deep peace envelopes me. Is it the goodwill of the season, or the smug satisfaction of beating everyone to the present finish-line? Does it matter? Maybe this year when I have to wish people “Merry Christmas” at an unholy pre-dawn hour I won’t even snarl. n
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round trip
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The good life Our sunny days and breezy nights, postcard-perfect beaches, lush mountains, and picturesque cities, world-famous music and culture — we love the Caribbean for all these reasons, and more. No place on earth is paradise, exactly, but when times are good and the vibe is sweet, no part of the world comes closer
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a e k a M h... s a l sp da u b r a B d n a a u g i in Ant
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Adventure Antigua Courtesy Antigua And Barbuda Tourism Authority
The natural rock formations known as the Pillars of Hercules have guarded the entrance to English Harbour for centuries
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k c i K . . . k c a b
Courtesy Pure Grenada Tourism Authority
ada n e r G n i
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A rustic bar is just the place to relax and shoot the breeze over a cold beverage or two . . .
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Courtesy Pure Grenada Tourism Authority
. . . or seek out some saltwater therapy at Grenada’s famous underwater sculpture park
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e h t l e e F . . . t i r i sp o g a b o T in
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Alexa Fernando Courtesy Tobago Tourism Agency
A rich heritage of dance, music, storytelling, and cuisine, influenced by African ancestral traditions, are at the heart of the island’s identity
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e r o l p x E . . . d l i w e th na a y u G in
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Gregorio Best courtesy the Guyana Tourism Authority
You can get up close to giant Victoria amazonica waterlilies at Mobai Pond, near Karanambu Ranch in the Rupununi Savannah
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e h t y o j En . . . w e i v
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ica a m a J n i
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Whether your vantage point is a private seaside terrace in Treasure Beach, the cliffs of Negril, or the misty slopes of the Blue Mountains, Jamaica has no end of stunning views
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y a l P e... s u o h an m y a C n i
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Courtesy Cayman Islands Department of Tourism
A beautifully preserved traditional “sand yard” cottage, with its pastel shades and delicate fretwork, is a glimpse of life in slower times
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a e k Ta e . . . s u a p Danm12/Shutterstock.com
in Cuba
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The Caribbean’s largest island is equally famous for its dynamic culture and scintillating nightlife, and for the art of taking it easy. Just follow the lead of this gentleman in an old-time bar in Havana
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l i a S . . . y a aw Courtesy Discover St Vincent and the Grenadines
nd a t n e c n in St Vi
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es n i d a n e the Gr
The Grenadine Islands are a sailor’s paradise — whether you’re captain of a luxury yacht or a simple coconut-shell toy boat like these in Bequia
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a e k Ta . . . hike
Stephen Bedase, Courtesy Unsplash
d a d i n i r in T
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The Bamboo Cathedral is the gateway to a popular uphill walk — or ride — in the northwest peninsula’s Tucker Valley . . .
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Rick Rudnicki/Alamy Stock Photo
. . . then unwind to the sweet sound of the steelpan, the national musical instrument
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k c a b Go e . . . m i t in ame n i r u S in
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One of the Caribbean’s best preserved forts at Nieuw Amsterdam is a short boat trip from Paramaribo, where the city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site full of charming historic buildings
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r o f Go e . . . d i r a s a m a h a in the B
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Courtesy the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation
Harbour Island off Eleuthera is as famous for its quaint cottages as for its incredible pink-sand beaches — and small enough to explore by bike
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d n i F t e r c e s a .. . y ba ca i n i m o in D
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Courtesy Discover Dominica Authority
Like the one that’s actually called Secret Bay, where dramatic cliffs surround a stretch of pristine sand and perfect water
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n i e Din . . . e l y t s s o d a b r in Ba
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LU LIN/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
From luxurious restaurants on the “Platinum” west coast to the laid-back stretch of St Lawrence Gap or the lively Oistins Fish Fry, Barbados is a foodie’s delight . . .
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Courtesy Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc
. . . then explore Bajan history at St Nicholas Abbey, a plantation house turned museum
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Go . . . e u l b t a r r e s t n in Mo
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Courtesy Montserrat Tourism Division
The Caribbean’s Emerald Island is named for its lush forests, but the intense blue hues of the surrounding sea are equally mesmerising . . .
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Courtesy Montserrat Tourism Division
. . . especially glimpsed from the soaring heights of the Silver Hills
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YOUR GREEN ADVENTURE AWAITS
Soufriere Hills Volcano
FRESH TROPICAL AIR CLEAN SPARKLING WATERS HIKING TRAILS TO EXPLORE AMAZING MOUNTAIN VIEWS
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p u t h g i L . . . t h g i n the
Gail Johnson
ao รง a r u C in
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The most unmissable view in Willemstad is the row of colourful historic buildings along the quayside near the floating Queen Juliana Bridge — eye-catching by day or night
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t a Flo y . . . a w a
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cia in St Lu
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Pitons Bay, nestled between the island’s iconic twin peaks, is one of the Caribbean’s most dramatic swimming spots
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e k a M eap . . . l e th
Courtesy Rainforestadventure.com
in t r a M t in S
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Need an adrenaline shot? Head for the world’s steepest zipline at Rockland Estate in the hills above Philipsburg, with a drop of 1,050 feet
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explore
Only natural Looking for a place to breathe free while keeping your social distance? Try Dominica’s wild places, writes Paul Crask
Above Spanny Twin Falls Below A boardwalk on the Indian River Trail
Photography courtesy Discover Dominica Authority
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here’s a distinct chill in the air. A heavy dew clings to the low-growing montane thicket, the slender tree ferns, and the mountain palms. Clusters of ground orchids ease open their lilac petals as the sun slowly rises above the Soufrière Hills, illuminating the surrounding peaks of the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. A blue-headed hummingbird — one of four hummingbird species recorded on the island — dances around a flowering bromeliad, and the lonesome call of the rufous-throated solitaire, known locally as mountain whistler, echoes from afar. It’s a solitary bird, usually well-hidden within the deep creases and folds of Dominica’s heavily forested interior.
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Freshwater Lake sits at the bottom of an ancient caldera Below Boating on Indian River
Such wild places, in abundance on this island, offer escape, social distancing on a grand and spectacular scale
The morning is still. There’s no one else here, and I’m in perfect isolation. The narrow track is somewhat overgrown. Few have passed this way recently, I suppose. Beneath me, through a tangle of branches that support the thick palmate leaves of kaklin shrubs, is Freshwater Lake, silent and serene, its unruffled surface reflecting wispy clouds and the imposing mornes — an old French word for small mountains. Cresting a ridge, I pause to take in the view. To the east is the Atlantic Ocean and the rugged shoreline of Rosalie Bay. To the south are the volcanic summits of Morne Watt and Morne Anglais. To the west, imposing Morne Micotrin fills my field of view. And to the north is the majestic, three-peaked summit of Morne Trois Pitons itself. Standing here alone, surrounded by a magnificent wilderness of forest, lake, and dormant volcanoes, unchanged and unmoved for thousands of years, I can easily transport myself to another moment in time, when the world was perhaps a less troubling place.
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ominica’s remote wilderness tracks, its hiking trails, waterfalls, and hidden crater lakes, are beautifully natural places where the air is fresh and untainted, and where the water is so clean and clear, you can drink straight from mountain
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rivers and streams. Such wild places, in abundance on this island, offer escape, social distancing on a grand and spectacular scale, and an inestimable feeling of freedom. This morning, I’m walking along the Freshwater Lake loop trail. It’s a short, hour-long hike, and relatively easy compared to many other, more challenging tracks in the eastern Caribbean’s “Nature Island.” Freshwater Lake sits in the middle of an expansive caldera — all that remains of a massive long-ago eruption, when a huge volcano blew its top. It’s the largest of the three named crater lakes in this protected park — the others being secluded Boeri Lake and the fabled Boiling Lake — a bucket-list hiking trail for serious walkers. This track is familiar. I’ve walked it many times over the years. In addition to its fabulous volcanic scenery, the lowgrowing montane flora all around are lush and plentiful, with dense thickets and a wide variety of water-loving plants and lichens, and mountain flowers that attract birds, anole tree lizards, and foraging agouti. Like many of Dominica’s wilderness tracks, the Freshwater Lake loop trail is a path for nature buffs as well as hikers, and a knowledgeable local guide can transform a pleasant walk into a natural history education. The trail is also historic. An adjunct to the ancient Chemin L’Etang or Lake Road — one of the first paths cut across the
MORNE DIABLOTINS National park
D ominica
MORNE TROIS PITONS national park
Boeri Lake Freshwater Lake Boiling Lake
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island to enable the movement of people between the west and east coasts without the need for boats — Freshwater Lake became a natural stopping-off point where travellers would rest overnight, resulting in the establishment of the nearby settlement of Laudat, Dominica’s highest village and now one of the main gateways to the park. Wild places such as those within Morne Trois Pitons National Park and Morne Diablotin National Park in the north of the island are where it is easy to take time out and swap the digital world for the natural one — to quieten the incessant bombardment of instant twenty-four-hour information, and take it slow. Each park has hiking routes that suit all levels of interest and ability — summit climbs, waterfall and river tracks, nature and heritage trails. Some routes take a half- or a full day, others — like the
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Freshwater Lake Trail — just an hour or so. Regardless of the trail, total immersion in nature is guaranteed — around twothirds of Dominica is covered in rainforest — and the well-being it brings is measureless, especially against the backdrop of the times we are living in. After an hour, I cross a stream and reach the end of my walk. The sun is up now, and a gentle breeze brings ripples to the lake. But there is still no one else here, my social distancing is unbroken, my feeling of escape unsurpassed. I am refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready for another day. n
Paul Crask is a Dominica-based journalist, published travel writer, and independent magazine publisher
TRAV EL K NO W L E D G E A B LY Chaudiere Pool is considered one of Dominica’s best swimming spots
Caribbean Airlines operates four flights each week to Dominica from Barbados, with connections to other destinations. Dominica’s borders are open, and the country welcomes regional and international travellers. For information on travel requirements and arrival protocols, see www.domcovid19.dominica.gov.dm/ faq-s/travel-protocols-for-entry-into-dominica
DOMINICA GEOGRAPHIC AND DOMINICA TRAVELLER MAGAZINES
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snapshot
Chasing the dream When Cuban actress Ana de Armas stole the show in the hit movie Knives Out, it was no overnight success, but the product of fifteen years of ambitious effort. Starting at Havana’s famed National Theatre School, de Armas has built a career on two continents, writes Caroline Taylor — and if she has anything to do with it, her biggest roles are yet to come
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he long wait for No Time to Die — the twenty-fifth instalment of the James Bond franchise, now slated to premiere in April 2021 after two pandemic-induced delays — has only increased the anticipation among faithful 007 fans. And many Caribbean fans have a particular curiosity, as the series aptly returns to Jamaica, the place where author Ian Fleming dreamed up the mythic secret agent nearly seventy years ago. Even more aptly, the film has recruited three women of Caribbean heritage for its female leads: Naomie Harris (of Jamaican and Trinidadian parentage), Lashana Lynch (of Jamaican parentage), and Ana de Armas — the Cuban actress whose speedy climb up the Hollywood ladder almost beggars belief. De Armas moved to the United States only in 2014. She didn’t speak any English, and had only ever worked in Spain and Cuba. She’d landed a key Spanishspeaking role in her first studio film — a US and Panamanian co-production called Hands of Stone, with Robert de Niro, Edgar Ramirez, and Usher. On the strength of that, she’d managed to assemble US representation, and — undeterred by casting agents who pilloried her chances of getting quality work because of the language barrier — resolved that it was not going to be her accent that stopped her. “At
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the beginning, it was a disaster,” says de Armas. “Nobody understood what I was saying. I had no clue what I was saying. But I knew emotionally what the scene was about. So my feelings were in the right place; my mouth was going somewhere else.” She followed up Hands of Stone with a string of both Spanish- and English-speaking parts in movies with some of Hollywood’s top talent. Late last year, one of those films saw her receive her first Golden Globe nomination: Knives Out, featuring a stellar ensemble cast including Chris Evans, Daniel Craig, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, and Jamie Lee Curtis (who described de Armas’s eyes as “the most expressive eyes [she’d] ever seen”). Ironically, it was a role she nearly didn’t take, when the breakdown described her character as “pretty Latina caretaker.” In 2020, she had two films released preCOVID, with three more delayed until 2021.
Mike Marsland/WireImage by Getty images
After a run of films with top-drawer talent, the 2019 hit Knives Out was Ana de Armas’s breakthrough role
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Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
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orn on 30 April, 1988, in Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba, de Armas says her most significant growth and greatest successes have all come from big, risky moves. “You can dream very high,” she explains, “but very few people dream that they can really go outside and have the balls to make that dream happen.” When she was nine, her family — father Ramon (a teacher); mother, also named Ana (who worked in human resources); and brother Javier (now a photographer) — moved to nearby Havana. Her instinct for acting was already making itself manifest in ways it so often does: young Ana would feverishly recreate scenes and performances she’d seen on screen. So when she learned of the famed National Theatre School in Havana, she made her parents take her for auditions, and enrolled when she was fourteen. The school was part of Fidel Castro’s grand vision for the Escuela Nacional de Arte (ENA) — a national arts school offering free, world-class education in ballet, modern dance, art, music, and drama to students from Cuba and the developing world. The school has produced internationally acclaimed alumni — almost against the odds, as the buildings for the ballet, theatre, and music schools were never finished, and soon began to crumble. The ENA campus is recognised as an architectural marvel, and there are significant international efforts to complete and restore the structures. Despite these infrastructural challenges, Cuba built a robust arts education system, where every child who demonstrates aptitude for a particular artistic discipline can access rigorous instruction. It was in this system that an ambitious, restless, and fearless young de Armas began to cut her teeth, hitchhiking to school every morning. “When I
De Armas moved to the United States only in 2014. She didn’t speak any English. “At the beginning, it was a disaster,” she says. “Nobody understood what I was saying”
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speak of ENA, a smile comes back to me,” she says. “But when I think about it for more than ten minutes, other things come to mind. There were many good, incredible, unforgettable, beloved, and delicious times that filled me with experience and matured me, but there were also some very difficult and painful moments that I experienced at that time, as if it were the end of the world, and those that I benefited from years later. It’s a school where I had great teachers, ones with big hearts, but of course I also had some who weren’t so great . . . It was the place where I had my first contact with the theatre and it was the place where I fell in love with this profession . . . Many of the things I learned in the school have definitely contributed to my professional development.”
When de Armas learned of the famed National Theatre School in Havana, she made her parents take her for auditions, and enrolled when she was fourteen In her second year, fate came knocking, and she landed her first job in the Spanish film Una rosa de Francia. “That movie taught me all the rules of a film shoot: discipline, study, late nights, respect for all team members, and above all, to realise how lucky we are to do what we love and make a living from it,” she reminisces. “When you experience that at the age of sixteen, it can scare you or it can fill you with courage and hunger for more. And I wanted to eat up the world.” However, coming events would cast their shadows, as she was technically forbidden to be working while still enrolled at school — sneaking out to film at night, and falling asleep in class the next day. Her days at ENA were numbered, as she was already plotting her next big move. Two years of social service are required of all graduates, following which prospects for work as professional artists may be limited. De Armas decided to roll the dice, leaving school before graduation, and armed with just two hundred euros, a Spanish passport (citizenship she acquired from her Spanish grandparents), and a plane ticket for Madrid. “I almost never question my instinct,” she says. She promised her mother she’d return if her money ran out. Two weeks later, she was cast in the popular Spanish TV series El Internado, which she starred in for four seasons, taking other film and television work in between. There was no need to return home, as she continued building a successful career in Spain until 2013, when she was cast in Hands of Stone.
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ue the next big move. “When I left Cuba, then again when I left Spain, it was always because I wanted more,” says de Armas. “I was ambitious, and I wanted to just be in a place where I was exposed to the best projects . . . I was chasing, maybe unconsciously, the filmmakers that I wanted to work with.” She spent several months learning English full-time, and insisted to her agents (with whom, at first, she couldn’t even carry on a conversation) that she didn’t want to be limited only to Latina roles. She told them to just get her the audition, and leave the rest to her. “Then you can try to do your best and convince them that maybe that part that was not written for someone with an accent or Latina [could be] just someone in the world. It doesn’t matter from where. You can play that, and you can do something special, and you can make that part remarkable and something different,” she says. “Everyone deserves the opportunity to fight for the part they want.”
The good news was that by now she was getting cast in films with top-drawer talent — including Keanu Reeves, Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Jared Leto, Helen Hunt, John Leguizamo, Clive Owen, Penelope Cruz, and Gael García Bernal. The genres were varied — science fiction, psychological thrillers, dramatic biopics, and dark comedies — and she was able to show off her range. She could be vulnerable and tender, fierce and fiery, sexy and seductive, or goofy and funny. But the bad news was that nearly all of the films were either critical or box office bombs. That is, until Knives Out — a clever, funny, and moving film that scored with critics and audiences alike, and which had de Armas at its heart. Anyone who hadn’t caught her chameleon-like performances over the previous fifteen years suddenly took notice. Her strategy of getting into auditions so she could show people what she could do was also paying dividends. Acclaimed director Cary Joji Fukunaga, who was directing No Time to Die, had seen de Armas for another project which didn’t materialise. With the Bond film’s plot taking a turn through Cuba, Fukunaga called her to say he wanted to write a role specifically for her. “People either have that magic quality you want to watch,” he said, “or they don’t.” Next up for de Armas: the pandemic-delayed releases of No Time to Die, Deep Water (with boyfriend Ben Affleck), and Blonde, produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, and for which she worked hard with a dialect coach to transform into Marilyn Monroe. T he possibilit ies mov ing for wa rd seem limitless. De Armas also has an active desire to contribute to the Cuban film industry, and believes fervently in the calibre of talent on the island. She’s returned to film various projects there, and has asked friends and colleagues to let directors in Cuba know that she’s actively looking for projects to come back and work on. In the meantime, though, she returns to Cuba as often as she can, to visit her family and friends, and to just disconnect. “Cuba is always in my heart,” she says. “I miss it terribly. Every day.” Though she says she doesn’t have rigid ideas or plans for what she wants her career to look like, there are still some specific goals she wants to achieve. “I want to create some impact,” she says. “There are great female roles that are not only reacting or creating the situation for [the lead actor] to be the hero. I want to show how strong and smart women are. We go through so much. We need to see that on screen. Those female parts [are] not many, but they are out there, and I have to find some. I want that chance.” Your move, Ana. n
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icons
Tony Hall (1948–2020) and
Dennis “Sprangalang” Hall (1949–2020)
Attillah Springer on the lives and legacies of T&T’s Hall brothers, legends of the stage and TV screen, who died less than six months apart Photo by Bruce Paddington
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t was as if the universe knew that what we needed was an army of cultural workers. That those visionary leaders could not succeed without people to first imagine a region after the colonisers. How were we, without a shot being fired, without our or their blood being spilt, supposed to turn our backs on our colonial mindset and get on with the business of being sovereign? They could not possibly do it on their own. We, this Trinidad and Tobago, this Caribbean region, needed an army that could wield the word with enough precision that we wouldn’t need to resort to violence to confront our demons. It was as if the universe knew that this region would not survive without an armour made of the finest mettle of cultural confidence. We already knew the power of the calypsonian. And poets had walked on the frontline of 1970, making jail along with the leaders of the marches. It fit that theatre was also important. It fit that plays about us became essential, that the theatre director could pivot to the playwright, that the performance could pivot to an idea of a process that centred us, our bodies as instruments of communication. And if I think now of all the work that Tony Hall and Dennis Hall did, perhaps what they did best was find ways to communicate to us our specialness. That they were expected to do this work of helping us define who we are with minimum support from those who reaped maximum benefit from their efforts is the great tragi-comedy of the arts in the region.
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These days, as we try to cut culture down into saleable parts, we cannot possibly imagine what it must have been like to live the lives that Dennis Hall and Tony Hall lived. How they could have done so much of their life’s work without ever being properly compensated. How they inherited a family business, as if the arts were like a hardware store or a law practice, replacing their father eventually on the stage at Naparima College, where he was a teacher, and backstage working the lights, and in front directing the plays, helping another generation make sense of themselves. What is important to note is that they were not alone. There were similar efforts at building cultural confidence happening in other parts of the country, all across the region. In other families, people were reconnecting to the skills they grew up seeing. The stickfighting and the drum-making and the storytelling, the rituals involved in staging Ramleela. For my generation, those of us who were born post–1970 Black Power and pre–1990 coup, there was a decade of awakening that was marked by that army of cultural workers. The Hall brothers were part of that army, appearing on the frontline known as Gayelle. Inside the people TV, with one television station, we watched ourselves every Thursday night. Transfixed that people who looked like us could be the stars. Consider these two men as excellent communicators, in such similar and radically different ways. Tony with the quiet certainty. Tony the ubiquitous presence, unrepentant scholar without a PhD to make him the official property of any institu-
Tony Hall (far right) and Dennis Hall (second from right) at a Gayelle meeting in the early 1980s, with Errol Sitahal and Christopher Laird
tion. The limer and ole talker, appearing at all hours in all kinds of places. Dennis who played the fool, but everyone knows that the fool is the one who wields the most power: every laugh could be the trigger for a revolution. Which is not to say that Tony was not a man who could pass by and say something so outrageously funny that you think about it for days and shake your head and laugh. Which is not to say that Dennis was not a scholar, a teacher, a walking encyclopedia. What both Tony and Dennis Hall did was to place great value in the telling of our own stories. They did not work in a vacuum. They did not work just for town people or South people or African people or intellectuals. You were as likely to encounter Tony Hall in a panyard as you were to find him in the midst of Phagwah with a gleeful grin as someone sprayed him purple. It didn’t matter where he was, he was always with his people. You were as likely to laugh at something that Dennis Hall said as you were to weep at how he could exactly pinpoint what was right and wrong with us. How do you build that kind of strategy for war against cultural insecurity nowadays? Now that there are a thousand channels and us in the middle, still trying to get a little bit of attention for ourselves? When content is king but context isn’t? When everyone has lovely drone footage of sweet T&T, a thousand distant smiling faces, but few make time to zoom in, to explore, to get to the heart of the story? Now that I look back on what I was too young to understand
as a child, I see this army in perspective. Everything was so strategic. The things they read. The elders they spoke with. The yards they arrived at in the dead of night to witness a ritual, a fire pass, an old woman’s body possessed by Shango. Many years later, while doing my own stint at Gayelle’s television station, I made my own journey to the depths of Moruga and found myself with a camera filming the fire pass at a Kali puja. I understood in that moment what it means to have an archive, to inherit cultural work, to have continuity in purpose and vision. Culture lives, and it is your responsibility as the communicator to remind people that their culture is alive and worthy of their attention. I am always looking for an army. Trying to force my artist friends to gather the way I saw my mother gather with others like Tony Hall and Dennis Hall and Errol Jones and Christopher Laird and Wilbert Holder and Henk Tjon and Marc Matthews and Earl Lovelace and Errol Sitahal and Devindra Dookie and Rawle Gibbons and Merle Hodge, and so many others whose names we vaguely know or may have forgotten. They could solve all the world’s problems with a plate of pelau and made-up song. They gathered to do the work and also to quarrel about what the work was. They fell out about the work and made back up again. They still did the work even after they grew despondent, even after their health failed and their work went unrecognised and the pappyshow money for culture trickled to an inconstant drip. Dennis and Tony Hall battled to the very end for us, even when we no longer remembered we were at war. n
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the deal
Telecommuting island-style Working from home for the past six months during the COVID-19 outbreak, and desperate for a change of scenery? A handful of Caribbean countries have a solution for you, offering special work visas aimed at international professionals able to telecommute. Natalie Dookie rounds up the options for working remotely from the Caribbean — with white sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters just a stone’s throw away
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Ariel Pilotto, Courtesy Unsplash
s much as forty per cent of the workforce in developed markets are working from home as a result of precautions taken due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Even when economies open back up, surveys suggest the majority of these employees want to continue working remotely. These statistics are what several Caribbean countries are banking on: the prospect of longer-term visitors to kick-start their economies. Here’s a handy guide to your Caribbean telecommuting options.
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Barbados was first off the starting block in the Caribbean, when it announced its offer last July of a twelve-month Barbados Welcome Stamp, catering to a new category of tourist — the digital nomad. “We recognise more people are working remotely, sometimes in very stressful conditions, with little option for vacation,” said Prime Minister Mia Mottley. “Our new visa allows you to relocate and work from one of the world’s most beloved tourism destinations. Our friendly people, professional services, commitment to education, and, most importantly, safety and security, all make Barbados an ideal place to work and live.” The new visa allows non-nationals employed by a company or individual registered and operating outside of Barbados to work remotely from the island. The application fees are US$2,000 for individuals and US$3,000 for family bundles. Requirements include an income declaration certifying that the applicant expects to earn US$50,000 or more over the next twelve months, or has the means to support self and dependents during the stay, and proof of medical insurance. Margaret Inniss, Deputy Chief Immigration Officer for Barbados, explains: “This visa is processed within five working days and is valid for a maximum of twelve months from the date of arrival in Barbados.” Visa holders are not liable for payment of Barbados income tax. Barbados, an international air and sea hub, offers ease of access, high-speed internet, fast and reliable telecommunications, a high standard of living, and good healthcare and education options in a safe, secure environment. COVID-wise, the country is currently classified as low risk, as there has been no community spread. For those contemplating a longer-term corporate move, KayeAnne Brathwaite, CEO of Invest Barbados, advises: “The Barbados investment climate is welcoming. We are home to an expanding roster of more than four thousand transnational companies. The government, through Invest Barbados, is keen to encourage development of the renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, medical tourism, and global asset management industries.” Thus far, Barbados has approved one thousand Barbados Welcome applications. You can submit yours at www.barbadoswelcomestamp.bb.
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courtesy antigua and barbuda tourism authority
In August, the Bahamas announced its Extended Stay Visa Programme, which will allow persons to work or study from the country for a year. The initiative will be marketed to small firms who want to shift operations temporarily, technology and other businesses who expect remote working to continue for some time, and university students. Visitors must be employed and paid by an overseas company, as they will not be allowed to work locally. Applicants will also have to demonstrate financial means to support themselves. Details of the programme were still being finalised at press time. English Harbour, Antigua
In Bermuda, the new Work From Bermuda Certificate offers travellers the opportunity to relocate there for up to a year. The programme targets CEOs, professionals, digital nomads, and students. In addition to a fee of US$263 per person, applicants must also possess valid health insurance coverage, demonstrate employment with a legitimate company or their own company registered and operating outside of Bermuda, or be enrolled in a remote research, undergraduate, or postgraduate programme. They must also possess substantial means and/or have a continuous source of annual income. While there, applicants are not allowed to seek work locally. According to Tiffani Cailor Torrence, Director of Public
Anguilla’s Bask in the Sun visa targets families, digital nomads, individuals, and groups who wish to spend three months to a year on the island. The fee is US$2,000 per person (for families, US$3,000 for up to four persons), which covers two tests per person, health surveillance, and a digital work permit. There is also an option for up to three months. Currently, Anguilla is prioritising “longer-stay travellers” and persons from “low-risk” countries, states, or cities where the prevalence of COVID-19 is less than 0.2 per cent of the population. As of September, with Anguilla reporting a total of three cases, the CDC deemed it a “very low” COVID-19 risk. Apply at ivisitanguilla.com/escape.
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Relations and Content Development at the Bermuda Tourism Authority, the certificate “has a lower price point than other destinations offering remote work options, and our proximity to US east coast business centres makes this an accessible and affordable option for applicants.” In August, the United States Centres for Disease Control improved the island’s COVID-19 risk ranking to Level 2 — “moderate” — and recently Bermuda earned the World Travel and Tourism Council’s “Safe Travels” Stamp, which allows travellers to recognise governments and companies around the world which have adopted health and hygiene global standardised protocols. To apply, go to www.gotobermuda.com/workfrombermuda.
Aruba’s new One Happy Workation programme targets US nationals with valid passports who wish to live and work for up to three months on the island. Visitors must be employed by a company or be self-employed in their home country, are not allowed to receive income locally, do not pay local taxes, and cannot perform work that is illegal in Aruba. In fact, working is not mandatory, so you can spend your stay as you like. Visitors are, however, required to purchase Aruba Visitors Insurance, which covers COVID-19 related costs incurred during their stay. Find the programme details at www.aruba.com/us/one-happyworkation.
In September, the Commonwealth of Dominica announced it would be launching an Entrepreneur Visa in the coming months. This visa gives foreigners a two-year residency permit, in exchange for investment in the country, after which they can then become naturalised. Applicants have three options: invest a minimum of US$50,000 in an existing government-approved company through the Investment Fund; invest a minimum of US$100,000 in a new start-up business locally registered, employing at least three full-time employees; or invest in a governmentapproved public sector or private sector venture as an equity investor. Key requirements are: a minimum deposit of US$100,000 in a local financial institution, wherein the funds may be used from Dominica during the residency period, and a minimum of three months in-country stay in a year. Details are still being rolled out.
In late September, Antigua and Barbuda became the latest Caribbean country to offer a long-stay visa: the Nomad Digital Residence programme, which offers remote work permits for up to two years. It is intended for nonnationals who are employed or self-employed in a country other than Antigua and Barbuda, and who are resident and employed by a company registered and operating outside of the country. The visa holder is not allowed to work locally, therefore no personal income tax is payable. Applicants must earn at least US$50,000 per year and provide proof of employment and medical insurance for the period of the stay. The fees are: singles, US$1,500; couples, US$2,000; and US$3,000 for a family of three or over. Find out more at antiguanomadresidence.com.
Although Jamaica has no formal remote work programme, and while most travellers are given a thirty-day visa when they arrive, digital nomads can apply for a longer six-month stay. Residents of the United States, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico are required to obtain COVID-19 tests as part of their travel authorisation approval process. Check out Jamaica’s travel requirements at www.visitjamaica.com/travelauthorization.
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As the year winds down, across the Caribbean we start to prepare for the Christmas season, a celebration of family and friends, full of goodwill, delicious food, and time-honoured customs — even more essential when times are hard. How much do you know about Christmas and Old Year’s traditions across the islands? Test yourself with our quiz — the answers are below!
1. Which Caribbean island is named for a long-ago saint whose December feast day is traditionally marked as a festival of light? St Martin St Kitts
St Lucia St Vincent
2. Which of these is NOT a common instrument played
to accompany parang, Trinidad’s Spanish-language Christmas music? Maracas Trumpet
Cuatro Box bass
3. Parang is also the name for traditional Christmas music
in which of these islands? Puerto Rico Carriacou
Sint Eustatius Marie-Galante
4. What legume is a staple of Jamaican Christmas cuisine, served stewed? Red beans Black-eyed peas
Butter beans Gungo peas
5. The Cuban Festival of las Parrandas de Remedios on 24 December centres on which of these? Hot-air balloons Choral singing 90
Bathing in a special river Fireworks
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6. In St Vincent and the Grenadines, Christmas season festivities extend across how many mornings? Three Seven
Nine Twelve
7. The traditional Christmas Eve tipple in Haiti is rum flavoured with what spice? Nutmeg Anise
Cinnamon Cardamom
8. What of the following is a traditional character in Jamaica’s Jonkonnu masquerade? Actor boy Red devil
King of the castle Old Mary
9. St Kitts Sugar Mas, celebrated over Christmas, features masqueraders with headdresses often decorated with which of these? Mountain palm leaves Coconut husks
Miniature boats Peacock feathers
Answers: 1 St Lucia; the feast of St Lucy is on 13 December 2 Trumpet 3 Carriacou 4 Gungo peas, known elsewhere as pigeon peas, Congo peas, or gandules 5 Fireworks 6 Nine 7 Anise 8 Actor boy 9 Peacock feathers
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