Uniarte 2022 Review: Training in Art facilitation in the Caribbean

A link sent by my aunt Alida Neslo led me to participation in UNIARTE 2022, a training in Art Facilitation in the Caribbean. I didn’t know what to expect, and although I had written a motivational letter what I wanted as a result from the training: How do I and other Surinamers break through with Surinames art, especially Literary art, in the Caribbean. My biggest concern is that we mainly communicate, write and publicize in Dutch. I was curious. Aside from literature, other art-disciplines always had my love and I was curious what this course would bring me. I had never heard of  Uniarte. The organization is situated in Curaçao, the Dutch Antilles and stimulates artistic development in the Caribbean and other countries.

So there I sat, with my English barrier, behind my computer in Zoom, every Tuesday together with 21 other participants from all over the Caribbean. Sasha Dees, producer, curator and well known in the art-scenery of Suriname, was the coach of this training. She had invited several professionals to exchange in dept information on how to approach the industry of Art & Culture.

We got a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes efforts (or should I say, hard work) one has to do in order for visitors to enjoy art exhibitions, performances, festivals and so on. WOW, the guest lecturers, all from various practices gave their expertise, questioned and reflected on all the assignments we had to make and present each week. The workshops which impressed me the most (and that is more because they relate to the  literary field) were, Deniz Alpay who made me question my project marketingplan in dept, Social Marketing with Henca Maduro who made me realize even more that using Social media channels are in fact thé most effective to get your work out to facilitate artists, and even attract funding agencies. Rey Andujar showed us his great work he’s doing in the US as a Spanish writer, coming from the Dominican Republic and doing lots of projects. I am impressed by the way he keeps involving his home-country in his projects. We had  Oneika Russel, also from the Caribbean, stated in Jamaica and New York, who promotes contemporary art of Caribbean artists. Our own Ann Hermelijn from Suriname, whom I  know to be the best producer Suriname has. But when she told the group about the enormous efforts behind the scenes of all the Surifesta cultural festivals and all other Performing arts/Theater productions, how she deals with all the different artists on national and international level, I am definitely sure I won’t be able to reach her height. I’m now even more impressed by the work she does. Education in how to become an art facilitator was a recommendation  I took to heart. And finally! the funding aspect, the biggest ‘hurdle’ for most of the Caribbean countries (and participants). We all have great ideas and initiatives, but how do you get them funded? We got great tips from Sasha Dees who let us read the special chapter on Funding and Funding agencies from her recently (2021)  published book “Entangled Species” . She emphasized  furthermore to make sure that we don’t forget to pay ourselves in the process of facilitating  all these great arts events and performances. When you are an artist, you tend to loose yourself…

The eight weeks went too fast. Just when I got into the rhythm of milking my creativeness, the classes, the assignments, the sharing of knowledge and experience, the training ended. I have given myself an assignment to challenge myself to develop projects with all these useful tips included.  I thank Sasha and all the participants, the lecturers for this great training. Thank you Uniarte! And Anja van Bergen, who had the management. Anja, thank you for all! You did a great job!

Ruth S.