The Alwin Bully Foundation, launched last week, aims to honor, perpetuate the memory and build on the rich legacy of the outstanding Dominican and Caribbean cultural and artistic giant.
According to the Foundation, the organization will become one of the main vehicles to stimulate and support the growth of the art and cultural sector in Dominica and the region, through scholarship, learning, exhibition of artistic work, advocacy for the arts, and other endeavors to sustain a vibrant art and cultural sphere.
The foundation is seen as an expression of solidarity between the Bully family and many of Alwin Bully’s friends and contemporaries to create an institution that can carry on with the work that he started and help to inspire this and future generations of artists and cultural workers to action.
The launch on Thursday May 18, brought together representatives from the public and private sectors including artists and cultural workers from around the country who highlighted Mr. Bully’s achievements as an artist and cultural administrator.
Member of the Foundation Steering Committee, Sobers Esprit said Thursday’s event was an opportunity for them to engage in conversation with partners and to solicit their support, as it is the beginning of a process towards mobilizing resources to do work for the foundation and address some of the issues of broader concerns in the arts and cultural landscape in Dominica.
“The idea is for the foundation to take on a number of projects in partnership with other entities in Dominica and in the region and hoping over the next few months to put in place a strategic plan that will be directed by ideas that are emerging from the collective discussions of the foundation members, as well as, you know, private people, individuals, artists and others who have thrown in suggestions in terms of the kinds of things that should be done,” Esprit stated during an interview with Dominica News Online (DNO).
He said one of their concerns, for example, is that theatre which was probably Bully’s biggest area of focus, has seen a decline and therefore, this suggestion is for revitalization and increased focus on schools’ theatre and providing training and support to theatre groups.
“We’re also looking at other areas including things like scholarships and educational programs and we think the biggest focus is going to be in the area of education and training at this time because the idea is really to build a new cadre of cultural and artistic talents in the country utilizing new modes of learning, using technology and other key resources to stimulate and inspire this generation,” Esprit noted.
He said the foundation hopes to build on Bully’s legacy, execute activities in different areas and complement and support existing projects.
At the launch, there were presentations from members of the Bully family as well as from leading members of the Foundation, focusing on the main goals and mission of the organization in the short, medium, and long term.
The launch was used as an avenue to forge partnerships to undertake a proposed work programme as well as to make a special call for support from the corporate and public sector entities to fund the implementation of activities being considered by the Foundation.
We don’t need a nation of dancing monkeys thank you very much. We need real business initiatives to put food on our table. Skerro, give us our passport money to make our good business and leave this foundation nonsense alone.