Sugar Aloes sings "She's Royal" but: We ent arrive as yet
As we head into Indian Arrival Day, the anniversary celebration of
the People's Partnership Government led through inadvertence to this
column. The surprise performance by calypsonian Sugar Aloes at the event
is the only thing most people will remember. And thereafter, Aloes's
appearance, choice of song and its political significance became too
important to ignore.
His appearance was bittersweet. On one hand I appreciate the potential of a hardcore PNM supporter performing in celebration of two years of the PNM going into opposition. It suggests that even the centre of the parochial camps is not impenetrable and the middle ground could swell even more than the current divide causes us to believe.
But as Chalkdust would say, Aloes did not perform just so. Aloes's performance may be further evidence of the way the politics consolidates the spoils of victory in the hands of those on one side, leaving the other largely empty-handed. The question in Aloes's appearance and performance was whether we witnessed the maturity of a seasoned political commentator or a desperate act of survival for an entertainer-turned-businessman, a man in need of Partnership handouts in the absence of politically-neutral alternatives.
And if Aloes was on a Partnership platform as part of a tour to get State support for the Revue calypso tent, it is also evidence of how we have mistreated the arts, principally everything related to Carnival. Without shame the National Carnival Commission (NCC) is nowhere near the three core elements of its legislative purpose, as a result of which the so-called greatest show on earth is demonstratively indigent.
This is of course unfortunate for both Aloes and the country but not unexpected. The matter of the funding, support and survival of Aloes's Revue tent should not be in the lap of the country's Minister of Housing and the Environment. It belongs to an independent authority which manages the country's arts and its Carnival. But the way it has gone, every facet of arts, culture and creativity make the trek cap-in-hand to whoever is in power begging their way to political handouts.
Aunty Joan gone and Uncle Rudy take over.
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| Calypsonian Sugar Aloes |
His appearance was bittersweet. On one hand I appreciate the potential of a hardcore PNM supporter performing in celebration of two years of the PNM going into opposition. It suggests that even the centre of the parochial camps is not impenetrable and the middle ground could swell even more than the current divide causes us to believe.
But as Chalkdust would say, Aloes did not perform just so. Aloes's performance may be further evidence of the way the politics consolidates the spoils of victory in the hands of those on one side, leaving the other largely empty-handed. The question in Aloes's appearance and performance was whether we witnessed the maturity of a seasoned political commentator or a desperate act of survival for an entertainer-turned-businessman, a man in need of Partnership handouts in the absence of politically-neutral alternatives.
And if Aloes was on a Partnership platform as part of a tour to get State support for the Revue calypso tent, it is also evidence of how we have mistreated the arts, principally everything related to Carnival. Without shame the National Carnival Commission (NCC) is nowhere near the three core elements of its legislative purpose, as a result of which the so-called greatest show on earth is demonstratively indigent.
This is of course unfortunate for both Aloes and the country but not unexpected. The matter of the funding, support and survival of Aloes's Revue tent should not be in the lap of the country's Minister of Housing and the Environment. It belongs to an independent authority which manages the country's arts and its Carnival. But the way it has gone, every facet of arts, culture and creativity make the trek cap-in-hand to whoever is in power begging their way to political handouts.
Aunty Joan gone and Uncle Rudy take over.
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