Dr Hol­lis Liv­er­pool al­so known as Chalk­dust has be­come the sec­ond ca­lyp­son­ian to re­ceive the coun­try’s high­est award in the na­tion’s his­to­ry.
The list of awardees was re­leased yes­ter­day and Dr Liv­er­pool is the on­ly re­cip­i­ent of the high­est award.
He said he plans to ac­cept his Or­der of the Re­pub­lic of Trinidad and To­ba­go (ORTT) award with a sense of hu­mil­i­ty.
It is not his first award.
In 1976 he re­ceived the Hum­ming­bird Medal Sil­ver for his con­tri­bu­tion to ca­lyp­so.
“I feel very hap­py when I con­sid­er all what I have done, it’s a plea­sure to be award­ed for the work you have done and con­tributed es­pe­cial­ly in the role of Car­ni­val and Ca­lyp­so and ed­u­ca­tion.”
At the Na­tion­al Award cer­e­mo­ny this evening Chalk­dust will re­ceive the award for his work in ed­u­ca­tion, cul­ture and re­search.
Chalk­dust has been singing Ca­lyp­so since the 1960s and has won nine Ca­lyp­so Monarch ti­tles dur­ing his ca­reer. He is al­so a uni­ver­si­ty pro­fes­sor.
“So the teach­ing fra­ter­ni­ty and the ca­lyp­so fra­ter­ni­ty I want to ac­cept this on their be­half be­cause with­out them I couldn’t get this award.”
Dr Liv­er­pool told Guardian Me­dia that he is grate­ful he is re­ceiv­ing this ho­n­our while he is still alive and thanked all those who lob­bied on his be­half.
He hoped that this award can cre­ate pos­i­tive change go­ing for­ward for the art form.
“Many peo­ple do not see ca­lyp­so­ni­ans con­tribut­ing to so­ci­ety many peo­ple see ca­lyp­so­ni­ans on­ly con­tribut­ing to en­ter­tain­ment…I am hap­py to see they award­ing a ca­lyp­son­ian be­cause it means that in the fu­ture many per­sons who singing ca­lyp­so will try to sing good lyrics, will try to sing mean­ing­ful lyrics, will try to sing lyrics that can give peo­ple a sense of pur­pose and up­lift them, ”he said.
He added when­ev­er he sings he tries to give the coun­try a lift and to think crit­i­cal­ly.
The on­ly oth­er Ca­lyp­son­ian to re­ceive the ORTT was Mc­Cartha “Ca­lyp­so Rose” Lewis. Last year for­mer Min­is­ter of Fi­nance and Ath­lete, Wen­dell Mot­t­ley was the on­ly re­cip­i­ent of the na­tion’s high­est award.
The award cer­e­mo­ny starts at 6PM at the Na­tion­al Acad­e­my for the Per­form­ing Arts (NA­PA). Source: Guardian, Sept. 24, 2019

An item from May, 2019.
​Trinidad and Tobago author Samuel Selvon was honoured with his very own Google Doodle on his birthday, May 20, 2018.
Selvon grew up in South Trinidad and migrated to the UK in the 1950s alongside the Windrush generation, where he wrote iconic books such as 'A Brighter Sun' and 'The Lonely Londoners'. 
Selvon, who passed away in 1994, is the first Trinbagonian writer to be given a Google Doodle. 
Google said Sunday's Google Doodle by guest artist Jayesh Sivan "depicts Selvon and other members of the Caribbean migrant community set against the backdrop of London, which served as the inspiration and setting for much of his works".

Novelist, poet, and playwright, Sam Selvon started writing during his spare time while working in the oilfields, serving in the Royal Naval reserve, and writing for newspapers and literary magazines.
In his early twenties, he wrote and published several short stories and poems in his native Trinidad. However, it was his move to England in 1950 which set the stage for his career to blossom.
Drawing from his personal experiences as an immigrant, Selvon published his pioneering novel “The Lonely Londoners” in 1956. In it, he gave the unique Caribbean creolised English, or "nation language", a narrative voice of its own on an international stage.
“The Lonely Londoners” was later followed by two more London-based novels: “Moses Ascending” (1975) and “Moses Migrating” (1983), both of which continued the saga of Caribbean immigrants and their experiences in London.  Source: The Loop, May 2019

Congratulations to actor Winston Duke and Director/Producer and Frances-Anne Solomon who were invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences earlier this week! 🇹🇹🏆💫🇹🇹🏆✨
The two TT Nationals are among 842 new members of the film industry to now be part of the Academy. They are joining more than 6,000 members of the film industry who will now vote for the best among their peers at the Annual Oscars.
In accepting the invitation to join, Duke said: "Oh man... Argyle Village, Tobago we reach....! As a kid growing up on a small island of 60,000, I was constantly watching movies and becoming enamored with stories, dreaming to one day be in the business myself. This is a dream come true. I can now vote on what movies and creatives win #Oscars and participate in a community of artists who lead through intention and execution. Thank you @theacademy for this auspicious gift. 🙏🏿 #blessingsonblessings"
Solomon meanwhile, said the invitation was a great honour and she looked forward to using her vote to choose next year's Oscar winners. She said: "This year, despite more diversity and better representation across the board, there were no women nominated or who won in the Best Director/ Best Movie categories. Hopefully gender parity in this year's crop will mean that does not happen again."
Source: TTT Live Online

Earlier this month, the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Limited (FilmTT) hosted its first Familiarisation Tour (Fam Tour) in many years, to introduce Trinidad and Tobago’s location and production potential to three influential location managers from the US and UK.
This formal introduction to the country and its many attractions serve to better position the country as a competitive destination for international film, television and commercial productions.
The Fam Tour, organised by FilmTT in collaboration with the Los Angeles-based Location Managers Guild International (LMGI), saw participation from three senior location managers from the Guild’s membership: Dow Griffith, from Los Angeles, whose nearly 60 screen credits include Mulan (2020), Ghost in the Shell (2017), After Earth (2013), The Bourne Legacy (2012), Contagion (2011), The Last Airbender (2010); Christine Bonnem, location manager for Halt and Catch Fire (30 episodes, 2015-2017), Grace and Frankie (13 episodes, 2015), Fright Night(2011), He’s Just Not That Into You (2009), Bad Santa (2003), American Beauty (1999), Star Trek Generations (1994) among many others; and Eduardo Rodrigalvarez, location manager for Love Island Australia (2018), Ready Player One (2018), Black Mirror (3 episodes, 2016), along with many commercials for high-end brands.
The guests, hosted by FilmTT staff, visited more than 50 locations in Trinidad and Tobago over the course of five days, including Paramin, Las Cuevas Bay, Maracas, Bay, Ortinola Great House and Estate; Manzanilla, Temple in the Sea; Hanuman Murti, Tucker Valley including Bamboo Cathedral, and several sites in Tobago, including Pigeon Point and Argyle Falls.
According to FilmTT General Manager, Nneka Luke, “Fam Tours are tools that film commissions like ours use to familiarise prospective international directors, producers and location managers with locations and production resources in that country, city or state, and encourage them to bring future productions.
"Properly designed and scheduled, the tours are an effective form of marketing that can raise a country and a film commission’s profile, while courting decision makers in the industry. The potential for positive economic impact is an effective selling point to Fam Tour sponsors, film commission investors, and local officials.
"The potential return on investment for a Fam Tour is that a large-budget production that decides to shoot here can create jobs in both the creative and service sectors, increase foreign exchange earnings, and expand international visibility for Brand T&T," she continued. "We worked closely with the LMGI to choose a group of guests who could see the potential in T&T’s locations, even as a country with a developing film industry. A few weeks after the Tour, we are already starting to see the potential fruits of these strategic efforts.”
Shared LA-based location manager, Dow Griffith, “I really knew initially nothing about the areas here. Having now had the advantage and privilege coming here on this Fam Tour, we realise how revealing and important it is. You have to come here, see it, meet the people and go to the places.”
Atlanta-based location manager, Christine Bonnem, described the T&T professionals she met during the tour as “excellent people with great enthusiasm”.
FilmTT also relied on its growing list of partners in its Film Friendly Network to demonstrate the increasing focus on making the country more film-friendly for both local and international producers.
“As a facilitator of services for the sector, we have been building stronger working relationships with ministries and agencies that have a role to play in making it easier for local and international productions to shoot here," said Luke.
"Members of our Network contributed to the Tour’s success, such as the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, Customs Division, Immigration Division,  Chaguaramas Development Authority, Tobago House of Assembly, The US Embassy in Port of Spain, InvesTT and Trinidad Tourism Limited. We must also acknowledge the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), ExporTT, InvesTT, Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad Tourism Limited, Massy Distribution, and Just Juiced for their additional support and commitment to the overall vision of building a successful and lucrative audio-visual industry in Trinidad and Tobago for all its citizens.”
At a welcome reception for the visiting guests, Senator the Honourable, Paula Gopee-Scoon, Minister of Trade and Industry, line ministry for FilmTT, stated: “I speak on behalf of the Government when I say we are 100 percent behind FilmTT and its work. This country is very focused on growing the creative industries and we understand the value in it. At the end of the day, this is a business and the Government must support the business of film. Trinidad and Tobago is an ideal destination and it comes back to who we are as a people, our history, what we’ve become and where we are heading.”
For more information on the FilmTT, visit www.filmtt.co.tt.  
Source: The Loop, May 27, 2019

The Divali Nagar now has an art gallery. The gallery, located in the Divali Nagar compound in Chaguanas, is the fulfilment of a vision theNational Council for Indian Culture (NCIC) has harboured for many years.
Deokinanan Sharma, President of the NCIC, said they discussed their vision with different artists who refused to entertain the notion of showing their work outside of Port-of-Spain.
“It was not the place for exhibiting artwork. The idea was rejected outright, not because they didn’t want to come here but the feeling was that the audience and people would not come here. Port-of-Spain is established and is the capital city,” he told Loop, noting that, as far as he knows, there are no other art galleries in Central Trinidad. 
Loop discovered one other art gallery located in Freeport that mainly exhibits work produced from student classes.
That the Divali Nagar gallery is now a reality is thanks to artist Shastri Maharaj who decided last year to approach the NCIC about staging an exhibition in time for Indian Arrival Day.
His exhibition Aagaman: The Coming, chronicles the arrival of East Indians to Trinidad and showcases the culture and rituals that are now part of the fabric of T&T.
Maharaj said when he approached the NCIC with his idea they were pleasantly surprised.
“Nobody before really showed at the Nagar at this scale and this level with this kind of profile. It was the first for the Divali Nagar and the first for Central Trinidad,” he said.
“In sensitising people about these activities about what Indian people do, I felt that South of the Caroni is most appropriate in a grassroots environment where it is the kind of motherland for Indian people, sugar cane and that indigenous Indian thing, the chutney, the Tassa,” he said.
He said the NCIC welcomed his interest as they were concerned about the preoccupation of Indian culture in Trinidad as just song and dance whereas in India visual arts is a huge thing.
“Film India indoctrinated the Indian audience to song and dance and they cultivated that sensibility and idea…art was like a non-existent thing,” said Maharaj.
The exhibition itself is a first as no artist has before presented the Indian experience in T&T on such a large scale.
Maharaj said it started with one painting called Arrival, which documents East Indians landing on Nelson Island which served as a clearinghouse of sorts for the Indentured Labourers.
“Amidst the research, it occurred to me that I seem to be so caught up in it that it would be a good idea to expand it and document visually other things related to Indians,” he said.
Maharaj, who, growing up in the urban environment of San Fernando, tried to suppress his heritage and culture, said the research activated his muse.
“It meant that I could investigate a lot of things Indian and Hindu that I was not aware of and if I name Maharaj, growing up in a Hindu family and I didn’t know about these things, you could imagine non-Hindu people?” he asked as he described his first experience at the Ganga Dhara festival in Blanchisseuse, which marks the com­ing to earth of the fe­male de­ity Gan­ga.
His paintings of the event capture the vivid yellows and oranges of the clothing worn by the devotees as they walked through the water and the sunlight trickling through the foliage.
“I decided if I could do Indian Arrival and I could do this Ganga Dhara thing, then maybe I could try Tassa, Divali, maybe I could try other things Indian and let me expose the Indian culture in ways it has not been exposed to the wider Trinidad audience,” Maharaj said.
The collection comprises 40 pieces which Maharaj considers seminal and epic.
Maharaj said his work also contains influences from Indo-Trinidadian artists who have gone before such as Dr James Isaiah Boodoo, Mahmoud Pharouk Aladdin, Jones Gilbert and Sonnylal Rambissoon.
Maharaj said he wants to encourage all artists, especially the youth, to show their work at the Art Gallery as well as the public to visit and purchase the pieces.
“The objective I think with NCIC is to sensitise the people out there, the artists, the budding artists and the young people that this is a space you can utilise and you can come and see work and be influenced or you can be mentored into discovering more about yourself through the work. It is that kind of objective I had in mind with NCIC to get the involvement of the young, to get this exposure and awareness,” he said.
“The prime objective is to have the ordinary man, the people who normally would not have the opportunity or take the time to go to Port-of-Spain to go to an art gallery to look at work, While they are shopping, while they are driving around, they can bring their family free of charge and just simply embrace and look at the art. The aim is to take the ordinary and make it extraordinary.”
The exhibition will run until June 2. It forms part of Heritage Month activities which will culminate on Indian Arrival Day on May 30.
For more information on the pieces please visit the online catalogue.
To connect with the NCIC visit the NCIC Heritage Centre Facebook Page ​. 
Source: The Loop, May 2019 

The veteran calypsonian, who is making waves internationally took the 2019 Coachella stage on Friday, with an outstanding and entertaining performance in true Caribbean style.
“Now I am the queen of Coachella and the Queen is from Trinidad and Tobago,” Calypso Rose declared during one of her performances.
The 78-year-old Trinbagonian made history as the music festival’s oldest performer and has been featured in several international news publications for her Coachella performances.
She wowed the crowd yet again on Friday as she performed hit after hit and even brought Nailah Blackman and Machel Montano on the stage to perform with her.
In an Instagram post Nailah said it was an honor to perform with the veteran singer.
“What a great honor it is to be performing with @calypsorosediva at @coachella. What a great inspiration she has been to me on my musical journey,” she said.
Calypso Rose turns 79 on April 27.
She is scheduled to go on tour from next month in Germany, Switzerland and London.
Source: The Loop, April 22nd, 2019

Her latest release: 

​ James Hackett, Founder and Creative Director of The Lush Kingdom was commissioned by NY-based designer Felisha Noel to design the prints for her new line which is currently being featured in Vogue’s January 2019 edition! James is also one of FashionTT’s VCIP designers