House Approves Cultural Development Foundation Bill

Contact: Tesa St Ange

Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - Plans to establish St. Lucia’s first Cultural Development Foundation received the approval of the House of Assembly on September 26, 2000 with the passage of the Cultural Development Foundation Bill. The Bill makes provision for the establishment of a Cultural Development Foundation as a corporate body to promote the development and management of the arts and culture in St. Lucia. It also outlines a framework for the implementation of a National Cultural Policy Document that was developed a year and half ago by the Interim Management Board on Culture.

In presenting the bill to Parliament, Minister for Culture, Honorable Damien Greaves, indicated the context within which the Cultural Development Foundation legislation was being proposed, in particular the rationale for the government’s heavy emphasis on the development of culture. He was critical of those who denigrate culture and who fail to acknowledge those activists who have contributed to its development.

The Minister argued that the nation must be educated about the significance of culture in the lives of a people. "Culture is the house where the human spirit dwells and there is a necessity to nurture that spirit of creativity, the sense of imagination and cultural expression. We believe that there is something more profound in the whole issue of culture. We believe that culture, apart from entertainment, must look at the whole business of embodying thought. And we are seeing the development of thought in this country that must be nurtured. We are looking at the whole issue of reflection; culture from the point of view of analysis, criticism and perhaps most important of all, holding up a mirror to society so that one can see where one has come from, where one is at and where one would hopefully like to go in the future," he said.

Mr. Greaves was firm in his defense of the Cultural Development Foundation Bill as a purposeful and innovative initiative. "Cultural development should be a central focus of all development policies as it determines the capacity of a people to sustain works and developments in areas of the economy, polity and society in general. This government is not only concerned about economy and polity, we are also concerned about the culture of the people because we believe that culture is a means by which people can experience self-esteem, self-actualisation. We have a holistic approach to development. Economic development is dead if people do not have the necessary tools to exercise their creative genius as part of the whole development experience," he said.

According to the culture minister, physical and economic regeneration of dislocated communities cannot proceed without first examining cultural and spiritual dimensions. Mr. Greaves argued too that culture is a means of economic survival, and drew on the experience of the United States who has successfully exported her culture through entertainment.

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Search for 2000 Press Releases ] [Site Help]

© 2001 Government Information Service. All rights reserved.

Read our privacy guidelines.