E D I TO R I A L
Make a kite.
The air is dry, dust speckles everywhere, the grass
not as green, slowly losing its verdure: yet it’s the
ideal time to be outside. Skies are blue - pantone
SKY blue, careless clouds, high winds: the perfect
time to fly kites.
A few weeks ago - I had the real pleasure of
seeing a huge, handmade kite in action. It was
not the best of circumstances, actually we were
heading to a funeral all the way east, in Sangre
Grande. Now, as heavy as the atmosphere and my
heart were - what a sight…it was just spectacular.
The scene: two guys early 20’s - no more - 11am,
“coasting” down the village road, with their creation,
their pride: a massive, Royal blue, “mad bull” kite.
“So simple...” I’m sure you’re thinking, and yes it
was: simple, octagon shaped, carefully lined with
that recognizable cream coloured masking tape
and beige cord. But beyond that, simple, honest.
I thought to myself: This is exactly what any creative
project, any artistic endeavour is. A Kite. An idea
turned reality.
Having an idea is: imagining and re-imagining what
this object - your creation - could be, following the
steps, spending hours carefully planning, trying it
out… Then, when you are convinced that you finally
have everything worked out: the doubts. Doubting
“Do I really need to use my energy on this kite,
when I can purchase one, ready made? From
one of the vendors around the Botanical Gardens
or downtown perhaps?” Except that: pre-fab
kites are made somewhere in China, all robotically
lined up, they all look the same. There is no
distinguishing trait, no newness, no difference.
Then the crescendo: “What if? what if this kite
just won’t fly?” I’ve often had to remind myself
of something I read a while back on taking risks,
pursuing passion etc. That quote was: “No risk, No
reward” and the truth IS, even if this kite refuses to
fly, you would always have had a 50% chance that
it could fly. Your kite is a risk. And it is only those
who dare to try, dare to create, who take that risk.
It’s a risk of being misunderstood by the jaded has-
beens, ignored by the creative heathens, playing
for a concert audience of 10 instead of 80, a risk of
navigating high winds on your own as a “struggling
artist” yet always, finding a way to mend your kite -
and taking it to fly again.
At the end, the creative, the artist has something to
show. The physical manifestation of an idea, of a
dream: is now a reality. And maybe that is enough.
Maybe it is enough to keep on creating, re-imagining
ourselves, our spaces, re-inventing our Caribbean
identities, experimenting, being unapologetically
avant-garde, saying “Yes” to Change - because it
is an Art - and to continue hoping...for hope and
resilience allow Black Panthers to be reborn...
Experimentation is the energy behind spaces,
institutions and Corporations who dare to offer
and to support engaging content and projects.
These are the risk-takers who propose a future
that is bright. How about starting that next creative
project, bringing that “impossible” idea to life?
It is Kite season and Poui trees are in full bloom.
Sit down, put pen to paper. Make a Kite.
Welcome to Issue 2 of Culturego magazine, fly high.
Adeline Gregoire
Editor
CULTUREGO M AGA Z I N E
APR - JUN | 2018
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