We have proposed support for those initiatives that would assist in establishing closer relations between the population and the Association, since the ACS must not be seen by Caribbean people as a remote and distant bureaucratic entity; but instead as an instrument for rapprochement among our peoples. It is therefore important to develop activities in which various social sectors can get in touch with the organisation. 

The cultural arena is by far, one of the areas that enjoys major recognition and which best characterises the peoples of the Greater Caribbean.  It is in this domain that the syncretism of the region stands out since it provides all types of mixtures based on ethnic and religious differences.

Syncretic manifestations form an intricate mass of cultural features, arising out of the comings and goings of huge migratory waves within the region, leaving behind their inheritance to imprint their singularity upon Caribbean peoples.

Music, painting and literature have given us numerous successful artists. Without any shadow of a doubt, there is no other geographic area that has accumulated a higher number of prizewinners, whether Nobel or other internationally renowned awards.

In celebrating these ten years, what better channel than art, which is the human manifestation through which feelings, ideas, beliefs and representations are most spontaneously expressed and which reveal the most profound of identities.

In art there is no place for confrontation, but rather for understanding. It is a shared language for which there is no exact translation from one language into another.

In artistic creation, diversity is presented as a requirement for that creation, with the universality of human values and the freedom to express them as prevailing factors.

During this spectacular art exhibit, the painters have the floor, and they communicate to us their concerns, whether explicitly or by inference, always presenting however, a sense of the relevant problems and topics of our societies. Through their pieces, the artists are inviting us to a cultural exchange that reaffirms our roots and identity.

Art is the receptacle that holds all the actions and manifestations of the society, captured by the skill of the artist, who has the ability to penetrate us deeply, unleashing vibrations on the consciousness of those of us who contemplate their work. It is in this way that art and history converge, since reflected in it are all human realisations, which in some way or the other, transcend the life of the peoples.

The message seeking to be transmitted by these magnificent colours is the idea of coexisting in diversity, in an interrelation that extends beyond linguistic and religious differences, because if there is anything that characterises us, it is the plurality imposed by the vast and different ancestry that produced each of our peoples. This important Caribbean feature is what makes it unique, since it is the space where the largest number of civilizations and ethnos of the hemisphere come together.

Caribbean people, let’s enjoy “The Colours of the Greater Caribbean”. Let us allow the messages of these artists to strengthen our aspirations to persist in the building of Caribbean unity, which must be the greatest utopia of this century.

Dr. Rubén Silié Valdez is the Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to mail@acs-aec.org

03 May, 2005