FESTIVALS

The CNCF produces Cayfest, the annual Cayman Islands National Festival of the Arts, with events held thr oughout Grand Cayman’s various districts and Cayman Brac. Cayfest features dance, theatrical performances, craft and food sales, youth programmes and art exhibitions, as well as photography, song-writing and short story competitions. Gimistory, is Cayman’s International Storytelling Festival at which internationally recognised storytellers and talented Caymanians perform tall tales and modern allegories, with equal parts humour and dramatics. The shows are free and held under the starlit sky at scenic beaches and yards around the island. Everybody is welcome.

PERFORMING ARTS

CNCF has, over the years, produced many dramas, comedies and musicals at the Harquail Theatre. The hit comedy “Rundown” by Dave Martins, is a must see every February/March, as it good naturedly pokes fun at our Caymanian way of life, and satirises the latest politics and ‘marl road’ news. Beyond local productions, we have also presented such diverse and internationally renowned groups as The Jamaican Folk Singers and Randy James Dance Works of New Jersey.

VISUAL ARTS

In an effort not only to support but to preserve cultural expression, the Cultural Foundation has acquired 101 of the stirring and evocative artworks by late Caymanian visionary intuitive, Gladwyn "Lassie" Bush, MBE; the complete collection is periodically exhibited.

In celebration of these important works, the Cultural Foundation has published:

“My Markings...the art of Gladwyn K. Bush.”

This is a full-colour hard cover book of “Miss Lassie’s” paintings.

VISUAL ARTS

Caymanian art has been featured and supported by the Cultural Foundation in many other creative ways:

- The historic Carib Art exhibition, held at the Harquail Theatre attended by some 5,500 people and featuring the work of 5 of Cayman’s own artists.

- Grants to Native Sons, a very talented group of Caymanian painters and sculptors, towards mounting their own exhibitions.

LITERARY ARTS

Among the other CNCF publications currently available are:

“Grown From This Ground” a book of poetry by Leonard Dilbert.

"Smoke-Pot Days," a book of memoirs by Caymanian folk historian, Mr. Percival “Will” Jackson.

“Downside Up and Time Longer Dan Rope,” two plays by foremost Caymanian playwright, Frank S. McField.

And with the generous support of Cable & Wireless, CNCF publishes Foundation, the arts and culture journal of the Cayman Islands. The CNCF annual National Playwriting Competition provides an incentive for local writers to develop their craft and create new Caymanian plays.

DOCUMENTATION AND PRESERVATION

Our musical pioneers are part of the backbone of our culture and, for that reason, CNCF has:

- Produced the only professional audiotape of the late Mr. Radley Gourzong, performing traditional Caymanian fiddle music with the Happy Boys.

- Produced a professional audiotape of Caymanian singer/guitarist, Roy Bodden, performing Country and Western standards.

- Recorded traditional “kitchen music” performances of

“Aunt” Julia Hydes and Mr. Septimore Scott on compact disc and video for posterity.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE

"When the world opens up to you, experiences will impress their shadows on your consciousness"– Bendel Hydes

Because art doesn’t exist in a vacuum, because it is enhanced on the broader stage of experience and incident, the more our artists visit the world or the world comes to our door, the broader our creative minds will become, and the more we, as Caymanians, will become positively ingrained in the minds of the rest of the world.

Recognising this, the Cultural Foundation’s programmes offer opportunities for our artists to i nteract with some of the world’s finest, for example:

• Presentation of Distinguished Lectures by some of the region’s most acclaimed artists/intellectuals, for example Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott, and Professor the Honourable Rex Nettleford.

• Staging of the annual ‘Gimistory’ Cayman Islands International Storytelling Festival

• Caymanian participation in the Caribbean Festivals of Arts (CARIFESTA) in Trinidad, St. Kitts and Suriname.

• Caymanian participation in the Multiethnic Stage Festival (Holland), the Rugby School Arts Festival (UK), the University of South Florida Drama Festival.

• Attendance by Caymanians in foreign training programmes, summer schools, conferences and other events, such as the John Gray High School Drama Group's participation on two occasions in the Caribbean Secondary Schools' Drama Festival at which they won several awards.

• Our bid to host the CARIFESTA festival in the Cayman Islands in 2008

OTHER INITIATIVES

• Hosts symposia at which papers were presented on relevant cultural topics ranging from “Development, History and Myth,” to “Is Immigration Threatening Our Caymanian Culture?” and “Negotiating Cultural Space in a Multi-cultural Cayman Islands.”

• Annually awards Heritage/Radley Gourzong awards, as well as Excellence and other awards for significant contributions to the preservation and development of the arts and culture of the Cayman Islands.

• Provides free professional guidance to many Caymanians from all walks of life, who frequently request advice on various artistic disciplines.

• Is a member of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA).