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Caribbean Life, April 21-27, 2022
Colorful kites, signal return to normalcy at Guyana’s Easter celebration
By Tangerine Clarke
Guyanese turned out in
droves to keep the kite flying
tradition alive, hoisting
the colorful toys over open
spaces on the Seawall and
the National Park, and even
backyards, after a two-year
lock down by the coronavirus
pandemic.
Easter celebrants, dressed
to the colorful nines, were
observed carrying kites of
all sizes, along with food
baskets, as music blared
from speakers along the
route to picnic areas. These
scenes, reminiscent of years
gone by before the pandemic,
no doubt signaled a
return to normalcy.
One of the biggest attractions,
was an over-sized
kite, carried by a Venezuelan
couple. The design,
merged the two cultures,
incorporating the country’s
flags. The foreigners
expressed how great it was
to be celebrating kite flying
in Guyana, after a massive
migration to the Republic,
since hardship overtook the
neighboring country.
Painter, sculptor Dudley
Charles, said Guyana is
a fun-loving place for families
and friends to celebrate
Easter, and that special day
of picnicking. While Rita
Payne-Silencieux who travelled
from Florida to holiday
in her land of her birth,
summed it up by saying: “My
father used to take me on his
bike to fly my kite on the Seawall.
It is a beautiful custom,
and significant to the resurrection
of Christ the Savior.”
She said it was wonderful
being on the Seawall after
20 years, noting her Catholic
religious up-bringing.
It is estimated that thousands
of Guyanese celebrated
the annual custom with a
Rita Payne-Silencieux, visiting from Florida, poses
next to a kite designed with the flags of Guyana and
Venezuela, flown on the Seawall. Photo by Tangerine Clarke
regatta in Bartica, a rodeo
in the Rupununi, and horse
racing on the coast of Berbice.
A group of kids showcase their pretty kites, before flying them during Easter Monday,
April 18, in Georgetown, Guyana. Photo by Tangerine Clarke
African American food exhibition until June 19 at The Africa Center
By Tangerine Clarke
African American food
will be the centerpiece of
an exhibition this summer.
Thanks to the collaborative
effort of the Museum of Food
and Drink (MOFAD) and The
Africa Center ‘foodies, art
lovers, and historians, will
get an opportunity to view,
Making the Nation’s Table’ at
The Africa Center, Aliko Dangote
Hall in New York City.
The historic exhibit that
opened on Feb. 23, and closes
on June 19, examines the
vital function African American
food and drink producers,
from chefs to farmers,
have played in American food
culture, emphasizing that
‘African American food, is
American food, according to
published reports.
Curated by celebrated
author and culinary historian
Jessica B. Harris,
alongside an advisory board
of 30 visionaries currently
working within the African
American culinary landscape,
including the musician
and author Questlove;
former Ebony food editors
Charlotte Lyons and Charla
Draper; author of The Up
South Cookbook Nicole Taylor;
and Garrett Oliver, the
brewmaster at Brooklyn
Brewery, the exhibition will
feature, the Legacy Quilt,
an astounding 14 ft tall by
nearly 28 ft wide work that
stitches together hundreds of
portraits of African American
culinary figures.
Additional, James Hemings
(1765 – 1801), the first American
trained as a French chef,
who introduced the US to
copper cookware, Europeanstyle
macaroni and cheese,
and French fries; Nearest
Green, the first African
American master distiller on
record, who taught Jack Daniel
how to make whisky and,
in 1856, as an enslaved man,
will also play pivotal roles in
what will be a memorable
display of African American
cuisine.
According to media outlets,
the Legacy Quilt features
illustrations by artist
Adrian Franks, blurbs by
writer Osayi Endolyn, and is
sewn together by the quilting
collective Harlem Needle
Arts will also be on display.
The exhibit, also includes
a virtual companion piece
that allows visitors to submit
stories of their own African
American culinary heroes,
emphasizing that documenting
history should be a collaborative
and ever-expanding
effort.
Alongside The Legacy
Quilt, visitors will also be
able to immerse themselves
in the Ebony magazine test
kitchen where Ebony editors
developed the iconic, ‘Date
with A Dish’ column.
Accessible to the public
for the first time, the test
kitchen serves as the stage
for video interviews with
former Ebony food editors
and a soundtrack curated by
musician, farmer, and chef
Kelis. Visitors will also be
able to interact with a dinner
table replica that reveals
stories of migration, touch
points of culinary culture,
and memories of sharing
meals with loved ones.
Visitors to the ‘African/
American, can also purchase
‘shoebox lunches’ inspired by
the meals that African American
train travelers packed in
shoeboxes during the Great
Migration.
MOFAD President Nazli
Parviz, says ‘MOFAD produces
exhibitions and other
public programs that help
people to better access their
own history and the histories
of the people around them
as manifested through food
and drink.
The Legacy Quilt, an astounding 14 ft tall by nearly 28
ft wide work that stitches together hundreds of portraits
of African American culinary figures. www.mofad.
org
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