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Take from our huge News archive, this is what was making news 5 years ago!
OAS-funded heritage series launched
From
The Chronicle
of 24 Dec, 1999
The Division of Culture has made a successful attempt to preserve some of the features of Dominican culture on the verge of extinction, with the release of three publications: Dominican Expressions, Dominica's Art and Culture and the Heritage Dances of Dominica.
Dominican Expressions - an anthology of prize-winning short stories and poems - is a collection of works by Dominican writers marking a decade (1988-1998) of literary works, compiled by the Division of Culture with illustrations by well-known Dominican artist Earl Etienne.
Many of the contributors are winners of the Independence Short Story and Poetry competition and include Jeno Jacob, Abraham Durand, Ian Jackson, Algernon Ducreay, Velma Paul and Carla Armour.
According to Chief Cultural Officer Raymond Lawrence, the anthology is aimed at giving added promotion to these short stories and poems while at the same time helping to further document and preserve these offerings for future generations.
Dominica's Arts and Culture is a commemorative magazine to mark Dominica's 21st anniversary and millennium celebrations. The magazine was meant to capture some of the more significant developments in the field of arts and culture in Dominica over the past five years.
"The Cultural Division sincerely hopes that publications such as this will lend to the understanding and appreciation of our culture and that somehow the rich legacy handed down to us by our ancestors will be passed on from generation to generation," said Mr. Lawrence.
The magazine includes contributions from Aileen Burton, Gregory Rabess, Earl Etienne and Raymond Lawrence.
Funded by the Organisation of American States, under the project "Research and Documentation of the Heritage dances of Dominica", The Heritage Dances of Dominica is a personal effort of Daryl Phillip, which stemmed from a passionate interest in the Heritage dances of Dominica.
The magazine is a result of meticulous research into the dance customs of Dominica; methods of research ranging from interviews with Heritage Arts custodians to the use of academic papers written by leading dancers.
The book is co-authored by Gary Smith.
At the launching ceremony at the Old Mill Cultural Center, Minister for Community Development & Women's Affairs Gertrude Roberts said that these publications would play a significant role in promoting the creation of beauty in the art forms and would serve to perpetuate that beauty.
She said that the ministry was aware of the importance of preserving Dominica's cultural identity and pledged support to the development of culture.
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