Caribbean Art and Popular Culture in the Region & Diaspora

• Hybridization

  Blending of different cultural elements to create new forms
• Syncretism


  Combining different beliefs, practices or cultural elements to create something new
• Creolization


  The blending of different cultures to create a new distinct culture
• Caribbean art forms

  • Music
  • Culinary practices
  • Festivals
• Music of the Caribbean

  • Helps to define the region as a whole
  • Placed it on the world map
  • Traced back to migratory history
  • Went through a process of syncretism to produce many of the forms of today
  • Gives Caribbean people their identity, whether they reside at home or are part of the diaspora
• Reggae


  • The most internationally famous style of Caribbean music
  • Originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s
  • Widely identified as the music of Jamaica and its diaspora
  • Gained international prominence
  • Popularized in the 1970s by Bob Marley with his Rastafari lifestyle
  • Message of peace and love that young people can identify with
  • Outlet for documenting social and political criticism
  • Major earner of foreign exchange for Jamaica
• Calypso


  • Origins in Western African music and singing
  • Means to poke fun at important people and institutions
  • Provides a social and political commentary of events
  • Helps to open the doors of Calypso to the rest of the world
  • Special connection to Carnival and Calypso competitions
• Steel band


  • Only musical instrument to be invented in the 20th century
  • Origins in Trinidadian Carnival musical traditions
  • Associated with grassroots people from poor communities
  • Reflected the current situation of the war years, elements of resistance to domination and the desire to project a tough image
  • Widely used throughout the Caribbean region as well as in the diaspora
  • Became part of some schools' curriculums in Europe and North America
  • Can play a variety of music genres
• Punta rock


  • Originated in Belize in the 1970s out of traditional Garifuna Punta percussion music and dance
  • Taken abroad, significantly to the Belize community of New York, where it grew in popularity and developed to take on new elements
  • Songs are mainly in the form of call and response with drums
  • Originally in the Garifuna language, now translated into English and Spanish
• Culinary practices in the Caribbean

  • Inherited from Amerindians, Europeans, Africans, East Indians and Chinese
  • Generally hot and spicy
  • Staple item is salt fish
  • Dishes such as peas and rice, salted meat, smoked herring, black pudding and souse have a long regional heritage
  • Roots crops were part of the slaves diet and are still very popular
  • East Indians brought curries, pepper, lentil peas and various herbs and spices
  • Chinese brought Chinese-style fry rice, fry chicken and vegetables
  • English/Irish potato is still a staple in the diet
  • Increased demand for fast food and freezing food for future consumption
• Caribbean festivals

  • Carnival (Trinidad)
  • Crop Over Festival (Barbados)
  • Junkanoo (The Bahamas)
  • Reggae Festival (Jamaica)
  • Tobago Heritage Festival
• Carnival (Trinidad)


  • Contributed to growth and development of the Caribbean
  • Defines the Caribbean
  • Street festival combining steel band music, dance and costumes
  • Brings all classes of people together
  • Fosters entrepreneurial spirit, transfer of technologies, creates employment and foreign exchange
• Crop Over Festival (Barbados)


  • Origin in 1780s when Barbados was the world's largest sugar producer
  • Highlights the history, art and culture of Barbados
  • Includes a Calypso contest and a parade called the Grand Kadooment
• Junkanoo (The Bahamas)


  • Celebrated at Christmastime
  • Started during slavery as a day when the slaves were allowed to leave the plantation and celebrate with their community
• Reggae Festival (Jamaica)


  • Started in 1978
  • Celebrations last for one week
  • Different types of Reggae music are played each night
  • Has evolved into Reggae Sumfest
• Tobago Heritage Festival


  • Re-enactment of the history of the island
  • Includes the Old Time Wedding, music and dance, and a crab and goat race
• Religious festivals in the Caribbean

  • Eid al-Fitr (Muslim)
  • Eid al-Adha (Muslim)
  • Diwali (Hindu)
  • Phagwa (Hindu)
  • Easter (Christian)
  • Christmas (Christian)
• How the arts have contributed to Caribbean human and cultural development

  • Empower and unite the people
  • Increase people's productivity
  • Create greater equity in society
  • Create sustainability
• How the arts empower people


  • Allow people to develop and display their talents and develop their potential
  • Provide people with an important means of creative self-expression and intellectual growth and act as therapy
  • Develop group/ community cohesion and unity via street festivals
  • Help engender a sense of pride and identity in the heritage of the Caribbean, which in turn aids resistance to cultural imperialism
• How the arts increase productivity

  • Create opportunities for people to be gainfully employed
  • Create a multiplier effect, increasing the overall level of employment in the economy
  • Increased trade and foreign exchange can also result
• The Arts

  • Empower and unite the people
  • Increase people's productivity
  • Create greater equity in society
  • Create sustainability
• Empowerment


  • The Arts allow people to develop and display their talents and develop their potential
  • The Arts provide people with an important means of creative self-expression and intellectual growth and act as therapy
  • The Arts develop group/ community cohesion and unity via street festivals
  • The Arts can help engender a sense of pride and identity in the heritage of the Caribbean, which in turn aids resistance to cultural imperialism
• Individuals (Rex Nettleford, Louise Bennett, Aubrey Cummings) help us to comprehend ourselves and our place in the world by shaping the Caribbean identity and sense of self
• Productivity

  • The Arts create opportunities for people to be gainfully employed and they also create a multiplier effect, increasing the overall level of employment in the economy
  • Increased trade and foreign exchange can also result as artistes travel and the works of artists are bought and sold internationally as well as locally
  • Along with popular culture, they also provide a form of relaxation and recreation, which contribute to promoting a sense of well-being which then heightens people's productivity
• Greater Equity in Society


  • Arts and popular culture represent a valuable aspect of Caribbean heritage
  • They are the tool used to express both the Caribbean people's struggles for justice and against oppression
  • A sense of self-worth can be fostered through the Arts as individuals achieve recognition on the international stage or in their area of accomplishment or expertise
  • This can be liberating in a society that tends to still be tied to its colonial past and the legacy of attitudes towards gender, race, color and wealth
• Sustainability


  • People are agents for development and sustainability
  • It is through the Arts that language, customs, dress and way of life can pass from one generation to another
  • Human capital can therefore be developed through the Arts
  • Many Caribbean governments are making an effort to keep cultural traditions alive by promoting folk festivals
  • This is a form of cultural retention and can be marketed to promote economic and sustainable development via tourism
• Cultural Development


  • Art forms in their widest sense contribute to the formation of culture and society
  • The Arts can provide a means of socialization as, through them, people learn about their culture's values, beliefs and identity
  • This acquisition of knowledge and an understanding of the basis of one's society enable its continued growth, evolution and development
  • Many government and non-government agencies support the Arts because they promote and help define cultural pride and identity
• The people presented in this section, through their art, music, dance, painting, teaching and travels, have contributed to the development and promotion of Caribbean identity, particularly after independence
• They have made Caribbean people aware of their history and have created and established an appreciation of their heritage
• More importantly, they have presented Caribbean culture in a manner that has been widely appreciated by international audiences
• They have been the real ambassadors of Caribbean Arts and popular culture on the international stage
• Rex Nettleford


  • Jamaican scholar, historian, social critic, choreographer, poet
  • Co-author of a seminal study of the Rastafarian movement in 1961
  • His artistic work, especially choreography, was based on the concept of 'cultural marronage' which represented the spirit of resistance to the colonial rulers shown by the maroons
• Louise Bennett


  • Jamaican educator, poet, writer and folklorist
  • Travelled throughout the world publicizing areas of Jamaican culture through her performances and lectures, and her work has been translated into foreign languages
  • Through her work she gained international popularity and recognition for herself and Jamaican culture
  • Her work provided a perspective on the lives of working-class women in the colonial and post-colonial world
  • Wrote her poems in Jamaican patios, enabling the language to be regarded as a national language
• Berly McBurnie

  • Trinidadian dancer and teacher
  • Responsible for the promotion of the culture and arts of T & T
  • Articulated Trinidadian culture and heritage through her dance and was the first person to promote Caribbean dance
  • Taught West Indian dance in New York and performed at Brooklyn Academy of Music
  • Formed the little Carib Dance Company, which gained an international reputation and was instrumental in spreading Caribbean culture to Canada
• Pauel Marshall


  • American author who has her roots in Barbados
  • Her writings are an attempt for black Americans to reclaim their African heritage
  • Many of her books have a Caribbean context or themes running through them
  • Her works feature strong, black, working-class women
• Aubrey Cummings


  • Famous Guyanese musician, artist and singer
  • Believed popular music contributed to 'the healing' of Guyana during 1960s - 1970s, around independence and general political upheaval
  • The influence of race, class and color in Guyana during the 20th century can be found in his music
• Martin Carter


  • Widely regarded as the greatest Guyanese poet
  • Best known for his poems which are based on themes of protest, revolution and resistance
  • Played an active role in Guyanese politics, then being detained for his support for the People's Progressive Party which British viewed as communist. Later he briefly became Minister for Information
• Wherever Caribbean nationals have settled they have influenced the economic, social and cultural life of that society. The mass media has contributed to this
• Music

  • Caribbean music affirms Caribbean people's sense of identity with their homelands
  • In a way it makes them feel more comfortable living in the diaspora
  • The impact of Caribbean music has been largely in urban areas where there is a sizeable Caribbean diaspora, and it can be argued that music has contributed hugely to a phenomenon known as transnationalism
• Festivals


  Another important art form which has developed in the diaspora is the transnational version of carnival, of which the Notting Hill Carnival held in London, Canada's Caribana and Brooklyn's Labour Day Parade are particularly good examples