Read an interesting article just now, by Dr. Didicus Jules, Director General of the OECS, but also, longstanding supporter of Saint Lucian culture and we’re sharing that article “BEYOND AMNESIA AND NOSTALGIA: Contemporize The Culture” for you at the end of our brief thoughts about Tourism’s role in keeping culture alive, or in killing it.
Island Effect exists to promote Saint Lucia’s culture as cultural tourism, but that doesn’t stop us from being concerned about the very real risk of watering-down or over-adapting our genuine culture in pursuit of the almightly Tourism Dollar…
Part of what we’d like to do through Island Effect is to help our clients navigate these tricky waters so the culture remains real, alive, genuine.
Let’s face it, much of our local Saint Lucian culture risks dying off in the face of dominance by Hollywood or NY Fashion or more invasively, Amazon, Netflix and Spotify.
So the question is, can we save our culture by selling it to people who are not an integral part of it, without losing ourselves in the process?
I guess it’s kind of obvious that at Island Effect, we believe we can. That said, in order to do it, we have to recognize that it needs frank and serious attention – no glossing over. This is a dig-deep and shape something beautiful out of what sometimes seems to be more quicksand than anything else, in it for the long-haul thing.
So, as we move into Village Tourism, hopefully not forgetting that we have a Heritage Tourism programme and sub-sector that desperately needs ongoing support and development, it’s our hope that we can see integration of genuine culture into Village Tourism and in that light, we’re congratulating Jacintha Anius-Lee on her latest book ”
Once Upon A Time In Saint Lucia” (Illustrated by Naja Simeon – read more about Naja here).
This is exactly the kind of rich authentic cultural content that could be used to create great content for tourism, not despite of, but precisely because it draws on, as Dr. Jules says, the “wit, cunning, resilience and the capacity to overcome all odds”.
I hope it’s not just me that sees this as a great opportunity for something spicy…
Here’ the article that inspired us: BEYOND AMNESIA AND NOSTALGIA: Contemporize The Culture
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