The Annual CXC Visual Arts Exhibition was hosted in St Kitts and Nevis from Monday 12th to Friday 16th March. The Ministry of Education and Information hosted the exhibition at the prestigious Fort Zante, the cruise ship terminal in St Kitts.

During the weekend of March 9th to 11th several Art teachers worked to mount the exhibition in the two shop spaces which the Ministry had secured to host the exhibition.

The use of the two shop space created an art gallery-like effect which was very attractive and added to the general presentation of the exhibition.

An official opening ceremony was hosted on the top floor of Fort Zante on Monday 12th March starting at 9:30. The ceremony was chaired by newly-appointed Local Registrar Solomon Claxton.

Following the singing of the National Anthem and the Invocation, Arthur Blanchette, Head of Visual Arts Department at the Washington Archibald High School gave remarks in which he spoke about the objectives of the revised Visual Arts syllabus and the importance of the Arts in education.

Cleveland Sam, Assistant Registrar, PI and CS spoke on behalf of the Council. Honourable Nigel Carty, Minister of Education and Information delivered the feature address and declared the exhibition opened. During his presentation, Minister Carter said he believes the exhibition will help students in St Kitts to see the potential which Visual Arts holds. He also stressed the fact that the Arts is needed for the economy as well as to boast the tourism industry.

Mrs Ionie Liburd-Willett, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Information gave the Vote of Thanks. The ceremony was punctuated by cultural performances from the Basseterre High School Steel Orchestra, and dancers from the Washington Archibald High School.

Following the ceremony, the official party, which included the His Excellency Jorge Payret Zubiar, Ambassador of Cuba to St Kitts and Nevis, Dr Patrick Welcome, Chief Education Officer, accompanied the Minister to cut the ribbon to open the exhibition to the public.

Attendance

The location of the exhibition at Port Zante, the heart of the tourism in Basseterre proved to be a significant factor in the success of the exhibition. The Ministry of Education arranged with all the secondary schools in St Kitts for their students to attend the exhibition and this worked very well as schools brought their students on the various days. In addition, several primary schools and kindergartens brought their students to view the exhibition.

Apart from students, hundreds of locals visited the exhibition daily during their lunch hour or after work.

One media outlet reported that the exhibition was the main attraction at Port Zante, this as a result of the number of cruise ship passengers who visited the exhibition during the week. For each of the five days of the exhibition, at least two cruise ships called to Port Zante and many of their passengers were attracted to the exhibition. The exhibition was listed on Port Zante’s Facebook site as one of the activities happening during the week of 12th to 16th March.

Among the celebrities who attended the exhibition were Honourable Sam Condor, Deputy Prime Minister and Kim Collins, former world 100 metre champion.

Media Coverage

The exhibition benefited from tremendous media coverage, especially from the online media. The opening ceremony was covered by several media houses in St Kitts. Assistant Registrar PI and CS and several of the Art teachers gave interviews on the opening day and during the week of the exhibition. The Ministry of Education through the St Kitts and Nevis Information Service also published public service announcements prior to the exhibition.

The Ministry of Education Media Unit also filmed sections of the exhibition and interviewed a cross section of people in preparation for a documentary about the exhibition.

In addition to the interviews, several other media outlets, particularly online, carried stories about the exhibition on a continuous basis throughout the week.