Green Readings 2010 — Where's your oasis?

ArtsEtc asked six writers to reveal their oasis, to share with us how the Barbadian environment influences and inspires them. Tell us about your Green spot, we said.

Well, Saturday, June 13, at the Boardwalk, Hastings, with the waves crashing behind them, Philip Nanton, Dorhonda Smith and Nailah Imoja (l-r above) not only shared, but startled and seduced the audience with their responses. As well as explaining their oases, the trio's works also dealt with the sights and sounds of our urban environment, concrete and even how our health is impacted by fogging.

If you were there to catch the words and to enjoy the ambience of the Boardwalk as the sun went down, to sip wine and sample the delicious fare of Chef Creig Greenidge afterward, then excellent. If you missed it, there was only one way to catch up: The very next Saturday, at the Esplanade, Speightstown, when Frank Gilkes, folk singer-songwriter Johnny Koeiman and Kenneth “Jack” Lewis
launched a stern northern response for Green Readings part two.

Rich on humour, political statement and muscular, nature-based imagery, all three performances were well received; Frank and Jack’s biting words and Johnny’s haunting folk song rewarding an audience that had braved bad weather to be there. Who would have thought that, after a day of dark skies and heavy rain, the Esplanade would end up bathed in glorious, late afternoon sunlight?

Clearly, not enough of us, that’s who. In the Q&A session that followed, calls were made to find ways to spread word of future Green Readings much farther afield to boost not only audience attendance but awareness of the environmental issues affecting all Barbadians.

ArtsEtc's Green Readings, now in its third year, is staged each June in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment, Water Resources & Drainage as part of the ministry’s activities for Environment Month. It's all about challenging ourselves, the way we regard and relate to our Barbadian surroundings. You can read about past Green Readings at artsetcbarbados.com.

And you can be a part of Green Readings 2010 by joining us in Speightstown on Saturday, and by posting a comment right here, right now, telling us where your Bajan oasis is.