The works of nine of Tobago’s artists can now be seen publicly in communities within the Man and the Biosphere Forest Reserve as part of a pioneering initiative aimed at marrying concern for the environment with the talents of the island’s artists.
In October 2020, Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve, the oldest legally protected forest reserve in the Western Hemisphere, was awarded the prestigious UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere designation, becoming the largest UNESCO-branded site in the English-speaking Caribbean.
North-East Tobago comprises 15 villages, spanning Belle Garden in the east to Moriah in the north.
The Man and the Biosphere programme is an intergovernmental, scientific initiative which seeks to establish a scientific basis for enhancing the relationship between people and their environments.
It promotes innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable.
[caption id="attachment_973424" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Tomley Roberts, president of the Tobago Visual Arts Association and contributor to the Art Trail, speaks at the launch. - David Reid[/caption]
At the launch of the North East Tobago Art Trail on Tuesday at the Belle Garden Multipurpose Facility, project curator Tomley Roberts said the initiative was conceptualised about three years ago as part of a wider plan to have an artistic stamp on that part of the island.
Roberts, an art teacher at Speyside High School, said members of the ERIC (Environmental Research Institute, Charlotteville) team had meetings with village artists, students of Speyside High School and other stakeholders on ways to celebrate the designation.
He said the first initiative was installing the life-sized Ah Ahwe Own sculpture at the Bloody Bay recreation site on June 7, 2022.
Roberts, who crafted the sculpture, said it symbolised the importance of the biosphere reserve in promoting harmony and synergy between communities and nature.
The art trail, the second initiative, features exhibits at specific sites within the northeast communities.
Roberts, whose painting Hand in Hand with the Environment is displayed in Delaford, told Sunday Newsday, “This is an important initiative that showcases our talent here in Tobago and also shows sensitivity to the environment, because these pieces are now installed within the Man and the Biosphere Forest Reserve, showing exactly what is our lifestyle and some of the things we do.”
He singled out an Avion Orr painting, Fisher Folk, to highlight his point. It was unveiled at the launch by THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine, Secretary of Food Security, Natural Resources, the Environment and Sustainable Development Nathisha Charles-Pantin and Belle Garden/Glamorgan assemblyman Dr Faith BYisrael.
“The fishermen taking the boat out of the water is a part of our tradition, as is planting and dancing the cocoa. These are very important attributes of our cultural heritage that we have tried to
