Trinidad & Tobago: “Please stand. . . for something”


Click on the image to play video

On the day of the reading of Trinidad and Tobago's 2007 budget — which, from the talk on the streets, could include all manner of life-changing proposals — I figured this conceptual video by Trinidadian multimedia artist Elspeth Duncan would be a timely presentation. Says Elspeth:

This video was created from footage I shot of various protests taking place in Trinidad between late 2005 and early 2006. It represents the collective voice of the people at a time when the republic of Trinidad & Tobago is going through crisis and experiencing transformation on many levels. The statements (written in bold) below are from placards held and t-shirts worn within the video. The first few opening bars of music in the video are the first few bars of the national anthem of Trinidad & Tobago, for which it is always requested of us: “Ladies and gentlemen, please stand.” The video takes this request a step further and calls for each of us, once and for all, to stand for something.
(Rest of music – Elspeth Duncan, from the CD Manzanilla) (…more)

Start the conversation

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.