By Admin. Updated 11:17 a.m., Friday, October 27, 2023, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
Two additional persons have been added to this country’s list of Cultural Ambassadors.
This morning (October 27), during his Independence Day address at the Military Parade at Victoria Park, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves announced that Lornette ‘Fyah Empress’ Nedd and Phillip ‘Wetty Beatz’ Dember Bastien have been appointed as Cultural Ambassadors.
Lornette ‘Fya Empress’ Nedd is a calypsonian and the reigning national Calypso Monarch. She has won several other national musical competitions.
Phillip ‘Wetty Beatz’ Dember Bastien, a Vincentian based in Europe is a leading music producer and entertainer. He is known for his modern touch to the production of soca music and has produced music for local and regional artistes.
Some other cultural ambassadors include international soca star – Kevin Lyttle, renowned so a artiste – Gamal ‘Skinny Fabulous’ Doyle, and musician – Rodney Small.
The appointment of one Sporting Ambassador was also announced by by the Prime Minister.
National swimmer and scholar – Shane Cadougan was appointed a Sporting Ambassador for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Who is a cultural ambassador?
According to iWitness News, Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, when announcing new cultural ambassadors in 2014, said:
“… and we have had many important contributors to our sporting and cultural development who have been accorded the honour of being an ambassador — cultural and sporting — and to have the dignity and the privilege to carry a diplomatic passport of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“He noted that the practise of appointing sports and cultural ambassadors began shortly after his Unity Labour Party government came to office in March 2001,” iWitness News reported on November 25, 2014.
According to the Vincentian Newspaper, in 2014, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, while naming 15 cultural and sporting ambassadors, said:
“These appointments reaffirm our government’s conviction that culture, the arts, and sports, as well as other uplifting aspects of live and living, are vital to our nation’s well-being and the further ennoblement of our civilization.”
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