The Tobago Art Trail

Experience Tobago culture this month: the energised Carnival called the Freedom Festival October 28 to 30, or the more contemplative Art Trail to be revealed November 3. Pat Ganase reports.

As some flock to the Tobago Carnival this weekend, others may choose to get away from the revelry. They may seek quiet in nature on the cool forested Main Ridge or the beaches that punctuate the coast of north east Tobago. You can escape into the forest from Roxborough (on the east) or from Parlatuvier or Bloody Bay (on the west coast).

But if you choose to tour the beaches, you might start at Castara following the north-side (coastal) road through Englishman’s Bay, Parlatuvier, Bloody Bay, L’Anse Fourmi, Man o War Bay all on the Caribbean coast. At Charlotteville, the north-side road runs into the Windward Road and you climb the highest part of the island to descend on the Atlantic coast, Speyside, King’s Bay (at Delaford), Roxborough, Belle Garden. This route also takes you on the North East Tobago UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Art Trail that’s a showcase for artists of the area. The Art Trail was conceptualised by the Environmental Research Institute Charlotteville (ERIC). It is inspired by the work of artists of the area and students of Speyside High School facilitated by Tomley Roberts. Since 2017 ERIC had approached various funders for the art trail and BHP (now Woodside Energy) committed in 2021 and the THA in 2022.

The art teacher at Speyside High School for the past 16 years, Tomley Roberts is the integrating force for students who will use art to express themselves and become advocates for their way of life and their natural environment. He describes himself as an artist practitioner, a teacher and community advocate. Working with ERIC, he created an artwork that would become the symbol to inaugurate the Man and the Biosphere Reserve of North East Tobago. The concept evolved around humans co-operating to hold up a piece of the island. What emerged is a sculpture of optimism, lifelike casts of three figures with arms extended to support what could be an island or a wave or a turtle. These figures were positioned in three of the cardinal points north, south and east. There is a space left for the visitor who could have his or her photograph taken in the west position.

The idea of the trail had its origin with the Parlatuvier Village Council working with ERIC to receive a UNDP grant in 2011. Jason Nedd of L’Anse Fourmi was commissioned to produce art pieces documenting traditional lifestyle and activity. It gained traction through other artists like Earl Manswell and Tomley Roberts. The expression of the people and culture of north east Tobago in art is now embedded in the Man and the Biosphere project scope for the Tobago reserve.

In launching the Art Trail in August, Aljoscha Wothke of ERIC whose son attended Speyside High School shared these thoughts: “…the North East Tobago UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Art Trail enables our artists to publicly and permanently display their extraordinary skills for all to see. Eleven murals are installed today, more will follow as well as sculptures on land and in our beautiful ocean.

“When our team at the ERIC started this project, people asked us: why would an environmental organisation get involved in art? Should you not focus on other things?

“Conservation work in north east Tobago is meaningless if done in isolation. We cannot deliver sustained positive change just by planting trees and corals, observing endangered species or recording impacts of climate change.

“All these efforts only become meaningful and lasting when we are working with people; when we are able to help people to understand the importance of our environment.

“ERIC engaged with artists to communicate with our stakeholders and visitors on a different level. The north east Tobago artists and our team want to constantly remind people how precious our environment is; how much we are connected to it; and how much we depend on it.

“Many of us may connect the paintings with childhood memories that are so dear to us. These memories as well as the environment we currently live in remind us that we must care for, and improve our homes, our island, our planet.

“This project links perfectly to the intentions of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme in North East Tobago. It is the THA working together with residents and NGOs to achieve common goals: sustainable development, a healthy environment and sharing our experiences with the world.”

Paintings have been installed in Belle Garden, Roxborough, Betsy’s Hope, Delaford, Speyside, L’Anse Fourmi, Bloody Bay and Parlatuvier. It is expected that they will be unveiled on November 3 the first International Day for Biosphere Reserves.

Under Tomley Roberts’ guidance, the students at Speyside High School are currently working on other sculptures to be positioned along the Art Trail, some will be installed in strategic places on land; others will be underwater sculptures to be seen by divers and other undersea explorers. Tomley confirms that it’s about the people and their ongoing and changing relationship with the environment. Recycling, reforestation, conservation can all be taught, he believes, but the heart of the environment is our place in it, best articulated through art.

It’s about life! This is the current theme of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme whose aim is to enhance the relationship between people and their environment. The approach uses the natural and social sciences to improve human livelihoods that safeguard ecosystems; and promote innovation in economic development that is culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable.

The North East Tobago Biosphere Reserve puts TT among 134 countries in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves with 738 sites worldwide. It is a small part of our two islands and the ocean that is part of our jurisdiction, but what we achieve here will crystallise the harmony of man and nature that we wish to see in our island, our region and the world.