It has been really great to be restored to something like a normal social life. I visited the exhibition of work by the tutor who runs the life-drawing class I attend, on Friday. Yesterday we went to a party, organised by friends of ours who are from that region originally, to celebrate Antiguan Independence Day. We have just returned from the local community fun day, at our local church. The interesting thing is, as I have remarked in an earlier post, that all of this activity has not resulted in the displacement of artistic production. Quite the reverse! I’m buzzing with ideas, and quite productive. I do find that interesting as a general comment on the conditions for the creation of good art.
As we returned to the house from the “fun day” my wife remarked that it is really good that there are occasions when adults and children can enjoy themselves together Children are treated as real members of society, and not segregated into some little age-based ghetto, and adults are encouraged to let our hair down for a while. A real point of personal satisfaction for me was that, as we were leaving, one of the kids presented mew with a paper plane and a boat he had made in one of the craft sessions. That was really very touching.