OAS Headquarters to Feature TNT Independence

August 28, 1998

Festivities marking Trinidad and Tobago=s 36th independence anniversary next Monday, August 31, will also spread to Washington, D.C. where the twin-island Caribbean republic is to be featured in a week-long exhibition at the Organization of American States (OAS) headquarters.

Trinidad and Tobago Week at the OAS, to be declared open by Ambassador Michael A. Arneud, will notably feature the strides women have made in that country, a member of the OAS Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) which is also marking its anniversary--the 70th. Consistent with that emphasis, the Week will throw the spotlight on artistic creations by three women: Vera Baney, Nina Squires and Katherine Williams.

To be featured as well is a pictorial essay book entitled AReturn to Kairi: A Trinidad Journey,@ published by the Trinidad and Tobago-based Jett Samm Publishing. Jett Samm=s editor-in-chief Nigel Campbell is expected to join in the celebrations at the OAS where a copy of the book will be presented to the OAS= Columbus Memorial Library. The book will be presented to the OAS assistant secretary general, Ambassador Christopher R. Thomas, who is also a native of Trinidad and Tobago.

Their works having enjoyed widespread attention at home and abroad, the three painters Trinidad and Tobago painters have also previously featured in exhibitions at the OAS.

Vera Baney has done a number of important commissions and teaches at Dundalk Community College in Baltimore, Maryland. The award-winning Nina Squires, who has been painting since around 1953, boasts among her works commissions by the University of the West Indies, and has represented her country abroad in numerous exhibitions, including at the Art of the Americas and Spain Exhibition, in Spain in 1963. The author of two books, Katherine Williams holds a doctorate degree in human development and has featured in AWho=s Who in American Art
(1997- ).

The exhibition is being organized by the Permanent Mission of Trinidad and Tobago to the OAS, in conjunction with the OAS Secretariat.

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