Dr. Francio Guadeloupe (right) received the In the Spotlight Award of the Antillean Network Association VAN from caretaker St. Maarten Minister Plenipotentiary Jorien Wuite in Amsterdam on Sunday. (Jean van Lingen photo)
AMSTERDAM–Caribbean social-cultural anthropologist, development sociologist and former President of the University of St. Martin (USM) Dr. Francio Guadeloupe on Sunday won the In the Spotlight Award of the Antillean Network Association VAN.
Caretaker St. Maarten Minister Plenipotentiary Jorien Wuite, who is an Ambassador of this year’s Black Achievement Month, announced Guadeloupe as the winner and handed the award to him during a gathering of VAN at the end of a cultural event about the Papiamentu language as part of the Black Achievement Month in Amsterdam’s cultural centre “De Nieuwe Liefde”.
VAN President Roos Leerdam-Bulo explained in her speech that this year the network association searched for a “different voice in science.” She described Guadeloupe as a person born in Aruba with roots from throughout the Caribbean, a person who in a “very creative way knows how to explain complicated matters in a well-founded manner.”
“Through his publications and lectures and through his education and presence in the media, he has become a source of trustworthy knowledge for a large group of people, young and old, educated and regular citizens. He strokes, provokes, challenges, his opinions rub and his words are sometimes healing. He is a symbol of a true child of the Caribbean,” said Leerdam-Bulo.
VAN’s In the Spotlight Award is presented to Dutch Caribbean persons who have made a very special contribution to society and who have excelled in their professional work – people who serve as an example to many and who are ground-breaking in what they do. Since 2016, the In the Spotlight Award has gone to psychiatrist Glenn Helberg, movie director Felix de Rooy, actress Rina Penso and actor/presenter Raymi Sambo.
The VAN during Sunday’s event also presented an encouragement Spotlight Award for potential new talent which went to a group, the musical and spoken word collective VANTA consisting of Vernon Chatlein, Juan-Carlos Goilo and Amber Nijman. Leerdam-Bulo referred to this group as “incredibly creative, inventive and hopeful.”
VANTA was praised for its performance during “Papia, the birth of a language”, the event on Sunday that preceded the VAN gathering during which the In the Spotlight awards were presented. In “Papia, the birth of a language”, VANTA shared the musical, poetic and visual history of Papiamentu and the people who speak this language.
“VANTA’s input to portray the story about a language in such a unique manner has moved us as VAN board. The professional and inspiring manner to describe a complex story in a very accessible way is promising,” said Leerdam-Bulo.
The two In the Spotlight awards were designed by Aruba-born artist Melvin Anderson and the glass sculptures were made in the glass manufacturing shop Leerdam by Geir Nustadt and his assistant Joshia.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/91713-francio-guadeloupe-honoured-with-award
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