Port of Spain, officially the City of Port of Spain, is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municipal population of 37,074 (2011), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient daily population of 250,000. It is located on the Gulf of Paria, on the northwest coast of the island of Trinidad and is part of a larger conurbation stretching from Chaguaramas in the west to Arima in the east with an estimated population of 600,000.
Christopher Ofili, is a British painter who is best known for his paintings incorporating elephant dung. He was Turner Prize-winner and one of the Young British Artists. Since 2005, Ofili has been living and working in Trinidad and Tobago, where he currently resides in the city of Port of Spain. He also has lived and worked in London and Brooklyn.
The music of Trinidad and Tobago is best known for its calypso music, soca music, chutney music, and steelpan. Calypso's internationally noted performances in the 1950s from native artists such as Lord Melody, Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow. The art form was most popularised at that time by Harry Belafonte. Along with folk songs and African- and Indian-based classical forms, cross-cultural interactions have produced other indigenous forms of music including soca, rapso, parang, chutney, and other derivative and fusion styles. There are also local communities which practice and experiment with international classical and pop music, often fusing them with local steelpan instruments.
The steelpan is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists.
J'ouvert is a traditional Carnival celebration in many countries throughout the Caribbean. The parade is believed to have its foundation in Trinidad & Tobago, with roots steeped in French Afro-Creole traditions such as Canboulay. J'ouvert typically begins in the early morning, before dawn, and peaks by mid-morning. The celebration involves calypso or soca bands, DJs, and their followers dancing through the streets. In many countries, revelers cover their bodies in paint, mud, or pitch oil. Today J'ouvert is also a part of Carnival celebrations outside of the Caribbean, with the biggest celebrations happening in cities with large Caribbean ex-pat communities.
The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event held on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in Trinidad and Tobago. This event is well known for participants' colorful costumes and exuberant celebrations. There are numerous cultural events such as "band launch" fetes running in the lead up to the street parade on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. Traditionally, the festival is associated with calypso music, developed by enslaved West and Central Africans in 17th century Trinidad; however, Soca music has begun to replace calypso as the more popular musical genre for Carnival. Costume, stick-fighting, limbo, and steelpan competitions are important components of the festival.
Arima, officially The Royal Chartered Borough of Arima is the easternmost and second largest in area of the three boroughs of Trinidad and Tobago. It is geographically adjacent to Sangre Grande and Arouca at the south central foothills of the Northern Range. To the south is the Caroni–Arena Dam. Coterminous with Town of Arima since 1888, the borough of Arima is the fourth-largest municipality in population in the country. The census estimated it had 33,606 residents in 2011.
The Canboulay riots were a series of disturbances in the British colony of Trinidad in 1881 and 1884. The riots came about in response to efforts by the colonial police to restrict aspects of the island's annual Carnival festival. In Port of Spain, San Fernando, and Princes Town, angered Trinidadians rioted in response to the actions of police. The violence of the Canboulay Riots resulted in many injuries, as well as fatalities. As a result of the riots, new government restrictions placed on Canboulay traditions. New musical instruments and styles were created in reaction to these prohibitions, which influenced the development of calypso and later soca. Additionally, the pre-carnival tradition of J'ouvert originates with Canboulay and the Canboulay Riots.
The National Museum and Art Gallery is the national museum of Trinidad and Tobago, in Port of Spain on Trinidad island. It is located at the top of Frederick Street, opposite the Memorial Park, and just south of the Queen's Park Savannah.
Saint James is a district of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Port of Spain's last major municipal expansion occurred in 1938, when the St. James district north of Woodbrook and west of St. Clair was incorporated into the city limits. In the late 19th century, Indian indentured labourers on nearby sugar estates established houses here, and St. James gradually became the centre of Port of Spain's Indian population, with many streets named after cities and districts in British India. Western Main Road, the area's major thoroughfare, has long been the city's main nightlife district, sometimes nicknamed "the city that never sleeps".
Sir Horace Shango Ové was a Trinidadian-born British filmmaker, photographer, painter and writer based in London, England. One of the leading black independent filmmakers to emerge in Britain in the post-war period, Ové was the first black British filmmaker to direct a feature-length film, Pressure (1976). In its retrospective documentary 100 Years of Cinema, the British Film Institute (BFI) declared: "Horace Ové is undoubtedly a pioneer in Black British history and his work provides a perspective on the Black experience in Britain."
Boscoe Holder, born Arthur Aldwyn Holder in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago, was Trinidad and Tobago's leading contemporary painter, who also had a celebrated international career spanning six decades as a designer and visual artist, dancer, choreographer and musician.
Bishop Anstey High School (BAHS), also known as Bishop Anstey or St. Hilary's, is a government-assisted all-girls secondary school in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. It was founded by the Anglican Bishop Arthur Henry Anstey and opened on January 13, 1921. The school is governed by a Board of Management appointed and chaired by the Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago. Its assets are controlled and managed by The Bishop Anstey Association.
Anya Ayoung-Chee is a Trinidadian host, fashion designer, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She was Miss Universe Trinidad and Tobago 2008 and was a contestant in the Miss Universe 2008 pageant. She was the winner of Project Runway's ninth season in 2011. She founded the fashion lines Anya de Rouge and Pilar and the online fashion retailer cANYAval.
President's House is the official residence of the president of Trinidad and Tobago, located in the capital city Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. It is next to the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Memorial Park is an urban park in upper Downtown, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Memorial Park is a public city park in commemoration of the Trinidadian veterans that served in World War I and World War II. It is one of the most visited urban parks in the city.
Belmont, in north-east Port of Spain, in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is located at the foot of the Laventille Hills; it was the city's first suburb. In the 1840s–'50s, parts of the area were settled by Africans rescued by the Royal Navy from illegal slaving ships. In the 1880s–'90s, the population swelled rapidly, and the characteristic Belmont street pattern of narrow, winding lanes developed. The black professional class built large homes in Belmont, as they were excluded from the more expensive neighbourhoods such as St. Clair and Maraval; Belmont became known as "the Black St. Clair". Many of these large homes have been renovated and converted to business use, but some remain in family hands. Belmont currently is a lower-middle to middle-class residential neighbourhood. It was the birthplace and early home of many important Carnival designers and bandleaders. Belmont has 9,035 inhabitants.
Che Lovelace is a Trinidadian artist who lives and works in Port of Spain, Trinidad. He first came to prominence as a champion surfer and was appointed president of Trinidad's Surfing Association in 2012. He has contributed to many art, Carnival and entertainment projects, including the weekly Studiofilmclub, founded in 2003 with Peter Doig. Lovelace is currently a lecturer at the University of the West Indies Creative Arts Campus. He is the son of novelist Earl Lovelace.
