Profiles: Heroes, Role Models and Pioneers of Trinidad and Tobago - by Nasser Khan

63 what he always loved doing. From that emerged some of themost brilliant paintings by a T&T water colour artist. His subjects were the beaches, rivers and rural scenes of Mayaro, Manzanilla and Guayaguayare, but particularly coconut trees, depicted in every variation of light. In 1975 Hing Wan mounted his only one-person exhibition, at the National Museum and Art Gallery. In 1976 he was awarded the Chaconia Medal Silver and in 2006 his work “Guayaguayare Beach” was featured on a postage stamp. BOSCOE HOLDER (1921-2007) B oscoe Holder attended Tranquillity Intermediate School and Queens Royal College and showed from an early age his love for drawing, painting and piano playing, which his parents encouraged. For over six decades he was a multi-talented artist, a painter, dancer, choreographer, pianist, dance instructor and costume designer. As early as 1947 he taught Caribbean dance at the Katherine Dunham School in New York and had his paintings exhibited at 8th Street galleries. During his more active years, he formed dance groups and held productions based on the traditional dances, songs, and music of T&T such as shango, bongo and bélé. Between 1950 and 1970 he was mainly based in London, England where he had his dance group, Boscoe Holder and his Caribbean Dancers; presented his own television show, Bal Creole, which aired on BBC television and through which he introduced steelpan to England. His dance group toured many countries including Finland, Sweden, Belgium, France, Spain, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Monte Carlo and Egypt. He also performed with the legendary Josephine Baker. In 1953 at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II his company was selected to perform. In 1970, he returned to Trinidad with his wife Sheila, also a dancer and focused mainly on his paintings with annual exhibitions. His work has been exhibited all over the Caribbean and around the world. In 2000 they opened Boscoe’s Art Gallery in Newtown, Port-of Spain to welcome the millennium. • 1973: Humming Bird Medal Gold