The COVID 19 virus has changed the way persons access entertainment and the arts as both performers and audiences have turned to social media as a way of expressing themselves and having a truly needed moment of relaxation. ‘Spice and Clove’, a locally organised Song and Poetry night made waves this weekend drawing a massive following on social media, as the event brought together some of the best young Guyanese artists to share their craft.

The event, which was hosted on May 30, 2020, featured a host of singers, songwriters and poets, including Onix Duncan, Angie Mootoo, Joshua ‘Tujay’ Macey and Abiki Barker aka The Shady Poet. The original song and poetry pieces took the four thousand-plus virtual attendees on an imaginative ride as the artists touched on several topics including love, pain, change and even personal peace.

Organiser of the event, Gracie Brown aka ‘The Olive’ stated that she and poet Renata Burnette who was the second organizer, along with other art enthusiasts received several requests from persons to share their art through Facebook live stream; she said this is where the idea was birthed.

“We saw the need persons were reaching out and asking us, and myself and Renata we started brainstorming the idea of having this event; how we would pull it off, how we would recruit artists and so on. We realised that the arts are extremely important to many persons. People feel art, people need it, and artists need a channel to share, so we decided to go ahead with the event.”

Brown said that the hunt began to find local artists to take part in the show. Stating that she and Burnette used their resources and connections from their time performing at Franale’s Hip hop and poetry night events and they started contacting several of the persons they knew. She said following the initial team of persons she used her social media to invite up and coming artists to be a part of clove and spice.

Brown told The Buzz that the event gained much more traction than had been anticipated by her, Brunette or any of the other performers stating, “The event was wildly more successful than we had thought. By the end, persons were commenting and texting us telling us we have to do a second edition to the event.” She stated that works are already in the way for the second segment of the event, with plans to continue in the distant future.