United International Arts Expo (UIAE): A New Approach to Addressing Youth Violence and Delinquency

A creative arts festival has been launched in a bid to address rising youth violence and delinquency. The United International Arts Expo (UIAE) was officially unveiled Thursday at the Private Aircraft Services offices in Charnocks, Christ Church.

Festival founder and producer Karlos Cobham said the event aims to “use the arts as well as discipleship to work along with our youth, and bring about the necessary change [and] create changing agents through that spectrum”.

He pointed to a perceived decline in moral standards.

“We have watched from generation to generation, our norms, the culture, and behaviour has changed. Some subtly, some drastically. The present generation has been blamed for once being a Christian society, now becoming a very materialistic and morally decaying nation,” Cobham said.

“The standards and principles once held high, have been tarnished with indecency and profanity. Still, the question remains “what’s being done?”

The festival, organised by the faith-based, non-profit KWEST International Inc., will feature academic and professional workshops led by international experts, culminating in a live concert. It is scheduled to run from September 20-22 at various locations across the island.

Cobham emphasised the initiative’s global aspirations: “Even though we are in Barbados, we want to have a global impact because we do recognise that it’s just not in Barbados that crime has been on the rise, but we’ve seen it in Trinidad, we’ve seen it in the USA, we are seeing it in different territories.”

Reverend Charles Johnson highlighted the importance of providing alternatives to crime for young people. He shared his experience of community outreach.

“Not too long ago, my wife and myself did a community programme in St Joseph, and we had guys seven years old that were selling drugs, making guns, cock fighting, and in that community, we were able to relate to the parents, students, and even relate to some of the drug lords. God helped us and we saw those boys turning their lives around.

“[United International Arts Expo] is giving you an outlet to have another choice, another way that you can go. My wife and myself, we run programmes as well, and there are so many different things in communities that we see and we want to change them, but we know we need the involvement of the parent, we need the involvement of the child, we need the involvement of the school… we need the involvement of everyone in that person’s life.”

The organisers hope that by offering creative outlets and mentorship, the festival will help steer young people away from problematic environments and towards more positive pursuits.