THE NAIPAUL HOUSE
Chairman’s Address at the Formal Opening of the Naipaul
House at 26 Nepaul Street, St James, February 10, 2014
I had a vision for this house long before it went up for
sale. So this is an emotional
occasion for the Naipaul family and for me. Self apart, it is a historic moment
in the development of our culture, and I therefore want to put it in a
perspective that we must not lose.
We are about to open to the public a house that preserves
memories and mementoes of the
humble origins and enduring literary achievements of Seepersad
Naipaul, his sons Vidya and Shiva, his grandson Neil Bissoondath and other
descendants in the writing line like the poet Vahni Capildeo.
In the first place, we celebrate family through this house: we underline the nurturing contribution of Droapadie Capildeo
who was married off at the age 16 to Seepersad Naipaul in 1929, and we note the achievements in other fields
of other Naipaul and Capildeo offspring. For this reason, Friends of Mr Biswas
wanted the well-executed plaque that is to be unveiled today to begin thus:
“The Naipaul House / Family Home of Seepersad and Droapatie Naipaul
1946- 1991”. This house is
still home in some sense to members of the Naipaul family far and near.
The House as family home is balanced by another value. Remarkably
for our culture, we are acknowledging literature, writing, in a monumental way.
And whatever we do with the
Naipaul House must take its shape and colour from literature and the literary
arts that the house generated and which
made the house iconic.
In this age of dissolving and confused values, the spirits in this house, the writers it nurtured, and the
standing appeal it makes to us to absorb the values of the literary arts are
more than ever necessary to teach us how to live as if life matters, and how to
respect the work of mind and body.
This house is a heritage building [we have begun the
process of having it listed by the National Trust as a heritage site], and we hope to assemble in it mementos
and memorabilia such as you would find in a conventional museum. We will commence
our programme of activities even as we continue to collect the scattered bones.
Soon, Seepersad’s famous typewriter may take up its place, and maybe even his
bookcase with the books he read. We
hope members of the public might have lamps, four poster beds, a safe, a hatstand, and furniture of the 1950’s
they might wish to lend or give; or even books by any of the Naipauls they would like to donate to the
library.
In all this we should not forget that it is the house
itself that is the museum. And one
of our Sisyphean tasks is to preserve it from drought and flood, from weeds and the invisible worm, from
the teeth of termites and human destroyers, and from the inevitable tensions
that arise when different
personal, societal, political and philosophical interests seek accommodation.
When Mr Biswas dies in the novel, friends and family come to pay their
respects: “Downstairs the doors of the
house were open… the furniture was pushed to the walls. All that day and
evening well-dressed mourners , men, women and children passed through the
house. The polished floor became scratched and dusty; the staircase shivered
continually; the top floor resounded with the steady shuffle. And the house did not fall.” During our watch, the house shall not
fall. And it will not fall because it will be both the family home of the
Naipaul-Capildeo clan, and the centre from which we seek to pass on heritage by nurturing literature and the literary arts in Trinidad and Tobago.
We knew that the objects to be installed in the House
could only come through the Naipaul family so it wasn’t just an act of courtesy
to invite them to be represented on the Committee from the outset. Family
representatives included the late Mrs Kamla Tewarie Naipaul, her daughter Mrs
Shalini Tewarie -Aleong who only a few days ago released important pieces of
furniture to the house (the dining table and chairs on which the family
including Vidia and Shiva worked, and Droapadie’s rocking chair); and Mr Rai Akal
(son of Savi Naipaul Akal) who has always been our Treasurer and our permanent
link to the family. We made sure that the family always had a direct link to
the work of the Committee , and after 2010 Mr Akal began to work to involve the family and to gather in
museum items.
The breakthrough came about six months ago with the
positive intervention of Mrs Savi Akal. Her photographs, her memory of how
things were, and her enthusiasm have been the catalyst we needed. May I here
pay tribute to Ms Lorraine Johnson
who master-minded the process of turning the photographs supplied by Mrs Akal
into the exhibition that has surprised even Mrs Akal. I think an exhibition of
books, manuscripts, letters,
newspaper clippings etc might well be our next display in the House, and I know that Ms Johnson will rise
to that challenge as she did to this one.
Today, we are at the point where the most important part
of our work can begin. We are ready to
turn the house into a house
of writing and reading for new writers and for a generation who need
inspiration and example.
Our strategic plan for the period 2013 to 2015 and the
year by year implementation
program include the restoring and establishing of the house not as a static
showpiece but as a living museum. The
House will not only not fall. It will grow taller and taller because it will be
the base for a number of activities involving schools and communities . Our
purpose is to spread the gospel about what literature and the arts of the
imagination can mean to ordinary
people in villages and cities. We will show the Naipaul House, the social
history it contains, the achievements it inspired, and say “ These are people like you, you can do it too.”
Since completing the strategic plan 2013-2015, they have been working at establishing formal alliances with the Lion
House, Nalis, The National Trust, Citizens for Conservation, The Writers’
Union, Tourism Development Company, Bocas Lit Fest, and other civic –minded
organizations.
Special thanks to Max for setting up the website; to
Radica for managing the Facebook Page and the Membership Drive; Giselle, and
Angene who are shaping up our schools outreach; Nicholas Laughlin who is
planning the next event on the work of Vahni Capildeo; and the pro bono work of Professor Rajendra
Ramlogan whose legal acumen
has rescued us from obstacles that
were hampering our operations. His revision of the Constitution was passed by
the Committee in 2013 and he has drafted a revised Organisation Structure,
Procurement Rules and Financial Procedures to be discussed at our next meeting
on February 28, 2014.
We are ready to go. From February 24, the House will be
open to visitors on two days a week. The arrangements will be set out in our
Facebook Page and on the Website.
Our work is not going to be easy. The price we pay for our 99 year lease and the power to
regulate our own activities is
that we must become revenue earning. It is one of our most important strategic goals. I want to give assurance that Friends are determined not to be buyers
and sellers of imported substances but to make and
own special products, revenue-earning activities and objects spiritually connected
to our work as preservers of the house and spreaders of the literary heritage. Our work is aimed at
every creed and race in our society , and as it develops it will spread from the
writings of Seepersad Naipaul and his immediate descendants to the work of all the writers of Trinidad and
Tobago who are his descendants too.
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