Distinguished cultural icon and designer of Dominica’s national flag, Alwin Bully, has died at 74. The famous playwright and elderly statesman reportedly died on Friday afternoon, and was mourned by PM Roosevelt Skerrit. The prime minister also commiserated with Bully’s wife, Anita, and two children Brent and Sade.
Bully was credited with establishing and developing the Department of Culture and served as its first director. He was a Chief Cultural Officer from 1983-1987 and masterminded the establishment of the National Cultural Council, the Dominica Artists Guild, the Writers’ Guild, the Dominica National Pan Association, the Carnival Organizing Committee, and the Komite Pou Etid Kweyol.
The late statesman also started the theatre movement in Dominica by establishing the People’s Action Theatre. He taught at the Dominica Grammar School and served as acting principal from 1977-1978. He was acting manager of the Dominica Broadcasting Corporation from 1982-1983 and an advisor to the Minister of Culture from 2008-2010. He was UNESCO’s Caribbean Culture Advisor for more than 20 years too.
Bully was awarded the Sisserou Award of Honour (the second highest award in Dominica), the Golden Drum Award, the UWI 60th Anniversary Award, the LIME Creole Lifetime Award, and several cultural awards in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and other Caribbean nations. The late Dominican also excelled as a graphic artist, poet, composer, carnival administrator, and play director among others.
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