If director of the Carnival Institute Dr Kim Johnson has his way, video recordings of T&T's indigenous art forms will no longer destined for a vault to be forgotten.
Using material from events captured during Carnival and the subsequent interviews conducted of key personalities, Johnson was able to produce and premiere a documentary, Soul Turned Inside Out, at the Digicel IMAX.
It was not a bikini and beads production. Content delivered focused on stick-fighting, Blue Devils, Jab Jab and the like.
Culture Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, National Carnival Commission (NCC) chairman Kenny De Silva, NCC deputy chairman Ainsworth Mohammed and Lutalo Masimba, president of the Trinbago Unified Calypsonian Organisation (TUCO), were among guests at the event.
Gadsby-Dolly said: "We need to be very careful that what we transmit to the diaspora is really indigenous T&T culture. It is important for us to know what our culture really is, so that we can preserve that.
"We want to remain T&T. We don't want to be transported into any other country, so it is very important for us to understand who we are, know our culture and seek to take steps to preserve what we have."
Dr Johnson said money was the biggest challenge facing the institute.With the right level of investment, he said, more can be done to capture more of the indigenous elements of T&T culture.
Johnson believes the realisation of a documentary was nothing short of incredible given the budgetary hurdles along the way.