THE TIME HAS COME to tell the story of the Barbados Arts Council.
The Barbados Arts Council (BAC) was established on December 6, 1957, as a non-governmental organization with a mandate to promote, support and develop all the arts of Barbados.
The early years saw an emphasis on the performing arts (music, drama, dance, film), but the visual and literary arts were also actively developed in a number of sub-committees. From its inception, the BAC called for the establishment of a National Gallery and for a permanent home of the Arts Council in the form of a Cultural Centre with facilities for all the arts. These calls have been repeated by most BAC presidents since but have yet to be answered.
Throughout its history, the BAC has organized concerts, recitals and art exhibitions, produced plays, film shows and radio programs. It has run competitions and workshops; funded scholarships; and hosted visiting lecturers, authors, artists, musicians, theatre companies, and orchestras.
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TODAY, the BAC functions mainly as a visual arts organization centered in the BAC Gallery at the Pelican Craft Centre in Bridgetown. The BAC Gallery has an “open door policy,” which welcomes established artists and new talent alike, and so it has remained a vital force in the development of the arts in Barbados for the past 60 years.
The BAC also serves as a consulting body for art policy and art administration, while looking after the interests of art and artists in legislative matters.
The BAC’s mission has been documented in minutes, correspondence, newspaper articles, sketches and notes, most of which were, thankfully, kept as the BAC headquarters moved from Wakefield to Queen’s House then to Pelican Village, and, recently, to two different locations in the Pelican Craft Centre. But our tropical climate (with the added punch of sea blast) is not kind to archived documents, and the records of decades of dedicated work were only just salvageable.
These primary sources form the core my research.
My first task was to sort, sanitize and scan everything, even the smallest scrap or scribble. These are being saved: physically in plastic containers and. digitally in an external drive that will be presented to the BAC on completion of research and publication of findings.
My second task is this brief outline of our history project.
The third is to publish my findings both as an ebook and printed text during 2017—this 60th anniversary year of the BAC’s founding.
This project was made possible through a grant from the Arts and Sport Promotion Fund.
I am also grateful to BAC Presidents Rasheed Boodhoo and Neville Legall, who facilitated the use of the BAC archives, and to the late Fielding Babb, who graciously allowed me access to his log books and historical collection. Lilian Sten-Nicholson, AICA
