From 2003 to 2009, ArtsEtc Inc. produced a bi-monthly newsletter called ArtsEtc: The Premier Cultural Guide to Barbados.

It featured the finest writing from some of our best writers and cultural practitioners, attracted some very loyal public- and private-sector funding and an equally loyal readership. Our major funding partner was the National Art Gallery Comittee (now the Barbados National Gallery.)

The magazine, which was designed as a collectible fold-out, was printed locally by Calton Printing and distributed free across Barbados and beyond. The Premier Cultural Guide ran for 25 issues and two years longer than we initially intended before becoming web-based as artsetcbarbados.com (where you are now!).

Even though we’re fully online now, readers say they still miss the lovely old hard copies and ask about them often. We miss them, too!

So stay awhile and enjoy a slightly nostalgic look at some of our back issues through our Back Page Say editorials, not to mention those highly collectible covers, many of which featured original or celebrated artwork from some of Barbados’ leading visual artists. 

Simply click on the active links below to access selected content and a closer look at the cover for each issue.

Happy catching up!

Issue No. 1 (Mar/Apr 2003): The Art-Jazz Connection 
Issue No. 2 (May/June 2003): Treasure Island
Issue No. 3 (Jul/Aug 2003): Masters of the Hypa Verse
Issue No. 4 (Sept/Oct 2003): The All-Movie Issue 
Issue No. 5 (Nov/Dec 2003): The Next Generation of Barbadian Novelists 
Issue No. 6 (Jan/Feb 2004): Who’s Doing What in Barbadian Jazz 
Issue No. 7 (Mar/Apr 2004): Getting the Big Picture
Issue No. 8 (May/Jun 2004): First Anniversary Launch Issue/Main Menu Chef! Michael Harrison 
Issue No. 9 (July/August 2004): Politics & We Culture
Issue No. 10 (Sept/Oct 2004): Film Festival Issue
Issue No. 11 (Nov/Dec 2004): The No-Nonsense Poetry Issue
Issue No. 12 (Jan/Feb 2005): The Review Issue
Issue No. 13 (Mar/Apr 2005): The Essential Theatre Issue
Issue No. 14 (May/June 2005): The Poetycal Issue
Issue No. 15 (July/August 2005): The Naked Issue
Issue No. 16 (Sept/Oct 2005): Art Education II
Issue No. 17 (Nov/Dec 2005): Wherefore Art thou?
Issue No. 18 (Jan/Feb 2006) The Haiku Photo Issue
Issue No. 19 (Mar/Apr 2006): Any Given Sunday
Issue No. 20 (May/June 2006): The Dance Spirit Issue
Issue No. 21 (October 2006): Bajinnovation Issue 
Issue No. 22 (Mar/Apr 2007): Slave Trade Abolition Bicentenary Issue
Issue Nos 23 & 24 (Mar/Apr 2008): Barbados/…The Change Issue
Issue No. 25 (Mar/Apr 2009): The Gone Fishin’ Issue 

Last Modified: August 29, 2024