Preserving Intangible Cultural Heritage: The CHIP Project's Efforts in Barbados, Tobago, and Grenada

As the world continues to change at a rapid pace, and with new threats such as climate change on the horizon, it is important that the cultural and social practices that have defined us as a people do not disappear entirely.

This was the focus of a recently held two-day Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) workshop delivered by the Pinelands Creative Workshop as part of its Cultural Heritage Identification and Preservation (CHIP) project, which is funded through the ACP-EU Culture Programme (Caribbean).

The project is implemented by the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States with the financial contribution from the EU, and local support from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Chief Executive Officer of the Pinelands Creative Workshop Sophia Greaves-Broome, said her organisation has maintained a commitment to document the region’s cultural heritage for several decades now.

“Our cultural retention journey did note begin with the CHIP project, but began on October 14, 1988, some 35 years ago through the formed Cultural Fusion, which allowed for collaboration and retention of varied Caribbean folk forms,” Greaves-Broome said.

“In 2015 through an initiative supported by the Human Resource Development Strategy, we started another venture in terms of conducting a national scan of community groups that produce Indigenous cultural products and services and was able to compile a directory of these entities as well as engage in interviews with varied knowledge bearers to document the folklore, norms, historical practices and cultural heritage that informs contemporary cultural performances. This research contributed to the production of the documentary Cultural Routes – Pathways to Creative Expression.”

In response to a call for proposal by Creative Caribbean, the CHIP project was submitted on July 9, 2022. The project has given focus to Barbados, Tobago, and Grenada, because of the historical relationship between these three islands that through migration has allowed the retention of similar traditions to this day. Along with understanding this relationship, the CHIP project intends to utilize ICH as a tool for community enhancement, improved cultural products and related economic activity and overall improved relations among key stakeholders and grassroots communities across the region.

“As an organisation, the pandemic period gave us the time and space to reflect and plan a new strategy, which included a renewed commitment to research and development. Despite the negative impact of Covid 19, climate change and other disasters, we have seen a revival and renewed commitment to traditional folk festivals within communities and villages across the Caribbean including Tobago and Grenada, which are important in terms of social and economic growth within those communities,” Greaves-Broome said.

Meanwhile, Director of Cultural Policy and Research with the Culture Division in the Prime Minister’s Office, Donna Greene-Rusinghi, said that climate change can actually adversely affect our efforts to maintain our cultural heritage.

“One major natural disaster can destroy our intangible cultural heritage; in that it can displace the people with the knowledge as well as any documented information they may have. We cannot take for granted that what we have now will remain forever. For example, there are some hotels under construction now that may not be here in the next 30 years, and we have a tendency not to take care of what we have, or to document it, so we have to do that before they deteriorate, so we can tell our uncensored stories to the world.”

Workshop facilitator and Chairman of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee in the Prime Minister’s Office, Rodney Grant, highlighted how some of that heritage can easily be lost. “What we are looking at is not just what you see physically, like a dance routine, but the thought process that went into it, and the knowledge and skills of the practitioners. The biggest threat we face is that of course some of the older practitioners may die and if we do not map the knowledge they have, it dies with them, and there is also the risk of giving away knowledge without compromising the intellectual property aspect of it.”

He noted that Barbados is planning to submit documents highlighting the history of road tennis and the Barbados Landship to UNESCO in 2024, saying that “UNESCO covers some 199 countries, so once these reports go in, that will potentially expose these uniquely Barbadian practices to people all over the world.”

One of the participants, Ireka Jelani, herself a 40-year veteran in many aspects of Barbadian cultural heritage such as healing herbs and basket weaving, stated that, “Programmes such as these will add value to people in our communities, stimulating awareness of cultural practices and norms that exist, and will help us to focus more on what we do, preserving it and enhancing our skills in such a way that we do not only maintain the traditions, but see how we can adapt them to the ever changing environment.”

The workshop was held at the Courtyard by Marriott on October 25 and 26.

(PR)