BVI’s Culture Unit on ‘life support’ — Parsons
BVI cultural icon, Eileene Parsons, has slammed the current state of the territory’s Culture Department and is calling for special attention to be given to a revival of the territory’s culture.
“Our Culture Unit, I have to say it’s on life support,” Parsons argued. “It needs an injection, a double injection of life.”
A staunch advocate for the territory’s culture over the years, the former legislator urged that, unless there is someone in the territory’s Culture Department who is interested and has the contacts to get around and get things done, it cannot move forward.
She further urged that steps should be taken to raise and enhance the level of cultural awareness in society.
Parsons frowned on the way persons come into the BVI and habitually rename the territory’s cultural festivities. She made mention of the transformation of the popular Rise and Shine Tramp during the August Festival into what some have been calling a j’ouvert.
Parsons suggested that this could not happen if there was proper guidance coming from the government’s culture unit. “I said, why do we constantly take what people bring in and don’t insist on, ‘you come to my country, you say what you meet in my country’,” Parsons stated.
She praised Dr Charles Wheatley for his vision and his focus on reviving what was referred to as the territory’s rapidly deteriorating culture decades ago. It was then that Parsons was appointed as the BVI’s first Cultural Officer in the Department of Education in 1954.
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has repeatedly called for more attention to be placed on a revival of the territory’s culture and said late last year that the territory will continue to diversify its tourism product through culture, conventions and sports.
He announced that the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) had been tasked with drawing up plans for multiple cultural and educational initiatives, some of which are expected to be completed this year.
“The RDA has been tasked with designing a national cultural museum, a national library, a national archives and national art gallery, and a national performing arts centre,” the Premier said.
According to Dr Wheatley, these designs will be completed in 2023 and the institutions are expected to play a vital role in educating and enriching the resident and visitor population through an examination of the heritage and culture of the Virgin Islands people.
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The reality is that we the people are far more concerned with the degrading of our quality of life and want all funds put towards improvement; water, sewerage, roads, incinerator, health care system. Once these are addressed then start dancing again, but consider what is going to improve the quality of life for everyone, instead of using entertainment to hide the miserable state of our infrastructure.
This lady’s contribution to culture was to establish a dance group that wore clothes that she designed (and which have no cultural significance save that they resemble the uniforms that big Caribbean hotels dress their porter staff in) and performed dances that did not resemble any traditional way of dancing in the BVI (and resembled Disney type Caribbean dancing).
Please go sit down.
our culture is in the pits no basket making no fish pot making no tart making no coconut bread making no culture tours no nothing..
Just rap music and guns
The parade comprises women and young girls in revealing outfits (often far to small for the size of the person) simulating sex with each other! If that is our culture, then God help us.
@Has been…
Stop talking nonsense and address the issue! What did Ms. P say that was incorrect? We do need to keep the flames of our culture burning. We take everything from everywhere and pretend it’s ours.
Examples –
Peas and rice — rice and peas
Fry bread or johnny cake —festival
The original name of places…I am sure you can think of many.
I am proud to be a Virgin Islander and I would experience and appreciate other cultures, but would never give up mine, especially in my homeland, for anothers. Be anchored by our culture and our firm belief in a supreme being – God!
Talk Ms. P!!! We need to bring light in this place!
A native Virgin Islander to the Nth generation
(If you don’t want to publish this, that’s ok)
Take a look at who leading it.
I quite agree. Our culture is fast dying with one or two people trying hard to preserve what they can.
I quite agree. Our culture is fast dying with one or two people trying hard to preserve what they can.
BVI culture being replaced by 3rd world culture of dilapidated infrastructure, rising cost of living in BVI, rising homicides, corrupt government officials and increasing xenophobia.
A BVIslander won the Tart competition in recent St.Thomas so the culture they dey still
Take a trip down to Carrot Bay and you will find that BVI Culture is alive in this community. Mrs. Chung will teach you all you need to learn about our culture. Don’t be fooled by the last name. She is “indigenous “ and I high light indigenous daughter of the soil.
Are cronyism. corruption, greed, adultery, and xenophobia cultural attributes? If so, a reader of BVIs online media might be led to believe that the Territory has an abundance or even a surfeit.
You left out drug trafficking.
CULTURE? – so the government builds a fake village for the tourists to go visit and spend money.
So no tourists go to the little local bars and restaurants.
The government needs to stop doing ANYTHING except fix the roads, put hospitals on the 4 main islands, fix the schools.
Cruse Ship Culture is T-shirts and discount watches and booze.
What will you do about it Ms.P? I agree with you on this point. But you have tarnished your reputation with your borderline hate and disdain almost for persons not from the BVI that your intentions get clouded and that’s sad.
We should start by having a BVI culture 101 in schools, because if ts not taught it probably wont be followed too far from now.
Our “culture” is only on display when we see the need for adding it to a “big or celebrated event”. What happened to making sure BVI restaurants feature at least our national dish!
I can go on and on. But let’s start teaching and educating on what truly our culture is, that way the possibility of it being sustained has a higher likelihood of long life!