The Barbados Museum & Historical Society is pleased to welcome the National Museum of African American History & Culture | Smithsonian Institution as the official partner on the Barbados Beyond Boundaries project.
Barbados Beyond Boundaries (BBB) is a community-constructed digital space, mapping contributions of the vast experiences people from Barbados and the diaspora. It is a project by The Barbados Museum & Historical Society in partnership with the National Museum of African American History & Culture | Smithsonian Institution.
Participation in BBB can happen at two levels of submission – individual or community project.
Individuals can submit a story in the digital medium of their choice (text, movie, photo, soundbyte) for review. After approval, your story will be linked with the geographical location you specified on the BBB digital map. This then can be accessed by anyone who would like to hear about your experience!
Community groups and organizations can also submit their projects or collated stories. In addition to archiving the way you are celebrating “Bajaness”, the digital map also acts as a connection device, facilitating interaction between different community groups across the world.
The Barbados Museum & Historical Society is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, whose mandate is to collect, document and conserve evidence of Barbados cultural, historical and environmental heritage; and to interpret and present this evidence for all sectors of society.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture. It was established by Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans. To date, the Museum has collected more than 36,000 artifacts and nearly 100,000 individuals have become members. The Museum opened to the public on September 24, 2016, as the 19th and newest museum of the Smithsonian Institution.
Please email enquires to the Curator – Social History and Engagement at historycurator@barbmuse.org.bb for enquiries.
Barbados Beyond Boundaries is honoured to host an archive of submissions from the project Antillia: The Digital Island.
Antillia is a project by London-based Barbadian visual artist Ada M. Patterson hoping to compile multimedia snapshots of Bajan life, experience, thought and identity, submitted by Bajans at home and of the Diaspora. Originally a temporary online pop-up space on “The White Pube” (an art criticism website and research project run by Zarina Muhammad & Gabrielle de la Puente – http://thewhitepube.co.uk ) it now resides via the following link:
http://www.adampatterson.co.uk/antillia
Barbados Beyond Boundaries is honoured to host submissions from the project Centenarians of Barbados: The Foundation Builders.
Centenarians of Barbados: Foundation Builders is a project co-developed by the former National Committee on Ageing, the Barbados Museum and Historical Society and the Barbados Government Information Service.
It aims to celebrate Barbadian centenarians at home and abroad by providing an accessible digital archive to explore centenarian stories, see how our island has been shaped by them, and learn what resources are available for senior citizens of Barbados. Through the online platform and accompanying exhibitions, Centenarians of Barbados: Foundation Builders proposes to be an informative and interactive space for all Barbadians which highlights the significant milestone of becoming a centenarian.
Find out more on this project here: https://centenariansofbarbados.com/
On the 30th of November 2021, Barbados became a constitutional Republic and replaced Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, as the Head of State of Barbados with a Barbadian President, Dame Sandra Mason. To many Barbadian political thinkers and activists this step marks the final move towards the true and full Independence of Barbados from the United Kingdom, if only from a symbolic perspective. To commemorate this significant change in Barbados’ political history, the BMHS, in partnership with the Division of Culture and the National Cultural Foundation, mounted an exhibition titled Road to Republic – Exploring 400 years of a Political Experiment. Barbados Beyond Boundaries invites you to share your thoughts on this monumental occasion from your perspectives as Bajans living in the diaspora, to be included in this project in the digital realm!
