Undoubtedly, Barbados is an island interspersed with history and Caribbean culture that abounds in every respect. Several museums on this “Gem of the Caribbean Sea” chronicle the history that still permeates our everyday lives and can be seen in our festivals like Crop Over, our Soca and Spouge music genres and even our food in meals like souse or cou cou & flying fish. Overflowing with customs and cultural practices, Barbadians have worked both individually and collectively to establish heritage reserves for as many pieces of Barbados’ history as possible. However, there are a few museums that offer very unique ways to connect with our traditions, practices and ways of life in times past and present. A few of these are outlined below.
Barbados Exchange Museum
The Barbados Exchange Museum is the island’s largest interactive centre within the UNESCO World Heritage site of Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison. This in itself will tell you that it is a museum that bustles with activity as persons from all over the island come to learn about the intriguing history of trade and banking in the aforementioned capital city. Even the building of the Barbados Exchange Museum is a relic of an 18th-century building that has undergone modern restoration.
In 1733 at its time of establishment, however, the building once housed the ‘Harrison Free School’. It was later sold in 1871 to eventually become the Masonic Lodge of Barbados. This transaction explains why the Museum today explores the exchange of thoughts and ideas through which the fraternal organisation of Free Masonry in Barbados was borne out.
While touring Barbados’ exchange museum, prepare to have all of your questions relating to Barbados’ investment and financial history answered as you explore exhibits detailing this commercial history over four centuries. Displays also introduce the museum-goers to the development of central banking, to promote the understanding of money, as well as the Central Bank’s role in it and responsibility for it. In addition to expounding upon concepts within the world of historic commerce, the Barbados Exchange Museum also showcases exhibitions that spread awareness about the building’s heritage in early education and freemasonry. Church Village Green is a great outdoor park in the heart of the city to continue the museum adventures, just be sure to look for replicas of historic coins.
The Cricket Legends of Barbados
The Cricket Legends of Barbados Museum is a place cricket connoisseurs call home. The community museum has a fitting location in Fontabelle, St. Michael as it is adjacent to Kensington Oval where legendary cricket matches have been held throughout the years. The Museum highlights the excitement first felt when watching the Greats like Wes Hall, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, and the decorated Sir Garfield Sobers, who over the last century, represented not only their islands but the entire region, and a treasure trove of related memorabilia can be found at the museum.
Cricket Legends of Barbados has several rooms dedicated to displaying the sporting careers of cricket luminaries. In the Portrait Room, there are sneak peeks into their personal lives too. This comes as no surprise since some artefacts have been donated to the Museum by the legends themselves. Within the Portrait Room, their experiences playing for West Indian cricket teams have been well-documented with exclusive photos that cover the walls of the room. Each image of a cricketer, like the ones of Sir Everton Weekes, Charlie Griffith, or Joel Garner is accompanied by biodata and cricket stats related to the pictured sportsman.
The next attraction is The Heritage Room which features the more traditional exhibitions one would expect to see in a museum; displays of events and information of historical significance. The room is centered around the early legends and contains exhibits that date back to as early as 1895.
Up next, the Press Gallery completes the trio with a bespoke design of ceiling-to-floor coverings made with an arsenal of press clippings - featuring famous cricket media highlights. This room bursts at the seams with published articles and newspaper clippings of everyone’s favourite cricketers.
When cricket lovers wish to relive the moments of skill and precision executed in the game by their heroes, look no further than the CLOBI World Master Cricket Cup, which gives them a chance to do just that.
The museum is also outfitted with a Souvenir Shop chronicling the successes of West Indian cricketers, exclusive Cricket Legends of Barbados clothing lines as well as other sports attire. When you’ve worked up an appetite, head over to the Pavillion Bar and Restaurant to complete your fun-filled trip to The Cricket Legends of Barbados Museum
The Caribbean Wax Museum
A Wax Museum is a collection of life-like wax sculptures depicting famous and historically significant people. After 11 years in the making, the Caribbean finally has one of its own. The only Wax Museum native to the Latin American and Caribbean regions, it was the product of Barbadian artist and sculptor Arthur Edwards along with his business partner, Frances Ross.
The Caribbean Wax Museum makes its very suitable home in Broad Street, Bridgetown (a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site). There, visitors will find more than 30 Caribbean or Caribbean-related wax figures which took Ross (the sculptor) about four months each to complete.
Historical figures are the sole occupants of the main floor with feature appearances from revolutionaries like Toussaint L’Ouverture and political leaders like Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and Marcus Garvey, they represent Haiti, Cuba, and Jamaica respectively. In fact, the Caribbean Wax Museum houses the only known wax sculpture of famous black nationalist Garvey and, because it is a fully interactive audio-visual experience, they have incorporated a recording of one of his speeches on a monitor within the exhibition.
A slew of other Caribbean cultural figures can be found throughout the Wax Museum’s exhibits; leaders in politics, sports and entertainment. Take for instance Barbadian calypso singer The Mighty Gabby posing next to the also Bajan soca queen herself, Alison Hinds. From Jamaica, you can find the legendary reggae artist Bob Marley with his guitar in hand. Turn the corner, and you will run into the fastest man alive - Usain Bolt. Athletes who dominated the pitch (as opposed to the track) get an equal spotlight at the Caribbean Wax Museum, as evidenced by the presence of Brian Lara and Sir Garfield Sobers.
Head upstairs to take a look at the collection of mainstream celebrity figures, spanning the likes of Jenifer Lopez and Richard Branson. This may be the closest you get to shake hands with one of these celebrities, as gentle touching of the figurines is allowed, and even encouraged. The Museum, of course, would not be complete without the inclusion of Rihanna’s wax figure, beautifully adorned in a blue dress reminiscent of her first Grammy win, as the figurine clutches her hyperrealistic award.
Barbados Museum and Historical Society
If there is any item on this list you would expect to be found on our UNESCO World Heritage Site, it would be the ‘Barbados Museum’, as it is affectionately abridged to. The Barbados Museum and Historical Society as it is formally called is a non-profit, private organisation, with a membership of over 1,00 individuals and companies who share an interest in the Museum’s collections.
Because the Barbados Museum and Historical Society is a non-governmental institution, its grounds can be rented to hold private events such as parties and weddings. The building in which the present Barbados Museum resides was established in 1933, in the former British Military Prison, and serves today to depict the island’s rich history.
It is unsurprisingly the dominant authority on Barbadian heritage and natural history as it relates to identity and culture. It is home to around 500,000 artefacts and years worth of multitudinous and comprehensive collections of information. Included in the artefacts are antique maps of Barbados and paintings which date back to the Museum’s earliest years in the 1930s and moving right up to more recent decades.
Some of the main features of the Barbados Museum include:
- Barbados natural history display that depicts the geographical coral structure of Barbados
- Neo-Indian artefacts
- 18th Century plantation house furnishings
- A children’s gallery entitled ‘Yesterday’s Children’.
- A reference library, called the Shilstone Memorial Library (open on weekdays to research the island’s history and genealogy)
- A Museum Shop with Barbadian souvenirs and prints that are available for purchase.
These four very different, dynamic museums represent a diverse offering of historic content, from sports to commerce, and each has a unique historical point of view to share with those who visit.