Search

Placeholder Content Image

Barbados announces new museum of slavery

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just days after cutting ties with the British monarchy, Barbados has announced plans to build a major new heritage site dedicated to the history of the transatlantic slave trade.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The museum is set to house the largest </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">collection of British slave records outside of the United Kingdom, as well as a research cebtrew and a memorial adjacent to a burial ground where the remains of 570 enslaves West African men, woman and children were discovered. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Barbados is authentically enshrining our history and preserving the past as we reimagine our world and continue to contribute to global humanity. It is a moral imperative but equally an economic necessity,” Barbados’s Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley said in a statement.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Construction of the museum is set to begin on November 30th 2022, on the first anniversary of Barbados becoming a parliamentary republic. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The site will be located outside of the country’s capital city, next to the Newton Enslaved Burial Ground Memorial, a former sugar plantation and the site of the island’s largest and earliest slave burial ground.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Upon its completion, the district will be the first of its kind in the Caribbean, as it will combine research and extensive documentation from the existing Barbados Archives. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The new archive will “enable Barbados to authoritatively map its history in lasting, healing and powerful ways,” Mottley said. “It will unearth the as-yet-untold heritage embedded in centuries-old artifacts, revealing both Barbados’ history and trajectory into the future.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to a statement from David Adjaye, the site’s architect, the design for the district “draws upon the technique and philosophy of traditional African tombs, prayer sites and pyramids.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In order to commemorate the victims of the slave trade, the grounds above the grave will feature 570 individual timber beams, capped with brass plates and angled towards the sun. </span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Getty Images</span></em></p>

Art

Placeholder Content Image

Prince Charles nods off during separation ceremony

<p>Prince Charles has been spotted appearing to doze off during an historic ceremony in Barbados.</p> <p>The 73-year-old Prince of Wales was caught on camera closing his eyes as his head slowly fell forward, before he jolted back up as cameras flashed in front of him.</p> <p>The ceremony marked Barbados becoming a republic, ending four centuries with the British monarch as the head of state.</p> <p>Prince Charles attended the historic Presidential Inauguration Ceremony in Bridgetown, and was joined by former cricketer Garfield Sobers, new president Sandra Mason and singer Rihanna.</p> <p>During the ceremony, the heir to the throne acknowledged the "appalling atrocity of slavery", as he described it as something "which forever stains our history".</p> <p>Charles summed up the period when the UK was one of the leading players in the transatlantic slave trade as the "darkest days of our past", but looking to the future said the "creation of this republic offers a new beginning".</p> <p>In a message to the new president and people of Barbados, the Queen sent the new republic her "warmest good wishes for your happiness, peace and prosperity in the future" and commended the nation which has a "special place" in her heart for "its vibrant culture, its sporting prowess, and its natural beauty".</p> <p>Prince Charles watched on as the presidential flag was raised in place of the Queen's at midnight local time, on the 55th anniversary of independence from Britain.</p> <p>Despite nodding off due to the change in time zone, Prince Charles said he was honoured to be attending the ceremony, and said he will "always consider myself a friend of Barbados."</p> <p>"Tonight you write the next chapter of your nation's story, adding to the treasury of past achievement, collective enterprise and personal courage which already fill its pages."</p> <p>"Yours is a story in which every Barbadian, young and old, can take the greatest pride - inspired by what has come before them and confident about what lies ahead."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Watch this exhilarating Exumas and Barbados sailing adventure

<p>If this video doesn’t make you want to visit the Caribbean, we don’t know what will!</p> <p>Artec, a music and video producer based in Miami, has released a video called “Land of the Sea” which depicts a once in a lifetime sailing trip through the Caribbean.</p> <p>We see the music producer explore the Barbados and the Exumas and take part in a range of exhilarating activities like diving, cliff jumping, kite boarding and surfing.</p> <p>The video also features “Deep Fear”, an original song by the artist, which provides the perfect backing to the events depicted in the video.</p> <p>Make sure you watch the video the full way through. Be warned though, your feet will be itching for an island escape by the end of it. </p> <p><em>Video credit: YouTube / Artec Media </em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/travel/international-travel/2016/01/10-most-amazing-man-made-structures/">10 most amazing man-made structures</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/travel/international-travel/2016/01/how-i-drove-a-motorhome-around-the-world/">When I retired I drove a motorhome around the world</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/travel/international-travel/2016/01/odd-and-amazing-toilets-from-around-the-world/">12 odd (but amazing) toilets from around the world</a></strong></em></span></p>

International Travel

Over 60

© Copyright 2024 OverSixty.All Rights Reserved.