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March 24, 2007

OL' TIME TING
CARNIVAL MUSEUM

By: ms.cyntje
From Our Mar - Apr 2007 Issue

As I stepped into the Carnival Committee office and glanced over the many promotional posters and photos of Carnival, a feeling of awe came over me. How could a small tightly packed office space, manned by two, create the grandeur that we all have come to know as the Virgin Islands Carnival?

As a young person I didn’t really know that much about carnival; to me it was all about showing off my new clothes, having fun in a troupe with friends and going out as much as my parents would let me. Visiting the Carnival Committee office and listening to the committee members gave me a much needed awakening about what Carnival is/was really about.

As I flipped through the many photo albums, electronic archives and Carnival magazines, I saw the development of Carnival throughout the years, and it’s historical along with its cultural significance to the Virgin Islands community began to unfold.

Going through the list of participants from 1952 to 2006 was like going through a who’s who in the VI. I saw a once crowned Carnival prince become the Governor of the Virgin Islands; and many ordinary girl-next-door types catapulted to a royal status as they reigned as Carnival Queens over the biggest celebration in the Virgin Islands . I went from just expecting to attend carnival each year to thinking about how could I ensure that there would be a carnival for my kids, grand kids and all Virgin Islanders fifty years from now.

Carnival in the Virgin Islands since 1952 has always been and always will be an event: about the people, organized by the people, for the enjoyment of the people. Thus it is our duty as the people of the Virgin Islands , the beneficiaries of this amazing event, to keep carnival alive and well. However just attending and patronizing events is not enough. The institution of Carnival is in jeopardy of loosing its historic anthropological significance to the Virgin Islands .

Currently no museum exists in the Virgin Islands whose purpose is to maintain, preserve and showcase this historical institution: the very essence of our culture; the event we all as Virgin Islanders hold most dear to our hearts. The constant complaint and virtual plea from the members of Carnival Committee is: that they have no place to store or display the diverse aspects of Carnival.

For this reason the records of Carnival risk damage from improper storage: artifacts like costumes and others have been lost already.

We must ask ourselves: how much more of the history of Carnival are we willing to loose before we take the reigns and demand that this grand event receive the respect and preservation it deserves.

All the people of the Virgin Islands need to be afforded the right to research and pay homage to the single most permeating element of Virgin Islands culture, in a place fitting for such an important part of our anthropology as a people.

Please do not allow these vibrant and vital parts of this institution to deteriorate due to unnecessary government bureaucracy and lack of community knowledge /protest.

...it's historical along with its cultural significance to the Virgin Islands community began to unfold