Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 19, 2022 (SKNIS): Officials in St. Kitts and Nevis used the May 18 edition of “Working for You” to highlight the future of museums in the twin-island Federation, as the idea going forward is to have museums that are more welcoming, embracing and engaging to the public.
“What we want to see – for us at the National Trust – is a modern museum that can capture the attention of all audiences and be able to tell the story in a manner that is engaging. That, for me, is key,” said Ryllis Godeth, Executive Director at the St. Christopher National Trust in St. Kitts. “We also want to have more than one museum where we can tell different aspects of our history in a more detailed manner. There are lots of other avenues that we are looking at where we can develop museums and those will be expounded on as time goes by.”
The St. Christopher National Trust is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that was established by an Act of Parliament in 2009. The primary objective of the Trust is the administering and preserving of sites, buildings and objects that are of archaeological, architectural, artistic, environmental and historical importance on St. Kitts.
Jahnel Nisbett, Director at the Nevis Historical and Conservation Society, spoke to the use of interactive technology adding that the incorporation of such will make visitors’ visit and experience more memorable.
“We would like to incorporate a bit more technology into it [Nevis Historical and Conservation Society] to be able to effectively tell the story in our museum space, as well as develop a space where we can do more temporary exhibitions that are relevant to the time,” said Ms. Nisbett. “We would love to expound on Nevis as a living museum, to expand on the information at the different sites and how individuals can interact when they go from site to site. That is what we are looking for in Nevis for our museums.”
The Nevis Historical and Conservation Society is a non-profit, non-governmental organization. It was founded in 1980 to protect the cultural and natural heritage of the island of Nevis.
Equally important, Percival Hanley, General Manager at the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park Society supported the idea of a living museum, noting that the Brimstone Hill Fortress is a great example of such.
“The whole park itself is the museum, its structures and all the things related to it, even its geology and how it was made is all there to be seen. Visiting the Hill is visiting a museum. But, of course, within that museum we have museum rooms that go on to give you further interpretation and presentation of some of these details,” said Mr. Percival.
One special mention was the development of a sugar museum, one which Mrs. Godeth said is a fight that the Trust has been having since the sugar industry was closed in 2005. She is confident, however, that a museum of such nature will be introduced into the Federation in the near future.
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