| AGM 2001 | |||
Following two days of association business, members of the Museums Association Of The Caribbean heard two days of papers. The first looked at slave History and included one from Nigel Sadler, Director of the Turks and Caicos National Museum on the slave History of the Turks and Caicos and the problems encountered whilst carrying out the research. Other papers were presented by Jay Haviser from the Museum Kura Hulanda, Curacao, Kevin Farmer of the Barbabos Museum and Historical Society and Gerrard Richard, Attaché de Conservation de Patrimoine Conseil Regional de la Guadeloupe as well as from Dr Mike Connors, A lecturer from New York University. Copies of most of these papers are available for viewing at the Museum. Slavery was chosen as a suitable topic as it is the Museums Association Of The Caribbean who is the local lead organisation for the UNESCO/WTO
The second day looked at Museum practices with papers from Nigel Sadler of The Turks and Caicos National Museum, Emma Mae Dawson of Department of Archaeology, Belize, Lee and Marvin Cook of Wilderness Graphics and Reynold Kerr of Kerr Museum Productions. One of the benefits of this annual meeting is so that the delegates can swap ideas and see how other museums carry out their business, a great help to those organisations who are either thinking about setting up a museum or are at the early stages of a Museum Development. Whilst in the Turks and Caicos Islands the delegates were treated to a wide range of activities in the evenings. On the first evening they were given a sneak preview of the new Lucayan Gallery at the Museum (see later). On the Wednesday evening the delegates took part in a rum tasting evening at the Water’s Edge restaurant. Each delegate had been asked to bring a bottle of their local rum with them and Lucayan Rum Company kindly sponsored the evening by supplying many bottles of the “Rum of the Turks and Caicos” as well as donating a bottle of rum for each of the delegate’s welcome pack. On the
On the Saturday morning the delegates were given a historical tour of Grand Turk. The tour started at the Lighthouse, and as if planned, an Osprey was waiting to greet the group, posing on a nearby pole. From the Lighthouse the group could also see a large group of flamingos on the other side of the entrance to North Creek. From there the tour went to Colonel Murray’s Hill, where the group were told about the role Grand Turk played in the Space Race, and shown the location of the missile tracking station, which collected the signals that monitored the heartbeats of John Glenn and Scott Carpenter. They were also shown the general view over Grand Turk. Next on the tour was “JAGS” McCartney’s Memorial where the Museum Director gave a brief History of the development of the government in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the important role that the First Chief Minister had played. This was followed by a trip around the National Museum and finally a guided tour of Front Street and Duke Street. In the afternoon the group boarded the boats of Oasis Divers and were taken to Salt Cay where lunch was served at the Pirates Hideaway, followed by a tour of Balfour Town. The delegates made it very clear that they had enjoyed their time in the Turks and Caicos Islands, especially the friendly people and the relaxed way of life here. Many said they would try and return on a holiday. The Museum and all staff should be proud of the way the AGM went and the positive feedback. It was an honour hosting such a prestigious meeting. The Trustees and Director of the Turks and Caicos National Museum would like to thank the following companies and individuals who helped to sponsor and support the Museum during the Museums Association Of The Caribbean’s 13th AGM. Ships of Discovery for funding the production of the delegate packs, nametags and pens and for donating a projector for the computer presentation Lucayan Rum Company Limited for providing rum for the delegates welcome pack as well as for the rum tasting evening Wilderness Graphics who made the banners and funded some of the lunches His Excellency Governor Mervyn Jones for hosting a reception for the delegates at his residence Neil and Pat Saxton, Island Pure Water , for hosting an evening of food and drink Water’s Edge for providing the food at cost and allowing the Museum to host the rum tasting evening at their bar, and to which they also donated two excellent bottles of rum. Jenny Smith and her staff at the Salt Raker and Osprey for making the delegates comfortable and offering a reduced room rate Walter and Cecile Wennick for providing two apartments at a reduced rate Pastor Braithwaite for providing and driving the bus on several occasions Oasis Divers and their staff for providing the boats for the trip to Salt Cay The Museum must also thank two of the Tourist Board staff. Jackie Mulligan who helped sort out some of the travel problems that occurred during the conference. However her highlight was translating and presenting a paper along with Gerard Richard, the delegate from Guadeloupe. This was carried out with less than 24 hours notice. David Bowen , the Cultural Office at the Tourist Board, who with Kenton Wyatt , put on a magnificent cultural show at the Governor’s Residence. Contents of this story: Turks and Caicos National Museum |
Printed On: Monday, September 8th, 2008