Museum Day on the Brac

Cayman Brac joined over 60 nations this year in celebrating International Museum Day. On May 19 over 600 people attended the International Museum Day and Family Fun Fair on the lawn of District Administration in Stake Bay. Tours were also held at the neighbouring Cayman Brac Museum with its new extension and medical history exhibit.

Minister responsible for District Administration, the Hon Kurt Tibbetts, was among several officials who helped launch the celebrations. In his remarks Mr Tibbetts paid tribute to the theme of International Museum Day 2007. "With the theme Museums and Universal Heritage we should think of our museum not as simply a storehouse for artifacts but instead as a place to learn about how our Caymanian heritage, especially in this context, Cayman Brac history, is important and unique in the world."

Also present were Sister Islands MLAs Julianna O'Connor-Connolly and Moses Kirkconnell, District Commissioner, Ernie Scott and Deputy District Commissioner, Mark Tibbetts and Deputy Director of the Cayman Islands National Museum, Doss Solomon.

Sister Islands MLA Julianna O'Connor-Connolly commented on the importance of the Cayman Brac Museum. "The museum plays a pivotal role in the diversification of our tourism project and offers a wonderful opportunity for culture to be shared and preserved for the current generation and those to come. The exhibits depict the resilient nature of the Brac people and how they did the best they could with available resources."

The new exhibit on Cayman Brac medical history is housed in the museum's new extension and encompasses information on medical records, mid-wives, the story of Faith Hospital, traditional medicine cures and an interactive children's area.

Deputy Director of Curations and Programmes at the Cayman Islands National Museum, Debra Barnes-Tabora, described how she collaborated with Cayman Brac Museum curator Felicia McFarlane in choosing artifacts and designing the medical history exhibit. "Lisa and I had telephone conferences to determine what artifacts we had to contribute. When she told me she had an old operating table and I heard the colourful story of Faith Hospital I thought these were ideas worth investigating further. This is the first medical-themed exhibit to be launched in the Cayman Islands and I think it's a wonderful story that needs to be told."

Ms McFarlane is especially pleased with the interactive children's area which includes games, stethoscope and colouring books on the body and healthy eating. "While at a museums conference in St Maarten last year we discussed the importance of having areas of the museum where children can use their "five senses" to learn about their health." Cayman Brac artist Simone Scott assisted the museum by painting colourful illustrations of produce and food for the walls of the children's area.

During the Family Fun Fair the activities included a dominoes competition, national dress parade, hat show and international displays with food and crafts from Honduras, the Philippines, and Jamaica. Children participated in the Beautiful Baby show, Tiny Tots, Little Miss and Junior Miss contest and enjoyed sno-cones and the bouncing castle.