On Sunday July 13th, 2024, the Music, youth, and community service departments of the Trinity Seventh-day Adventist Church unveiled a "Cultural Heritage Exhibition," highlighting the past of the Bahamas but also celebrating the country’s 51st independence.

The exhibition was officially opened by Pastor Raydel Duffus and is aimed at showcasing the different eras of our Bahamian culture.

Rudolph Strachan one of the organizers of the event says that the exhibition's goal is to educate the Bahamian public about the historical periods that shape our heritage.

Strachan said, “Here we are looking at some of the aspects, the highlights of Bahamian culture and heritage. And one of the things we have here at this exhibition today, we want to share with the public at large all the ideas in regards to [the] pre-independence period, the actual independence celebration and post-independence period, [and] the changes that occurred in The Bahamas at the time.”   

He also shared some of the aspects of what Bahamian culture looked like in years gone by.

Strachan said, “Cultural things that make a Bahamian a Bahamian, and what are those things? Well, for example, you can see here on our display behind me we have a number of items. We have the tin mug hanging on the wall, the tin plate, the things that we used to eat out of when I was a boy. We would eat out of those items. And you also have the top. I don't know how many of you remember playing top, spinning the top on the road or on the floor, and that was a very exciting and major cultural activity for boys, for kids growing up in the day.” 

Historian and Educator Linda Gibson, interviewed by ATV News, provided insights into some of the exhibition's key displays.

Gibson said, “We are looking at the display, and the display shows pre-independent changes, and independent changes, and then post-independent changes.”

Marion Jennings provided insightful stories with memories of her childhood. 

Jennings said, “In our days this was all we used to use, [a tin] tub and scrub board. You go to the well with your bucket, full it up with water bring it, put it in [the tin tub]. Use [the] water [to] wash your clothes, and throw that away. Go back to the well, get some more [water], you wash your clothes, when you finish with that you throw that away. You go back to the well, you get some [water] to rinse your clothes. When you’re finished with that scrubbing board, you get your clothes, ring it out, and go and hang it out on the wall. Not no line, I had no clothes pins, never see no clothes pins.”

Also in attendance was Elder Curtis Bryan who shared the importance of educating our children.

Bryan said, “It's all about education. If our children are educated then it can go on long, long way, and that's what this exhibition is all about. From 51 years of independence, and a little more education in there, and we can grow, grow, grow. We’re even educating them on the history of the church so we can know where we came from over 100 years ago.”

The exhibition will be open for additional viewing sessions on Sundays, July 21 and 28, from 3 pm to 6 pm.


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