Crop Over and Carnival in the Archives of Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

Festivals namely Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago and Crop Over Festival in Barbados are cultural expressions of the West Indies that originated during the period of African enslavement. This chapter examines selected archival materials in repositories and on social media relating to Crop Over and Carnival from the nineteenth century to twentieth century that tell stories of these festivals and the complexities of race, class, colour, and gendered identities in the Caribbean. Documentary heritage such as newspapers, reports, brochures, programmes, postcards, and photographs can reveal many narratives on the development of these two festivals and their importance to Caribbean cultural identities and Caribbean heritage. Online platforms such as websites and social media provide new and further opportunities for both the general public and institutions to archive documents and audiovisual material on Caribbean culture. Interaction with archival material in the digital world can unlock memories of the public who engage with these sources in this format and provide avenues for learning, discourse, and debate. Both the traditional and contemporary means of archiving Carnival and Crop Over complement each other as the public and institutions are actively involved in this process of documentation and engagement with archival material.