Cultural Policy Needed
After three decades of steady economic development we are witnessing an even steadier obliteration of our cultural heritage. Unfortunately very little has been done to remedy this problem, but in promoting our cultural identity we must first enact suitable measures aimed at cultivating and preserving existing cultural assets which include archives, archaelogical sites historical sites and historical and cultural research.
For quite some time there have been talks about a museum owned by the BVI government and staffed and managed by qualified local people. There is no doubt that the establishment of a museum properly and competently managed would represent a major step in the right direction. Another important step is the restoration of historical sites and the launching of scientific archaeological excavations with the participation of local trainees. It is all fine to have experts visiting the BVI, but it is a different thing when in the process knowledge is also passed on to local students and local people who are interested in our history and cultural background. All too often academicians are preoccupied to add field work and research in exotic locations to their curriculum. Additionally, a lot more remains to be done in promoting local music, dance, arts, crafts, painting and literature. They are the most vivid and most original manifestations of our culture. They permit the full development of the creativity of an individual or a nation, they are a means for people to express their thoughts and feelings.
In launching a viable cultural policy our decision makers must keep in mind what Theodor Heuss, the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany, once said: - you cannot produce culture through politics, but politics through culture. If British Virgin Islanders are to remain the masters of their land, they must embark immediately on a programme aimed at promoting and preserving their cultural identity and values.