A jubilant Barbados Landship delegation returned home to cheers and drumbeats at the airport on Friday, after the uniquely Barbadian cultural organisation was officially added to UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding — marking a landmark international recognition of one of the island’s oldest living cultural traditions.
Minister for culture, Senator Shantal Munro-Knight, who was part of the delegation attending the 20th session of the UN cultural agency’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in New Delhi, said the young ambassadors of the Landship represented Barbados with distinction.
“These young people did Barbados so proud. They were awesome, they were disciplined,” she told reporters. “The Barbados Landship was really on display in the best possible way. Barbados was the only delegation there that fielded a delegation with young people, and the comments that we got…the accolades for the fact that Barbados not only showcased its tradition in the Landship, but also as well as young people, was just really, really tremendous.”
She also extended gratitude to the many organisations and individuals who contributed to the mission’s success.
“I want to thank everybody who have worked on this initiative. One hundred and sixty years of tradition for Barbados,” she said. “The National Cultural Foundation has continued to work with schools and docks and communities… making sure that we can have the Landship resuscitated and continue for a long time.”
Among those gathered to welcome the team was African arts and culture specialist Dr Nancy Jacobs, who has researched the Landship extensively.
“I’ve been doing a lot of the writing on the Landship… the book came out since 2013,” she said. “I am very happy now to see some of the other things that are coming into place for the Landship and the young ones and the older ones because we need both to work together.”
She noted that the presence of both the traditional Landship band and Tassa drummers, reflecting cultural links with India, was especially meaningful. “It was good to see and I’m very happy for this culmination,” she added.
Chief cultural officer Andrea Wells said the inscription was the result of years of coordinated effort.
“For the last three years [we have] mounted an intensive programme specifically to safeguard these valuable traditions,” she said. She noted that the National Cultural Foundation works “most closely” with the Barbados Landship Association, collaboratively delivering programmes in schools and communities. “We expect that this wonderful relationship will continue for the next 160 years.”
Wells also reflected on the legacy of the late Lord High Admiral Vernon Watson. “We feel that the vision of [Lord High] Admiral Vernon Watson has actually come to pass. This is something that for many years he said he wanted to live to see. He didn’t live to see it, but he lived enough to galvanise another generation… to make sure that this happens.”
She added that the Landship Association has since taken ownership of school-based programming after welcoming the NCF’s early efforts.
Founded in My Lord’s Hill, St Michael around 1863, 30 years after emancipation, the Landship Association emerged among working-class communities, drawing on both African traditions and British naval symbolism to create a “ship on land” that sails across the island’s villages.
Structured with ranks, uniforms and rituals inspired by the Royal Navy, it functioned not only as a performance troupe but also as a friendly society, pooling members’ resources to provide mutual aid in times of hardship and for burial costs.
Through its parades, dances and ceremonies, the Landship has long played a role in promoting solidarity, cultural pride and social support, encouraging young people to continue its legacy.
(SB)
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