Caribbean Association of National Museums

Caribbean Association of National Museums
Name	Caribbean Association of National Museums
Caption	Logo of the Caribbean Association of National Museums
Formation	1980s
Type	Professional association
Headquarters	Port of Spain
Region served	Caribbean
Membership	National museums, heritage institutions
Leader title	President

Caribbean Association of National Museums is a regional professional association connecting national museums and heritage institutions across the Caribbean basin. It brings together curators, directors, conservators, archivists, and museum educators from territories such as Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas (the) and Haiti, fostering cooperation on collections care, exhibitions, and cultural policy. The association acts as a forum linking museums to multilateral organizations like the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Caribbean Community, and the Commonwealth of Nations while engaging with national authorities and international funders.

History

Founded in the late 20th century amid regional efforts to coordinate cultural heritage, the association emerged after dialogues among institutions including the National Museum and Art Gallery (Trinidad and Tobago), the Institute of Jamaica, the Barbados Museum & Historical Society, and the Musee du Panthéon National Haïtien. Early conferences invoked frameworks from the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and partnerships with the Organization of American States and Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Its formative meetings paralleled heritage initiatives such as the establishment of the Caribbean Cultural Education Foundation and recommendations from the Caribbean Heritage Network. Over subsequent decades the association hosted biennial congresses in capitals like Port of Spain, Kingston, Bridgetown, Nassau and Port-au-Prince, and engaged with projects linked to the Pan American Union and bilateral cultural agreements with United Kingdom, France, and United States institutions.

Mission and Objectives

The association’s mission emphasizes safeguarding tangible and intangible heritage represented in national collections held by institutions such as National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Cuba). Objectives include promoting professional standards for conservation practiced at facilities like the Smithsonian Institution and the British Museum, advocating heritage legislation modeled after instruments like the 1964 Venice Charter and the 1970 UNESCO Convention, and facilitating capacity building comparable to programs run by the Getty Conservation Institute and the International Council of Museums. It seeks to amplify underrepresented narratives linked to events such as the Transatlantic slave trade, Haitian Revolution, Arawak and Taíno histories, and to support museum responses to disasters exemplified by operations after Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Ivan, and 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Membership and Governance

Membership comprises national museums, government museums, and major cultural institutions including the National Museum of Bermuda, Curaçao Museum, Museo de las Casas Reales (Dominican Republic), and university museums like those at the University of the West Indies. Governance typically features an elected executive with roles such as President, Secretary, and Treasurer drawn from directors of institutions like the National Heritage Trust (Bahamas), advised by committees analogous to those in the International Council on Monuments and Sites and ICOMOS. Statutes detail voting rights for members from territories represented in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States and outline dispute-resolution mechanisms referencing precedents from the Commonwealth Foundation.

Programs and Activities

Core activities include professional development workshops on conservation techniques used at the Victoria and Albert Museum and digital curation approaches inspired by the Europeana initiative. The association organizes traveling exhibitions highlighting collections from the Museo de Antropología (Puerto Rico), curatorial exchanges with the Royal Ontario Museum, and training fellowships modeled after the Smithsonian Fellowship Program. It runs disaster preparedness drills using protocols from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and recovery collaborations with the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property. Educational outreach projects connect museums with schools affiliated with the Caribbean Examinations Council and festivals such as CARIFESTA.

Partnerships and Collaborations

The association maintains memoranda of understanding with regional bodies like the Caribbean Community and global networks including the International Council of Museums and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. It collaborates on conservation grants with the Getty Foundation, on digitization with the Digital Public Library of America and regional digitization projects linked to the Caribbean Memory Project, and on provenance research with university centers such as the Center for the Study of the Caribbean and the Columbia University Libraries. Project partners have included national archives like the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago and cultural foundations like the Prince Claus Fund.

Funding and Financial Structure

Funding derives from a mix of membership dues, project grants from bodies such as the European Union and the Inter-American Development Bank, philanthropic support from organizations like the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and fee-for-service activities including consultancy for heritage management. Financial governance uses audited accounts and grant reporting aligned with standards from the International Federation of Accountants, and major fellows and capital projects have attracted donor involvement from bilateral agencies such as USAID and Agence Française de Développement.

Impact and Criticism

The association has strengthened regional museum capacity, enabling conservation of artifacts connected to figures such as Marcus Garvey, Toussaint Louverture, and Bob Marley through collaborative exhibits and loans involving institutions like the National Gallery of Jamaica and the George Washington University Museum. Critics note uneven resource distribution between larger institutions in Barbados or Trinidad and Tobago and smaller museums in dependencies like Montserrat and Anguilla, and raise concerns about tensions between national narratives and transnational restitution debates involving museums such as the Louvre, British Museum, and Museo Nacional del Prado. Debates continue over priorities—digitization, repatriation, or capacity building—with scrutiny from groups such as Museums Association and regional advocacy networks including the Caribbean Cultural Alliance.

Category:Museology