Thatch ExhibitionTies Past to Present
Thatch hatsand bags on display at the National Museum.
A new National Museum multimedia exhibitionon thatch plaiting is linking Cayman's past, present and future.
More than 1,100 people have visited themuseum since Past and Future Plaited Together opened in November.Highlights of the exhibition include video clips of interviewswith present-day practitioners and samples of their work. Visitorsare also exposed to the history of thatch-work, including thenames and uses of different styles of plaiting.
Collections Manager Debra Barnes-Tabora,who also co-ordinates the traditional thatch basket programme,says the exhibition seeks to establish plaiting as an art formby documenting the creative efforts required to produce itemssuch as a basket or a hat.
"While it is important to preserveplaiting styles and techniques, we also believe it is essentialto protect the raw material used by basket-makers and thatch crafters.This comes from the leaves of the silver thatch palm, our nationaltree."
The show also aims to promote the thatchbasket programme, Ms Barnes-Tabora says. Explaining that thisinitiative pairs practising masters with apprentices interestedin learning the art, she notes: "At present there is onlyone master-apprentice pair still operating. Otherwise the masters,who are an increasingly elderly group, have no one to whom theycan pass their skills."
Plaited Together features the work of some14 master crafters including Rhodell Smith, Aletha Powery, NellSmith, Rose May Ebanks, Miriam Muirhead, Kathleen Smith, RosalindEbanks, Carmen Conolly, Graciela Solomon, Coreen Gibson, AdelaideEbanks, Coriel Bodden, Annielee Ebanks and Esther Ebanks. Samplesof local thatch-work are also available in the museum's shop.
The exhibition continues through May 2002.Guided tours are available upon request. Persons interested inlearning to plait or joining the thatch basket programme shouldcontact the museum at 949-8368.