National Cultural Foundation

The National Cultural Foundation is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament in 1983. Its mandate is to oversee the cultural landscape of Barbados.

 

 

In the first two years of its operation, 1984 and 1985, it was housed at Culloden Farm. In 1986 it was re-located to West Terrace, St. James in the two buildings specially constructed for CARIFESTA 1981.

 

In 1984 and 1985 the National Cultural Foundation worked in areas of community development and culture at a time when the island was divided into seven zones:
1. St. Lucy & St. Peter
2. St. Andrew & St. Joseph
3. St. John & St. George
4. St. James & St. Thomas
5. St. Philip East & St. Michael
6. Christ Church
7. The rest of St. Michael

 

There were seven field officers, each of whom had responsibility for each zone. These officers were responsible for implementing development programmes in the communities of their zones, including coordinating Crop Over activities to avoid overlapping of communities or duplication of activities.

 

Field officers were responsible for the supervision of the staff at the island's community centers; they also had to draw up timetables to ensure that these centers were used adequately and with fairness to all groups and individuals using them.

 

Also during the early years of its operations (1984 - 1995) the head of this organization was called the Director, a term which was subsequently changed to Chief Executive Officer in 1994 to reflect the new role and expanded focus on the business of culture.

 

There are now Cultural Officers, rather than Officers attached to zones, for each artistic discipline, namely: Visual Arts (which encompasses Fine Art and Craft), Literary Arts, Music, Dance and Theatre Arts and Research, Film & Photography.

 

In addition, the Foundation now has an eight-member internal Management Team comprising: the Chief Executive Officer, Manager of Administration, Financial Controller, Chief Cultural Officer, Senior Business Development Officer, Technical Officer, Marketing Officer and Corporate Communications Specialist.

 

The above information was taken from the National Cultural Foundation's website which can be sourced at http://www.ncf.bb/index.htm

 

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