The Central Bank Museum is turning the pages on four decades of children’s books in its latest exhibition, themed Stories in Steel, in commemoration of World Steelpan Day and International Literacy Day.
Developed in collaboration with researcher and cultural activist Ray Funk, this year’s exhibition commemorates both World Steelpan Day on August 11th and International Literacy Day on September 8th.
Spanning more than four decades, Stories in Steel showcases children’s books on steelpan published from 1982 to the present.
Senior curator at the Central Bank Museum, Nimah Muwakil-Zakuri, hopes the exhibition will continue to inspire authors to create books celebrating the national instrument.
“Actually we see a resurgence of books over the last few years just after COVID, a real resurgence of books being published on the steelpan for children, and I think it says something that steelpan music and culture is really alive and well.”
Beyond the books, the exhibition features artefacts such as pan sticks, tuning hammers and percussion instruments sourced from Phase II Pan Groove, giving children a chance to see first-hand how the sound of pan is created.
“We wanted the children not only to learn about the steelpan but to learn about all the other instruments and, you know, other implements that are used in the band to make the sound as beautiful as it is so the steelpan doesn’t stand alone. There’s percussion, there’s all sorts of other instruments, so we were able to get those from Phase II, so we’re really grateful.”
Looking ahead, she hopes more books will be written about local steel bands, stressing the importance of having their history preserved for future generations.
“I think one of the things that is important is that we tell the story of each band because each band has their unique story in terms of how they were formed and how they developed, so Desperadoes, All Stars, Phase II each one was formed in a unique way in somebody’s backyard, somebody’s grandmother cooking for them, you know. There are lots of stories, and I would love to see each band have a book on their history.”
She hopes the books will populate classrooms across the country.
“The idea is that this exhibition will inspire people to use the books, go out and buy the books and use it in their classrooms to teach about this aspect of our culture.”
The exhibition is open to the public from September 1st to September 30th.