It was not business as usual at the Central Bank Museum over the weekend, with patrons walking around with their eyes fixed on paintings or leaning in to check out the names of artists on plaques.
Instead, the atmosphere was lively, as authors shared stories with an attentive audience of children and adults.
This month, the Central Bank Museum is commemorating International Literacy Day and World Steelpan Month by hosting “Stories in Steelpan Through Children’s Books 1982 to 2026”, with several authors of the featured publications reading their books aloud.
Curator Nimah Muwakil-Zakuri explained that the event was co-developed by researcher and cultural activist Ray Funk.
“This exhibition was conceptualised and developed in order to introduce and reintroduce the works of authors around the world who have written children’s books on steelpan. The exhibition is by no means exhaustive; however, it showcases many books that have been published around the world and right here in Trinidad and Tobago between the years 1982 and 2026.”
Managing Director of the Bocas Lit Fest, Georgia Popplewell, noted that children’s books about the steelpan play an important role.
“They allow children to encounter pan not simply as music or the sound of Panorama but as a story, a story of creativity, ingenuity, struggle, community and national identity. Another important thing that this exhibition reminds us is that the stories we tell our children about ourselves matter.”
She recalled that as a child, the books that were available to her did not tell Caribbean stories.
“We now have generations of Trinidad and Tobago writers and illustrators creating books in which our children can see their own landscapes, their histories, their families and cultural traditions. The Bocas Lit Fest exists in large part to support that process to create space for writers, readers and artists; to bring literature into public life and to help build an ecosystem in which Caribbean stories can be created, shared and valued.”
The “Stories in Steelpan Through Children’s Books 1982 to 2026” exhibition began on September 1st and will end on September 30th, 2026.