Caribbean Museums — Writing

Essays, Articles & Musings

–

These writings have been caught in the ladder of my throat for years. They have stumbled in obscurity, tumbled with insecurity, illuminated the path of curiosity for many creatives and now they are making light into this world as a way for me to define presence, criticality and engagement more holistically. Sharing is a lesson in generosity and truth-telling.

This is an assemblage of current and past work from the last fifteen years and is a glimpse into the microcosms of informal art spaces and institutional bodies across the Caribbean and further afield. The words, reflections, exposés and travelogues are portals to other ways of being, understanding and coming to terms with our post-colonial contexts, inherent messiness and transformation.

Sanctuary After the Storm: A Toolkit of Repair Work for Caribbean Museums

Sanctuary After the Storm: A Toolkit of Repair Work for Caribbean Museums reflects on a co-creative psychosocial healing initiative piloted by the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Drawing on art therapy, community care, and ancestral healing practices, the initiative reached over 2,000 Bahamians and Haitians, 90% first-time visitors. The essay argues that Caribbean cultural institutions must centre care, interconnectedness, and community sovereignty as foundational acts of decolonial practice.

This paper was presented at the 47th ICOFOM Symposium in 2024, as part of an international convening on ecological museology, archipelagic heritage, and the role of museums and cultural institutions in responding to climate emergency and community care.

EssayHolly BynoeJune 1, 2025Caribbean Museums, Repair work, Sanctuary after the StormComment

Essays, Articles & Musings

Holly Bynoe is a curator, writer, researcher spiritualist and medicine woman from Bequia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. She is currently living between SVG and Scotland and is a PhD Candidate in Shared Island Stories at the University of St. Andrews.

For general inquiries, please email pattreeproductions [at] gmail.com. To subscribe to my newsletter, sign up below.

Newsletter
Get in touch

— Helen Klonaris, writer and healer

©2026 Holly Bynoe
Site by Toof

Essays, Articles & Musings

Holly Bynoe is a curator, writer, researcher spiritualist and medicine woman from Bequia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. She is currently living between SVG and Scotland and is a PhD Candidate in Shared Island Stories at the University of St. Andrews.

For general inquiries, please email pattreeproductions [at] gmail.com. To subscribe to my newsletter, sign up below.

NewsletterGet in touch

— Helen Klonaris, writer and healer

Newsletter
Get in touch