Dominica as a Centre of Excellence for Preservation & Expression of marginalised Creole Cultural Heritage: language, arts and its indigenous Kalinagos

The concepts of ‘creolization’ and ‘creole societies’ are fundamental to understanding the cultural changes in the Caribbean which emerged during the colonial period. Seminal works suggest that Afro-Creole culture has its roots in African, East Indian, Indigenous American and European heritage elements. More recent work demonstrates that this heritage has now become a pivotal part of the process of nation-building.
Many small creole-speaking countries, particularly island economies, now embrace their “creoleness” as a key strategy for tourism development and as promoting platforms for the advancement of heritage and cultural tourism through the performing arts and event tourism. For example, Dominica’s World Creole Festivals and annual independence celebrations showcase its Kreyol language, food, arts, dance and fashion. However, some elements of creole heritage are not fully appreciated and celebrated and arguably their value could be better exploited on the international market.
This networking project brings together research in:
Developing a knowledge base on creole heritage and cultural advocacy
Principles and practices for advancing national policy on promoting of creole heritage and culture
Branding and packaging creole performing arts for the international market
Evaluating production and delivery of international creole festivals
Legislating Creole language as a national asset
Repositioning indigenous culture and language as intangible cultural heritage
Advancing creative indigenous industries
Developing frameworks for safeguarding creole Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)
Best practice models for adopting/implementing the UNESCO convention for Intangible Culture Heritage (ICH)