Fresh Milk‘s latest international residents, Saada Branker and Powys Dewhurst, share the project they will be working on while on the platform, commemorating and documenting the upcoming 60th anniversary of Hurricane Janet’s landfall in Barbados on September 22, 2015. You can read about their connection to Barbados here, and see below for more information on how to get involved and share your stories about the hurricane:
Rebuilding as part of recovery: Workers in Barbados band together to rebuild stronger homes after thousands of people lost their houses to Hurricane Janet on September 22, 1955. PHOTO: UK National Archives/Flickr
The Project
Saada describes it this way: “We are in beautiful Barbados to record, gather and preserve a collective remembering of Hurricane Janet for generations to come.”
She and Powys believe the hurricane’s Category 3-landfall on September 22, 1955, and the subsequent rebuilding throughout Barbados, are worth telling and worth documenting as part of world history for generations to come. With the help of Fresh Milk and ArtsEtc, they will capture memories of Bajans living in the Caribbean blended with those memories of Bajans living in eastern Canada. What they collect will be an array of details to be shared by website on September 22 this year. Their work will lead up to a short documentary film to be released in celebration of Barbados independence in November 2016.
Saada and Powys at Centre island, Toronto. Photo Credit: Kara Springer
Throughout June, Saada and Powys will be making contact with Bajans in the country asking: “What do you remember about Hurricane Janet in Barbados?” They’d be honoured to share in an exchange of your memories.
Days to be interviewed at Fresh Milk (please choose one):
Friday, June 12, 2015 from: 10-1pm
Saturday, June 13, 2015 from: 1pm-6pm
Sunday, June 14, 2015 from: 1pm-6pm
If you or someone you know has a connection to Hurricane Janet and would want to contribute those memories to Saada’s and Powys’ collection, please contact them at: hurricanejanet2015@gmail.com or call 246.845.2975 to RSVP on any of the available dates. Do leave a message with your contact info. They’ll be happy to call back to arrange a day and time for a sit-down talk about this defining moment in Caribbean history.
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