 The people of St. Barths have been too busy surviving droughts, hurricanes, and austere isolation to develop a very elaborate cultural tradition.
There are, of course, the handicrafts: the sweet doll-like cottages, the colorful fishing skiffs, and the woven straw. And, there is a traditional local music that can provide a lively atmosphere at local events.
If a retrospective exhibition of works of art made in St. Barths, 1659 to the present, was organized tomorrow, most of the offerings would date from the last twenty years. Few would be the work of those born here.
Art and artists have been imported, along with the salmon, to satisfy the tastes of the recent wave of immigrants and visitors.
Notable annual cultural events include a music festival and a film festival. |