The Barbados government has purchased TT production company Banyan Ltd’s archives, a collection spanning four decades and at least 15,000 digitised items. Managing director Christopher Laird called the agreement “extraordinary,” noting it came after ten years of failed attempts to finalise a deal with local institutions.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced the acquisition at the opening of Carifesta in Barbados on August 22, describing it as a commitment to Caribbean unity. “I understood then that we have a story to tell the world,” she said, recalling the first Carifesta held in Barbados in 1981 when she was a teenager. “One of the things that pleases my government is that it signed an agreement to purchase the historical records of Banyan Productions out of TT.”
Founded in 1974, Banyan created several programmes and later launched Gayelle The Caribbean, the region’s first community TV channel. Its archive includes rare, often uncut footage of festivals, religion, art, music, dance, literature and politics. Laird confirmed the deal was struck in two days, after Mottley granted him a 15-minute meeting during his induction into the Caribbean Broadcasting Union Hall of Fame. “Within 24 hours of her team working with our solicitors, we signed an agreement,” he said.
The purchase secures the Banyan archives for regional use, with Barbados planning to house them in a new national archival complex. “We in Barbados are committed to making those archives available to all Caribbean people,” Mottley said.
For Laird, the deal validates years of advocacy after failed overtures to the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, and the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS). Despite disappointment at TT’s lack of commitment, he stressed the goal was always to keep the collection in the Caribbean.
The move positions Barbados as a leader in cultural stewardship at a time when questions of heritage, ownership and regional identity remain urgent.
