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Sizzling Melting Pot
With such a colourful past — full of Arawaks, pirates and privateers — it's no surprise that art sizzles here.
The BVI is anything but simple. Like honey to a bee, the islands attract a wide array of local and international artists.
See shopping section for where to shop and what to buy.
By Verna Penn Moll
One of the most famous places to enjoy the islands' rich art scene is at the Crafts Alive village. Close to the Road Town Ferry Dock, this artists' haven showcases a flourishing interest in arts and crafts throughout the BVI, stimulated by the enjoyment of profitable hobbies, the influx of talented new residents and a realisation that customers will pay a pretty coin for quality products.
Wander around the replicas of African and West Indian houses and chat with the artists and craftspeople who made the wooden sculptures, colourful batiks and other handicrafts, such as the great variety of Afro-Caribbean dolls, including "Mocko Jumbies" on stilts, two-headed dolls with reversible attires, some in African dress and others made from banana leaves or shells.
You may see local painter Joseph Hodge tutoring a student; or painting a boat braving rough seas or an impressionistic swirl of colour inspired by a cockerel's tail.
One-stop shops stock colourful bottles, baskets, crochet work, and rag rugs made by senior citizens. Estelle Dawson, a resident of East End, Tortola, has made straw hats for more than 70 years (the BVI once exported straw-work to the USVI). Another shop sells the Nibbs family's bush tea, guavaberry liqueur, tamarind preserves made from old family recipes, and Caribbean Essence's beauty products, which were developed by a student while abroad.
Growing Things, an oasis of greenery lovingly grown by the Penn family, is located across the road and a little ways up on Main Street is the Sunny Caribbee Spice Company and Art Gallery in a complex of vernacular architecture that was formerly the BVI's first hotel. Its shelves are stacked with specialities ranging from locally processed and exported spices and preserves to colourful mouse pads designed by Karl Merklein and baskets made by Darwin "Gun" Scatliffe from the local hoop vine.
The arts and crafts revival is visible throughout Tortola. Along Ridge Road near Fahie Hill is the "Great Wall" covered by a series of signed paintings — you may encounter artists like Ruben Vanterpool meticulously repairing life-size depictions of BVI life in the past. You are taken back in time to watch cane being cut for sugar works and rum distilleries like the partially restored one on which the Josiah's Bay Plantation Art Gallery stands, near the northeast shore.
Bamboushay (a Caribbean dance form), located west of Road Town at the Nanny Cay Hotel and Marina, is a pottery studio and art shop featuring distinctive azure blue and green ceramics, as well as locally made artwork and baskets.
The North Shore Shell Museum in Carrot Bay exhibits fish traps, and examples of the traditional log (wooden model) boats that Egbet Donovan has been making since he was a child. The Caribbean Landscapes Art Gallery in Apple Bay displays the work of David Thrasher.
There are more than five art galleries and gift shops on Virgin Gorda, including the Palm Tree Gallery at the Leverick Bay Resort & Marina, where the wide range of Caribbean art and handiwork includes gold and silver jewellery and accessories. Pat's Pottery is the place to find Pat Faulkner's work on Anegada.
Music, dance and drama are also freely evoked — from gospel concerts, liturgical dancing and plays in the churches and community halls to the many "sounds of the Caribbean" (such as reggae, steel bands and calypso) and dance troupes that enliven the August Festival and other events to the BVI's own fungi music, played by scratch bands and the Heritage Dancers, whose traditional steps have garnered much applause in North America and Europe. Live music is heard every day in bars, restaurants, shacks and beach spots, but high points include the annual three-day BVI Music Festival, with popular music performances by international artists; a wide range of singing on the Festival Village stage (from church choirs to calypso competitions); and Foxy's Weekend Music Festival on Jost Van Dyke, with performances by new and established talent from the Caribbean.
HLSCC (the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College) in Paraquita Bay invites the public to its main campus for musical events throughout the year, from jazz to choral, and popular lectures on the environment, history, the arts and other topics relevant to the BVI.
Palate Pleasing Paradise
The enjoyment of local food and drink is an important part of nearly every activity — from family reunions to fundraising fairs, like Caribbean suppers boasting mouth-watering dishes from every island. A stretch of road upwards from the Post Office is closed off to traffic during Christmas on Main Street and stalls selling food and handicrafts are set up alongside the street. For added enjoyment, there's live music from the nearby Sir Olva Georges Plaza. Local goodies such as cassava bread can still be found at the Road Town market and although Tortola sloops are no longer built in East End, fishermen still sound the conch-shell there to draw customers to their trucks of fresh-caught fish.
Virtually every week there's cause for celebration, often with a chance to join local people at special events, like a fundraising party at Government House or an art workshop at the Purple Palace. VISAR's vast annual flea market offers bargains and local cuisine galore. Watch the local TV station, tune in to local radio stations or simply ask your hotel concierge for details.
Festivals and Celebrations
The BVI's largest event is the two-week long August Festival, celebrating its ancestors' emancipation from slavery in 1834, with street processions and nightly events in the Festival Village, and boasting plenty of food, drink and music for all to enjoy. Virgin Gorda also has its own festival at Easter.
The BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival in early April, one of the Caribbean's premier yacht racing events, has become another excuse for more partying. Nanny Cay Marina is being developed as a major event facility.
The weekend-long Foxy's Wooden Boat Regatta at the end of May features wooden boat racing and entertainment on Jost Van Dyke, where one of the world's largest New Year's celebrations is held at Foxy's.
Get a complete list of events, Bomba Full Moon Parties, public holidays, festivals, regattas and sporting events here.
Food Preparation
The Dutch oven preceded kerosene, electric and gas stoves. The oven was made from bricks originally brought from Europe as ballast in ships that would transport sugar, rum and cotton on the return trips. The bricks were tied together with lime, which was produced from coral burnt in limekilns all around the islands. The oven was heated with dried wood generally collected by children. The bakers read temperatures without a thermometer. On a day when they needed three ranges of temperature, they would heat the oven to the intensity needed for potato pudding, then after some time had passed, they'd put in the bread and, lastly, the pies - locally referred to as tarts. Here is a tart recipe you may want to try when you return home.
The tart crust is short crust pastry. Treat it that way.
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine and Crisco
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk
3 cups flour
Cream sugar, margarine and Crisco. Beat the egg. Add vanilla, almond, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and milk. Stir in flour to make soft dough. DO NOT KNEAD. Cut into sections, roll out about a quarter-inch thick, place in a pie plate, and fill with stewed coconut, pineapple, guava, guavaberry or any other filling that you desire. Decorate with strips of crust. Bake at 350 degrees until brown.
Farming and Fishing
Farming and fishing were the lifeblood of the British Virgin Islands during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Potatoes, tannias (or yautia), yams, pumpkins, bananas, peas, corn, tomatoes, avocadoes, sugar apples, limes and breadfruit are some of the produce that were grown for home consumption and for export to St. Thomas. Women not only brought produce to the main market in Road Town, they also serviced the villages. Many times they had to leave home at 3 a.m. and walk over rough roads with heavy trays on their heads for five to 10 miles. As late as the 1950s, they would sell and barter produce for fish in the coastal villages.
Today, the Department of Agriculture is trying to revive farming and the subject becomes more pertinent whenever war looms on the horizon.
If you're looking to buy fish, the sound of the conch shell - relic of our African past - announces fish for sale. Reef fish caught in the fish trap (triggerfish, grunt, angelfish, grouper and hind) or from the seine (hard nose, bonito and yellow tail) are the regular fare. Deep-sea fishing for swordfish, tuna and mahi mahi is a modern method that is catching on. Virgin Islanders like fish steamed in butter, with lime and a piece of hot pepper. Add to that green bananas, sweet potatoes and fungi (cooked cornmeal) for the perfect typical Virgin Island dish. Other seafood includes conch, lobsters, whelks and shellfish.
Treasure
Is there treasure in the BVI? Some folks say there is and others disagree. The treasure that the pirates buried on Norman Island may still be there; one Comanoe legend has it that a gold tooth snake guards this treasure. The graves of the Quaker burial ground in Fat Hogs Bay and the Planters burial ground in Johnson's Ghut were vandalised because the locals thought that wealthy persons were buried along with their treasures.
Several people tell of being directed to the coveted treasure by a dream. However, the person must do exactly as he/she is told in the dream or the treasure turns into water.
BVI also has its version of fairies and gnomes known locally as jumbies, but they are generally more wicked than harmful. There was a famous jumbie who used to wake up fishermen using the voice of a fellow fisherman, and when they all got to the boat, the jumbie would laugh. There was another one who liked to ring church bells, and then race people to their homes screaming. They appeared like cats, as very tall men, riding donkeys and smoking pipes. The women dressed in the white regalia of slaves and any other form they chose to take.
Pat's Pottery & Art on Anegada
Pat Faulkner, the talented owner of Pat's Pottery at Nutmeg Point, has had her roadside shop and studio for more than a decade. She hand paints bowls, mugs, pitchers, teapots and even map magnets with colourful swirling designs, like dancing crabs and palm trees. Her most popular products include serving platters decorated with a sea grape leaf. Her beautiful ceramics make precious gifts or useful mementoes of the lovely environment where they were crafted.
Anegada is accessible by small plane and, on Thursdays, by a popular ferry boat. If you have not yet been fortunate enough to have wandered through her workshop to admire her wares at the retail shop, don't despair since her acclaimed works are sold at two other outlets: the craft shop on Beef Island and the Tropical Gift Collection on Virgin Gorda. Faulkner also accepts mail orders and can be contacted on Anegada at (284) 495-8031.
Caribbean Landscapes Art Gallery
Before you visit David Thrasher's Caribbean Landscapes Art Gallery (open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday) behind the Coco Plums Bar & Grill in Apple Bay or online at caribbeanlandscapes.com, prepare to be dazzled by the cameo scenes and landscapes of Tortola, its sister islands and St. Thomas. Allow yourself to be drawn into any one of these vivid, sun-drenched scenes depicted through the shrewd eyes of a more than 16-year resident of Tortola.
Thrasher has painted full-time in the Virgin Islands for the past four years. His strikingly individual style has evolved from childhood drawings inspired by comic strips, a love of impressionist posters and a successful international career in animation that spans more than 30 years after training in his native Canada.
Many of his acrylic paintings are sold as prints or note cards, and some are available as archival quality giclee prints, signed and named by the artist. His works can also be purchased at many local stores and grace the walls of Sugar Plum Villa, as well as other accommodations.
Thrasher can ship his artistic treasures to you anywhere in the world. For more information, call (284) 494-6244.
Take me shopping in the BVI.
Get a complete list of events, Bomba Full Moon Parties, public holidays, festivals, regattas and sporting events here.
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One of the most famous places to enjoy the islands' rich art scene is at the Crafts Alive village. Close to the Road Town Ferry Dock, this artists' haven showcases a flourishing interest in arts and crafts throughout the BVI, stimulated by the enjoyment of profitable hobbies, the influx of talented new residents and a realisation that customers will pay a pretty coin for quality products.
One-stop shops stock colourful bottles, baskets, crochet work, and rag rugs made by senior citizens. Estelle Dawson, a resident of East End, Tortola, has made straw hats for more than 70 years (the BVI once exported straw-work to the USVI). Another shop sells the Nibbs family's bush tea, guavaberry liqueur, tamarind preserves made from old family recipes, and Caribbean Essence's beauty products, which were developed by a student while abroad.
Bamboushay (a Caribbean dance form), located west of Road Town at the Nanny Cay Hotel and Marina, is a pottery studio and art shop featuring distinctive azure blue and green ceramics, as well as locally made artwork and baskets.
Music, dance and drama are also freely evoked — from gospel concerts, liturgical dancing and plays in the churches and community halls to the many "sounds of the Caribbean" (such as reggae, steel bands and calypso) and dance troupes that enliven the August Festival and other events to the BVI's own fungi music, played by scratch bands and the Heritage Dancers, whose traditional steps have garnered much applause in North America and Europe. Live music is heard every day in bars, restaurants, shacks and beach spots, but high points include the annual three-day BVI Music Festival, with popular music performances by international artists; a wide range of singing on the Festival Village stage (from church choirs to calypso competitions); and Foxy's Weekend Music Festival on Jost Van Dyke, with performances by new and established talent from the Caribbean. 
The enjoyment of local food and drink is an important part of nearly every activity — from family reunions to fundraising fairs, like Caribbean suppers boasting mouth-watering dishes from every island. A stretch of road upwards from the Post Office is closed off to traffic during Christmas on Main Street and stalls selling food and handicrafts are set up alongside the street. For added enjoyment, there's live music from the nearby Sir Olva Georges Plaza. Local goodies such as cassava bread can still be found at the Road Town market and although Tortola sloops are no longer built in East End, fishermen still sound the conch-shell there to draw customers to their trucks of fresh-caught fish. 
The BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival in early April, one of the Caribbean's premier yacht racing events, has become another excuse for more partying. Nanny Cay Marina is being developed as a major event facility. 
Today, the Department of Agriculture is trying to revive farming and the subject becomes more pertinent whenever war looms on the horizon.
Pat Faulkner, the talented owner of Pat's Pottery at Nutmeg Point, has had her roadside shop and studio for more than a decade. She hand paints bowls, mugs, pitchers, teapots and even map magnets with colourful swirling designs, like dancing crabs and palm trees. Her most popular products include serving platters decorated with a sea grape leaf. Her beautiful ceramics make precious gifts or useful mementoes of the lovely environment where they were crafted.
Before you visit David Thrasher's Caribbean Landscapes Art Gallery (open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday) behind the Coco Plums Bar & Grill in Apple Bay or online at caribbeanlandscapes.com, prepare to be dazzled by the cameo scenes and landscapes of Tortola, its sister islands and St. Thomas. Allow yourself to be drawn into any one of these vivid, sun-drenched scenes depicted through the shrewd eyes of a more than 16-year resident of Tortola.