The focus will be on Fort George Museum on International Museums Day on May 18

ZIZ News…May 17 2011 – Wednesday 18th May is International Museums Day (IMD) and here in St. Kitts Nevis the focus will be on the Fort George Museum.

Launched in 1977 by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), over 30,000 museums in approximately 100 countries including St. Kitts and Nevis celebrate this important day. The theme for this year’s IMD is Museums and Memory. Museums play a vital role in preserving memory, the people and events that have shaped our history and woven the rich fabric of our heritage.

On Wednesday 18th May the Fort George Museum at the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park will have a special visitor, a virtual living exhibit from the past, Private Caines, a soldier from one of the West India Regiments of the British Army. The West India Regiments, which at their peak numbered twelve regiments in total, were raised from 1795-98, and their ranks consisted of African soldiers enlisted or drafted into the British Army to offset the high mortality rate among British soldiers. The soldiers of the West India Regiment consistently, both on and off the field of battle, defied all the racist stereotypes about the inferiority of Africans and people of African descent. The Fort George Museum at Brimstone Hill Fortress is dedicating IMD 2011 to the memory of the soldiers of the West India Regiments.

According to a release, a sub-theme of IMD 2011 is the story that objects tell. Apart from their courage and skill in battle the soldiers of the West India Regiments also earned fame for their distinctive uniforms, such as the Zouave uniform which has a fascinating story of its own. Meet Private Caines on Wednesday 18th May from 2-3pm and learn a little more about the history of the West India Regiments. Private Caines will also be travelling back in time again on Friday 20th May from 2-3pm to make another appearance at Fort George Citadel. Be sure not to miss either of these historic appearances.