With the major Junkanoo parades arriving in the coming days, vandals stripped over $5,000 worth of costume decoration, equipment for crafting and other valuables, including a flat screen television, from the renowned Educulture Museum and Resource Center on West and Delancey Street.
The museum and workshop has been a cultural landmark for decades, offering a behind the scenes look of all things Junkanoo and the rich heritage of the celebration.
Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence Ltd. (JCNP) Chairman Silbert Ferguson said when he arrived at the center early Thursday morning he immediately noticed that an exterior gate had been kicked in, but it was not until he entered the building that the break-in became evident.
"We thought a cat got into the building and could not get out," he told The Nassau Guardian. "Then we looked up and realized that the big screen that shows all of the Junkanoo tapes, that television had been removed from the wall. And then we realized we had a burglary."
Nearly all of the glue guns, pasting brushes, staple guns, and other items used for crafts in the children's workshop were stolen.
Ferguson also pointed out that the intricately decorated feathers on some of the largest Junkanoo pieces displayed had been stripped.
"Rev Cooper, a member of One Family, donated a costume to us about eight years ago," Ferguson said.
"A beautiful costume to do with the Bible that had been sitting in the corner for about eight years.
"He gave us the costume in tact.
"That costume had been stripped of its top, which was a 10-inch styrofoam ball at the top that probably had easily, about 100 pheasant and white feather plumes."
He placed the damage to that costume around at $1,500.
"We realized that all of the feathers of all of the costumes - the decorations in the room - the feathers have all been removed from the costumes. That was really, really demoralizing because it is going to cost thousands of dollars to replace them," he said.
"We also realized that all of the staple guns that are used for Junkanoo were stolen from the building - pasting brushes and glue sticks, so we were disappointed that this petty business went on."
The JCNP chairman expressed disappointment about where The Bahamas has reached, where criminals would target a cultural landmark that educates thousands of visitors and Bahamians about the country's rich history in the art form.
"This is our country today and it's happening to Junkanoo; I mean we are a week away from a major parade," he said.
"We are very disappointed because we show off our Junkanoo here to our guests and our children come here for national identity and pride and, you know, Junkanoo to us is the pride of The Bahamas.
"Once you get to this area of our culture where it is going to be vandalized, you have to start thinking all kind of different things."
Ferguson hopes that the principals are able to find the funds to replace the equipment and repair the damage done to the display.
"We're not government funded, we're privately funded, and everything you see; the damage in this building, is all going to come [out of] the company's bank book," he said.
"We have to replace.
"We are just hoping that it is sufficient to make sure it is presentable enough so that our guests, once they walk through the doors, they will be satisfied with our presentation."

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