News

A group of Caymanians and Cayman students in the UK visited the British Museum in London on a VIP tour organised by CCUK and hosted by the Cayman Government Office in the UK to explore behind the scenes collections of items relating to the Cayman Islands. The tour focussed on the history of currency and identity and explored how the Cayman Islands currency showcases the identity of the country and its people through history.

The group were taken on a private Cayman tour of the Money Gallery which displays the history of money around the world, from the earliest evidence to the latest developments in digital technology, showcasing how money can be used as a way to understand the history of the world, the identity of countries and how they choose to design their currencies.

Kayte McSweeney, Head of Community Partnerships for the Museum led the tour and encouraged the group to think about identity and the history of Caymanian currency whilst visiting the Money Gallery.

The group were then taken to a private session with the British Museum’s Modern Money curator Thomas Hockenhull who presented money collections including historic notes and coins from the region for discussion.

Mr Hockenhull said “These partnerships are particularly important for the British Museum as we are able to focus on our collections, review any gaps we have and ask communities for further insight into those collections. When we were contacted by CCUK I was able to review our Cayman collection and have since ordered more historic bank notes to complete the collection, I have also further researched how we can continue to improve our collections.”

Co-Founder of CCUK, Kate Kandiah, added, “It is fascinating to see how Cayman is presented in cultural institutions in the UK and we find that more often than not these institutions welcome our input to their collections. This is the start of what we are calling our ‘CCUK cultural rampage’ around the UK, to discover how the Cayman Islands is being presented in Museums across the country. These partnerships with Museums and institutions are invaluable to us to get an insider view into behind-the-scenes collections, and we are very grateful to the British Museum for taking the time to show us their Cayman artefacts and for their enthusiasm talking to us about our views. The trips are also insightful and fun! We are encouraging Caymanians, those associated with Cayman and anyone with an interest in Cayman history and culture now living in the UK to join the CCUK Culture Club by signing up at www.caymanconnection.org.”

CCUK are organising a number of cultural tours which will be promoted to the CCUK membership, including a visit to the Houses of Parliament and The Zoological Museum. Other upcoming events include a Cayman themed pub quiz in April and Annual Reception in Cayman at the Governor’s Residence in August.