WOAH! is the newest digital cultural magazine

by Shamar Blunt

The national lockdown earlier in 2020 in Barbados, as well as the stark decline in tourist arrivals to the island, caused major disruptions to the cultural and creative sectors on the island.

With these disruptions causing major headaches for artists whose livelihoods depend on foreign investment, the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) sought to give local creatives steady support to rely on in the form of creative grants and workshops aimed at keeping the creative economy going.

With this new injection of funds into the sector, several parties took advantage of the support by launching new products. One such individual was Andre Craig, a local promoter who saw the need for an authentic local magazine that covers all aspects of Barbadian life, created ‘WOAH!’

Recently, Craig sat down for an exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY, to dive deeper into the concept of the magazine, and what he hopes this quarterly publication will accomplish.

“The magazine is basically about the arts and culture. It features entertainment, cuisine, religion, and all aspects of culture. The idea first came about during lockdown time, and I started to jot down some notes and decided on what direction I wanted to go in.

“I started to put together the topics that I would want to format into the magazine, then I reached out to persons within the media. Those who study Mass Communications at the Barbados Community College (BCC) are also writers for the magazine, and they have done a wonderful job,” Craig said.

Having launched the online magazine on November 23, Craig notes the response so far has been great, with many players in the industry showing interest in being featured in future editions. With the NCF playing a big part in helping the project to get off the ground in the first place, Craig sees the potential for the magazine to not only cover local culture news but also branch off to have regional stories within its pages.

“As things start to pick up next year, we hope, I would like to work with different persons within the culture industry outside of the NCF who we will keep working with. We feature different events happening in Barbados throughout the year, and the Caribbean as well. That is the area we want to take the magazine into.

“Also, one of the main reasons for doing the magazine is to export Barbadian culture to persons abroad who would want to plan their trips to the island or the region. So that is why we are featuring our culture, with the magazine also looking at hotels, clubs, and other venues visitors will want to take a look at,” he explained.

The CEO and Editor-in-Chief of the publication also admitted that though Crop Over gets massive media coverage in overseas markets, other aspects of our culture are desperately underutilised and not well appreciated.

“Within the culture industry, one of the points I often don’t see covered a lot are arts and craft. Art, we know, is a big part of culture, yet it’s one that [doesn’t get
a lot of exposure].

“I would also say cuisine that was featured in our first edition, and also local films. I would say those three areas are underserved, and we intend to correct that,” Craig noted.

WOAH! Magazine can be found on all main social media pages, with the next edition expected in February 2021. (SB)