This just in! In a world of screens, swipes, and fancy video games, our young people are enthusiastically embracing our traditional mathematical board game, Warri. All thanks to the School Call Een phase of the Warri Revival Programme. Could this lead to higher maths scores in the future? Listen, as our youth speak out about Warri !
Warri 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀: Trevor “Simple” Simon, Terrance “Kambue” Charles, and Peter Derryck of 𝗔𝗕𝗪𝗔.
With the School Call Een phase of the Warri Revival Programme, repeating in school is a good thing! This phase features repeat training sessions at schools across Antigua, with sessions in Barbuda scheduled for late November.
The Warri Revival Programme, facilitated by ABWA, falls under the National ICH Project that is funded by the UNESCO ICH Fund and led by Cultural Advisor Dr. Hazra Medica.
One of the Revival Programme’s main goals is to train five hundred and fifty (550) students and fifty (50) members of the business community, churches, community, and sports groups in the history and sport of playing Warri. The programme has already surpassed its target number for adult participation and is well on track to meeting its target for youth engagement.
For its part, theICH Projectis designed to address the urgent need, long voiced by the public, to safeguard important elements of our living heritage before they vanish. It will also bring to the forefront hitherto untapped economic activities and opportunities existing within our traditional knowledge, skills, and cultural heritage. To learn more about the project, click here.
Friends! The August Warri Training Programme might have ended. But the Warri Revival Project is not done! In fact, it jus a come!
August marked a major win for Warri, the cherished African strategy game and cultural retention. The Youth Warri Training Programme, a flagship initiative of the Warri Revival Project, kicked off at the National Public Library, attracting much interest and bringing fresh energy and focus to the traditional game.
While attendance varied from week to week, a dedicated core of 18 young participants stayed the course, embraced the challenge, and levelled up their game. From August 6–29, Mondays to Fridays, 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.,they were guided in the history and nuances of the game by Grandmaster Trainer Trevor Simon, Senior Trainer Peter Derryck, and four newly-certified youth Warri trainers: Jaquani Daniel, A’joné Christian, Tyrique Adams, and Ezekiel Joseph.
An Adult Warri Training Programme was also launched alongside the youth sessions and was received with much enthusiasm. On Saturdays, the Multipurpose Cultural Centre came alive with the sounds of Warri-playing, with each session running from 1–4 PM. Originally designed for 50 adults across Antigua and Barbuda, strong public demand has already led to a planned expanded reach.
The August Warri training sessions were just the beginning! 🎯 The end goal of the Warri Revival Project ? To have 550 youths and 100 adults across Antigua and Barbuda engaged with Warri by Easter 2026.
The Warri Revival Programme is part of the UNESCO-sponsored National Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Project, led by Cultural AdvisorDr. Hazra C. Medica, and facilitated by the Antigua and Barbuda Warri Academy.
The Warri Revival Programme kicked off on July 3rd with a dynamic week-long Train the Trainers Workshop. Sponsored by the UNESCO ICH FUND and facilitated by the Antigua and Barbuda Warri Academy (ABWA), the initiative produced five new Warri trainers—all students, aged 11 to 17.
Did the students enjoy the experience? Did they truly connect with the game?
You be the judge. Enough long talking—roll the video!
What’s next for the Warri Revival Programme?
The Warri Revival Programme, part of the UNESO ICH Fund-Sponsored National Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Project, will train 550 students and 50 NGO members in Warri-playing. The Revival will also birth a new generation of 18 Warri board makers, including youths from vocational programmes and the national prison. Furthermore, throughout this and the next year, ABWA will also plant 200 of the Caesalpina Crista, the “nickal”/”nicker”/seed-producing tree. Three varieties of the seeds are typical in Antigua and Barbuda: the grey, the brownish-orange, and the black.
Stay tuned for updates on how YOU could be a part of this project!
To learn even more about the WARRI REVIVAL PROGRAMME, see this previous article: Warri’s Epic Rebirth
Remember when we promised an EPIC REVIVAL of our traditional board game Warri? Well, here comes the Revival! The WARRI REVIVAL PROGRAMME kicked off at the National Public Library with an exciting Train the Trainers session. Running from July 3-10, 2025, this is the opening move towards bringing Warri back into the hearts and hands of our communities! Catch the details in the video below!
So, to recap:
The Warri Revival Programme, part of the UNESO ICH Fund-Sponsored National Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Project, will train 550 students and 50 NGO members in Warri-playing. The Revival will also birth a new generation of 18 Warri board makers, including youths from vocational programmes and the national prison. Furthermore, throughout this and the next year, ABWA will also plant 200 of the Caesalpina Crista, the “nickal”/”nicker”/seed-producing tree. Three varieties of the seeds are typical in Antigua/Barbuda: the grey, the brownish-orange, and the black.
Stay tuned for updates on how YOU could be a part of this project!
To learn even more about the WARRI REVIVAL PROGRAMME, see this previous article.
Exciting times are ahead! The traditional game of Warri, an important African cultural retention, is in for a revival of EPIC proportions in Antigua and Barbuda!
Our nation is renowned as the “last bastion of Warri in the Caribbean”. It is the one Caribbean country where Warri is still very much visible as a heritage game/sport. Indeed our players are renowned as international champions/grandmasters!
A typical national scene: Warri being played at the West Bus Station in St. Johns.From one generation to another, a Warri training session.Ornate Warri Board with “nickal” seeds. (Artisan: Mr. Karl Henry)
According to Dr. Medica, The Warri Revival Programme is one of the flagship pilot safeguarding exercises within the larger National ICH Project. She revealed that the revival programme will be coordinated by the Antigua and Barbuda Warri Academy (ABWA) under the watchful eyes of founding member and InternationalGrandmaster Trevor “Simple” Simon (CN), with assistance from public, private, and civil partners.
During the first week of July 2025, the ABWA will train six students to become Warri trainers. Following this, the history and fundamentals of the game will be taught to five hundred and fifty (yes, 550!) students. These five hundred and fifty students will be selected from private and public educational institutions in Antigua AND Barbuda. Their training will occur throughout the 2025 summer and Christmas school holidays, and possibly extend into the 2026 Easter holidays.
Excitingly, fifty (50) members of selected NGOs will also benefit from similar training sessions. What is more, eighteen (18) young people will be trained in the craft of making Warri boards. One group of youths will be drawn from vocational programs and the other group from within our national prison.
Warri Boards created by Mr. Karl Henry. Photo credit: Trevor Simon (CN)
Attention will also be given to the seeds of the game. Throughout this and the next year, ABWA will embark upon a project to plant two hundred (200) of the Caesalpina Crista, the “nickal”/”Warri seed”-producing tree. Three varieties of the seeds are typical in Antigua/Barbuda: the grey, the brownish orange, and the black.
International Grandmaster Trevor Simon (CN) is urging the public to rally behind the programme. He acknowledges the current lull in the traditional sport/game noting that in the past Warri was played in all the villages throughout the nation. According to him, participating in the playing of Warri enhances social bonding, problem-solving, and mathematical skills.
The ABWA is promising that all training sessions and activities will be interactive, entertaining, and geared towards reigniting the entire nation with the Warri fever we once had. Training sessions for students will be held at the National Public Library, and the Multipurpose Cultural Centre.
It is anticipated that during, and following the Warri Revival Programme, competitive and frequent Warri championships will be staged. It is also anticipated that the Programme will increase women’s participation in the game.
To learn more about the Warri and the Antigua and Barbuda Warri Academy, click here.
To learn more about the Antigua and Barbuda National ICH Project, clickhere.
The National ICH Project is now in the data collection stage. The information collected will be used to create our first-ever Antigua and Barbuda Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Inventory/Database.
And the best part is: the stories captured about our ICH elements over the next few months will be coming from you—the general public!
Do you have knowledge about cultural heritage elements such as our traditional foods, houses, crafts, toys, and medicine? Kindly share this information with us! The public is being invited to volunteer for interviews, submit suggestions, or share images and videos with us for storage in the database. Please contact us here to be a part of this history-making process of writing our own story(ies)!
Know something? Share something! Become custodians of our cultural heritage!
(Photo Credits clockwise : Mr. Dwight Benjamin, Mr. Trevor Simon, and Dr. Hazra C. Medica)
Our trained data collectors have already begun interviewing and collecting information from community members, with the aim of capturing information from each parish in the coming months. Interviews and information collection in Barbuda are also slated to begin shortly. The information to be collected is expected to register a range of elements from traditional festivals, foods, and music to traditional agricultural practices, social practices, craftsmanship, and architecture.
This first phase of the information collection exercise will run until February 2025 as an integral part of Antigua and Barbuda’s National ICH Project. The project is being funded to the tune of US$ 97,754, / EC$ 264,185.07 by the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.
The interviewing of and collection of information from communities follows the conclusion of two training workshops. The first workshop, the historic ICH Community-Inventorying Training Workshop – September 16-20— facilitated by UNESCO Global Facilitator David Brown, was attended by twenty-six (26) heritage experts and enthusiasts who received specialised training in information collection methods and best practices.
This was followed by the Database Training Workshop on October 16, which was attended by a smaller cohort of seven (7) participants who were trained in the use of the archival software that will be used to create the Antigua and Barbuda ICH Inventory.
Archival Software Training Workshop held at the Museum of Antigua & Barbuda. Facilitator: Dr. Chris Waters
The National ICH Project’s full title is: Strengthening Capacities for the Implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in Antigua and Barbuda.
It is a first-of-its-kind mammoth project that will inventory, promote, and safeguard important elements of our cultural heritage. Antiguans and Barbudans, here and in the diaspora are being invited to share their knowledge of Antiguan and Barbudan cultural heritage.
The implementation of this crucial intersectoral and inter-ministerial project is being led by Dr. Hazra C. Medica, the Cultural Advisor in the Ministry of Creative Industries, supported by Reginald Murphy CN, MBE, GOH, PhD, Antigua and Barbuda’s UNESCO National Commission Secretary-General.
For more/background information on the Antigua and Barbuda ICH project, please see our previous posts below:
Spirited discussions about our intangible cultural heritage (ICH) elements, pledges to unite in the cause of safeguarding, and, of course, newly certified ICH Superheroes!
These were the results of bringing together twenty-six (26) heritage experts and enthusiasts for a historic September 16-20 ICH Community-Inventorying Training Workshop.
ICH SUPERHEROES equipped and ready to rescue and safeguard our ICH! With Global Facilitator, David Brown (sixth from left).
Day 5 of the Workshop
Location: Outside Copper & Lumber Store Hotel, Nelson’s Dockyard.
The recently concluded training workshop officially kicked the national UNESCO ICH Fund-sponsored ICH safeguarding project into high gear. Participants included: tour guides, local historians, entrepreneurs, artisans, authors, and staff of the Department of Culture, the National Parks Authority, the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda, the National Archives, the Barbuda Council, and the Ministry of Creative Industries.
Scenes from Days 1,2,&4 of the Workshop. Location: Dept. of Environment’s Conference Room. Calypso singing, debates over the ingredients of a “true” fungee, authors signing copies of their books, and more!
During the workshop, UNESCO Global Facilitator, Mr. David Brown delivered training on the ethics of inventorying, methods and techniques for extensive documentation, effective use of digital recorders and cameras for interviews, and information organisation, storage, and usage. The final day of the workshop was devoted to practical exercises, allowing participants to test their grasp of the training material.
Day 5 at the Nelson’s Dockyard. Participants trial interviews of specially-invited holders of ICH knowledge.
The specialised training received by participants is an important step in moving the nation towards its first-ever ICH inventory/database.
Cultural Advisor and the project’s manager, Dr. Hazra Medica expressed her gratitude for the diverse turnout, and the robust contributions of the participants. She noted that a concerted effort to safeguard ICH has been a long time coming. Addressing the gathering on the opening day of the workshop, she assured:
‘This is not just about inventorying or creating a national database that will sit on someone’s coffee table or look “nice” on a website. It is for the purpose of safeguarding and formulating an implementation plan that will ensure that.’
For his part, Secretary-General of the country’s National UNESCO Commission, and project co-lead, Dr. Reginald Murphy also stressed the importance of ICH and of establishing an inventory:
‘I have focused a lot of my life on the tangible side of culture, but we need the intangible. The intangible is what makes the tangible. That’s where the knowledge comes from and that is where it is stored. It is really important for us to get on board with this and I’m really excited.’
Photo courtesy National Parks Authority.
With the workshop concluded, the project will now move into the data-gathering phase. Over the next two months, the newly trained group will collect data from communities. Data collected during this period will be used to create the first draft of the national inventory. This will be followed by a further three months of data collection, using diverse methods and sources. This second data collection exercise will be used to record additional information for the national ICH inventory/database.
For more/background information on the Antigua and Barbuda ICH project, please see our previous posts below:
This September 16-20, 2024, the country’s UNESCO ICH Fund-sponsored ICH safeguarding project will kick into high gear with a five-day capacity-building workshop. The workshop, open to thirty-two (32) participants, will accelerate the nation’s progress towards its first ever intangible cultural heritage (ICH) inventory. Of the thirty-two workshop participants, four spots will be reserved for participants from Barbuda. Travel and accommodation costs for Barbudan participants will be covered by the project’s funds.
Over the course of five days, workshop participants will be trained by the UNESCO Global Facilitator, Mr. David Browne, on:
The principles and methodologies for extensive documentation, with sessions on the use of audio-visual equipment;
The creation and tailoring of inventorying forms,;
The use of such forms in the field, and how to organize, store, and use data.
By the workshop’s end, participants will be equipped with the skills, methods, and expertise needed to formulate a national community-based inventorying implementation plan for data capture. The final day of the workshop will be devoted to a practice exercise in one of Antigua’s historic villages.
Following the workshop, participants will engage in a two-month data collection period. The data collected will be used to create the nation’s first ever database of intangible cultural heritage elements. A modest stipend of US $75 will be paid per data collector per 24-hour week for 8 weeks.
Register your interest for the workshop by sending an email to cultural.infosystem@ab.gov.ag.
Register your interest for the workshop by sending an email to cultural.infosystem@ab.gov.ag.
The creation of the first version/iteration of the national ICH database will be followed by a three-month period of data collection, using diverse methods and sources. This second data collection exercise will be used to record additional information for the national ICH database.
What is ICH?
The “intangible cultural heritage” (ICH) means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. (2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.)
Photo courtesy of Mr. Trevor Simon (CN)
The following are examples of ICH “domains”/ types:
✓ oral traditions and expressions
✓ performing arts
✓ social practices, rituals and festive events
✓ knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe
✓ traditional craftsmanship
For more/background information on the Antigua and Barbuda ICH project, please see our previous posts below:
“The 2003 UNESCO Convention for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage has now been activated!”
These were the words with which Antigua and Barbuda’s UNESCO National Commission’s Secretary-General, Dr. Reginald Murphy, greeted the June 20th handover of a cheque valued at EC 10,159.85 to the Precision Centre.
The funds will go towards the publication of the Precision Centre’s book on the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of Antigua and Barbuda. The book’s publication is being funded under Antigua and Barbuda’s UNESCO ICH Fund-sponsored project. The national project is being led by Cultural Advisor, Dr. Hazra Medica, with assistance from Dr. Murphy.
Smiles all around (and a bold foot forward) as Dr. Hazra Medica and Dr. Murphy present the EC 10,159.85 cheque to Administrator Mrs. Alicia Cornelius.
The Precision Centre, located in Piggotts, is a faith-based organisation with an excellent track record of ICH safeguarding initiatives at the community level— the most recognised being their production of thirteen (13) short documentaries on Antiguan cultural heritage; twelve (12) village-based, and one (1) general ICH documentary.
These documentaries form the basis of the Centre’s flagship venture, the “Antiguanization Project”. The planned book will be based on the contents of the Centre’s general ICH documentary.
Under the Antigua and Barbuda ICH project, the Centre will publish, and distribute 2,000 free copies of its ICH book to school libraries, the National Library, the National Archives, community centres, and other select institutions and individuals.
A delighted Mrs. Alicia Cornelius, Administrator of the Precision Centre, received the cheque on the Centre’s behalf.
“Since we learnt of the availability of the funds last week, we began our initial conversations of putting things in place. We have since made contact with the possible publisher and have received a revised quotation from them,” Cornelius revealed.
According to her, with funds now in hand, “the team will continue to collaborate and work towards completing the project within the time allotted”.
Project Manager, Dr. Medica, echoed Mrs. Cornelius’ delight noting that the presentation of the funds to the Precision Centre was a long time coming:
“In 2018, the Precision Centre submitted its compelling proposal to us for inclusion in the larger national ICH project. In 2020, the nation secured US$ 97,754, / EC$ 264,185.07 in funding from the highly competitive UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund for our 19-month-long project.
We suffered delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and there were even further delays due to circumstances beyond our control. But now, we are, happily, getting back on track, and this presentation of hard-fought-for funds to the Precision Centre is a part of that!”
For his part, Dr. Murphy asserted that the Centre’s book will be “a major contribution to the safeguarding and enrichment of our cultural heritage” and congratulated the Centre for “their dedication and commitment”.
Over the coming months, the public will be kept updated on the progress of both the Precision Centre’s book as well as the larger ICH project.
To learn more about the Precision Centre, click here. For a glimpse at the Centre’s “Antiguanization Project,” click here.
For details on Antigua and Barbuda’s ICH project, please click here.
Next week, the first call will be posted for interested people to sign up to be a part of the project.
Exciting times are ahead! By January’s end, Antigua and Barbuda will be launching a first-of-its-kind mammoth project that will inventory, promote, and safeguard important elements of our cultural heritage.
Cultural Advisor and the project’s manager, Dr. Hazra C. Medica, will be joined by Reginald Murphy CN, MBE, GOH, PhD, Antigua and Barbuda’s UNESCO National Commission Secretary-General, to guide the implementation of this crucial intersectoral and inter-ministerial project.
Dr. Hazra C. MedicaReginald Murphy, CN, MBE, GOH, PhD
In 2020, the nation secured US$ 97,754, / EC$ 264,185.07 in funding from the highly competitive UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund for a 19-month-long project. The project title: Strengthening Capacities for the Implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in Antigua and Barbuda. In the coming months, it will be referred to as “The ICH Project”.
Similar to the now-concluded UNESCO IFCD-sponsored project, the Antigua and Barbuda Cultural Industries Mapping Project, The ICH Project will create several firsts for the nation. It will result in the nation’s first-ever national living heritage inventory/registry, with the input and involvement of communities across Antigua and Barbuda. The inventory/registry is meant to raise awareness of key living heritage elements, their viability status, and sustainable pathways to safeguard them.
There will also be a one-year Warri revival programme that will involve legendary Warri players, including Grandmaster Trevor Simon (CN), train five hundred and fifty (550) students and fifty (50) members of the business community, churches, community, and sports groups in the history and sport of playing Warri.
Warri is an African cultural retention whose survival undermines the amnesia thrust upon our enslaved African forebearers and their descendants. The skill of playing the game and the intricacies of making Warri boards has persisted through intergenerational transmission. In 1993, a Caribbean Beat Magazine article declared Antigua and Barbuda “the last bastion of Warri in the Caribbean”. Our players have long been highly visible internationally as world champions.
A typical Antiguan scene: Warri being played at the West Bus Station in St. Johns.
As a part of this programme, eighteen (18) young people— one group drawn from vocational programmes, and another from within our prison—will also receive training to create Warri boards for local purchase. This will allow for the transmission of the knowledge and continuity of the skills associated with making Warri boards, and allow greater public access to them.
Competitively priced Warri boards will also ensure earning opportunities will arise for the newly trained artisans. Moreover, tree-planting exercises will be undertaken to increase the number of Caesalpinia Crista trees, the source of the seeds used in Warri.
Additionally, there will be a boatbuilding programme, in which six (6) selected youths will be trained by a traditional boatbuilder to build a tradition-inspired seaworthy vessel. The process will be thoroughly documented for posterity and public dissemination. The intention is to use the programme to elaborate localised occupation standards, certification, and curricula in the field and widen our youths’ maritime skills and the maritime opportunities available to them.
Traditional sailing boats were once built and used in large numbers in Antigua. The backbone of commerce, they transported goods and people from the land to larger ships anchored in deeper water offshore. In the early years before automobiles and asphalt roads were established, they also transported produce from coastal areas around the island. Over the years several varieties were developed according to their intended function. But in general, the most common vessel type was the sloop. While larger vessels, such as schooners were built for long range trade and transportation, the smaller sloops were versatile, fast, and easy to handle.
Text courtesy Reginald Murphy CN, MBE, GOH, PhD.
Photos courtesy boatbuilder Mr. Alford Cochrane (who also appears in the foreground in the third photo).
Other components of the project will include diverse cultural exhibitions, the publication of a short book based on the Precision Centre’s cultural heritage documentary series, and a programme designed to teach youths traditional toy-making using recycled and indigenous materials.
The ICH Project originally meant for a 2022 launch and to span 19 months will be launched, with a revised timeline, by the end of January 2024. It was formulated by Cultural Advisor, Dr. Hazra C. Medica, after eight months of consultations with representatives from the private, public, and civil sectors. The project’s proposal was refined with assistance from the Heritage Department of the National Parks Authority—Reginald Murphy CN, MBE, GOH, PhD (now retired), Dr. Christopher Waters, and Desley Gardner (MA)—and (then) researcher in the Department of Culture, Mr. Anderson O’Marde.
The ICH Project is designed to address the urgent need, long voiced by the public, to safeguard important elements of our living heritage before they vanish. It will also bring to the forefront hitherto untapped economic activities and opportunities existing within our traditional knowledge, skills, and cultural heritage.
