Unraveling new questions on cultural identity from Saba's lace work 

Presentation Unraveling new questions on cultural identity from Saba's lace work, by  Harjas Kaur, MSc (Island(er)s at the Helm).

A look at Saba’s shifting cultural identity like any Caribbean identity indicates that it has been on the move since before slavery till present-day’s migration. My research in Saba used the lace work as the lens to investigate how an overarching fabric of kinship is forming inter-generationally amongst the larger geographic Caribbean. Saba lace work traveled from Venezuela and found its way to Saba in the 1800s, making it the primary source of livelihood (amongst others) for the women during the early 1900s. It has continued as a unique craftworks amongst the older women who are given a government funded space to come together and work in.
 
The research question posed by the Cultural department sought to understand how the lace work is inter-generationally transmitted and in that process forming Saban identity? Identity here is laced through the understanding of three grammars of identity in Baumann’s work which translates the three categories using orientalism, grammar of segmentation, and grammar of encompassment. Examination of these grammars was done by conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Saba for a month exploring the cultural identity from the epic-center of Gidden’s structuration theory. An intersection of ethnographic research methods were used to observe, participate, and embody, with the island(er)s guiding the findings as the researcher becomes the writing tool in the process. Following these methods the data was co-produced with the older women in Saba by doing the lace work with them.
 
The work allowed for the emergence of plurality of identities and multiple relationships forming at the forefront of changing climate. Here different generations of migrating Caribbean(s) meet and cultivate kinships for their in-route journeys ahead.

Harjas Kaur Murar is a researcher working within the ‘Islander(s) at the Helm’ project. She has done ethnographic research with the community of Saba and St. Eustatius. The research aims to deliver on the culture heritage and environmental concerns in the changing climate.

Harjas has completed her Bachelors in Political Science from India, and recently did her Masters in Development Studies from Erasmus University Rotterdam majoring in Agrarian, Food, and Environment Studies. She has worked with the fisherwomen in Jeju Island, South Korea for her Master’s thesis exploring the new identity forming amongst the new generation of fisherwomen. She is interested in working with local communities to learn about their intergenerational knowledge systems, impact on livelihoods, and other intersecting issues through climate change.