PHILIPSBURG:--- The Where Culture Lives project has successfully completed its survey phase across Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten. The project team extends sincere appreciation to the public who participated, and in particular to the island coordinators and surveyors whose dedication ensured strong community engagement across all six islands.
Titled “Your Voice, Where Culture Lives,” the survey explored how arts, culture, and heritage shape everyday life on the ABCSSS islands. It invited the public to share insights on how they engage with culture in their communities; where culture takes place, what supports it, and what barriers still exist.
The survey phase was conducted within a focused timeframe, from the end of November 2025 through early January 2026, following the focus groups held in August and September last year. Despite the busy end-of-year period, all islands completed their data collection on time. Participation ranged from 40 to 150 respondents per island, reflecting island size, representation, and the effectiveness of local outreach.
Overall, participants responded positively and shared clear priorities. Many pointed to the need for more funding and training opportunities for creative entrepreneurs, alongside more accessible spaces to practice, develop, and showcase art and heritage. Others highlighted the importance of improving cultural education in schools.
With the survey phase now complete, the project team has begun interpreting and analysing the results. They will come together at the end of January, and this collaborative interpretation phase aims to move beyond numbers alone, giving meaning to the findings
within their cultural, social, and island-specific contexts. The outcomes will feed directly into island-based validation sessions scheduled for early April, where draft findings will be discussed with artists, cultural and heritage organisations, government representatives, knowledge partners, and other key stakeholders.
Participants will then offer feedback, which will help to strengthen community ownership of the results and also support the development of recommendations for future cultural policy and investments across all islands.
“As a lead team and as researchers, we are committed to ensuring that the findings form a shared foundation,” says Jorien Wuite, project lead. “This exploration gives us some great insights on cultural mapping across the Dutch Caribbean, and we want the results to meaningfully support future action as well as island-specific policy priorities for government officials and other stakeholders. That is why we are happy and proud to have received support for this additional phase with validation sessions, more co-creative discussions, and broad representation.”
“The insights gathered through this research will help us understand what makes each island’s culture and heritage distinct, while also allowing for careful comparisons that honour differences and illuminate shared patterns,” said Ludmila Duncan, one of the lead researchers. “That balance is essential if cultural research is to be both reliable and impactful.”
The Where Culture Lives team is also proud to announce the development of the Where Culture Lives Prize, a supportive competition on each island that will invite artists and cultural practitioners to submit work celebrating cultural life and creatively expressing ‘where culture lives’. This competition is set to be like no other; grounded in communities, inspired by everyday life, and centred on what culture looks and feels like across the islands. Further details about this prize will be shared by the end of January 2026.
The Where Culture Lives project was commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) in The Hague and on Bonaire (OCW and OCW-CG), and is managed by St. Maarten-based consultancy Lemonade B.V.
