Carmelita Bissessarsingh preserves historical houses

Owner and curator of the Angelo Bissessarsingh Heritage House (ABHH) and the Boscoe Holder house (BHH) Carmelita Bissessarsingh says she bought the two houses to preserve their history, make them available for use by artists, and to educate people about Trinidad and Tobago’s past.

Bissessarsingh is the sister of historian and author Angelo Bissessarsingh, who died in 2017 at 35. She said they grew up in a household which always appreciated the arts and culture of TT.

“Angelo was always a champion of TT as the best place in the world. He was really a country man and I grew up with him, so it wasn’t something alien. It was only in my teenage years that I realised that this is not the value system of most people. Some people think that history isn’t important, they say, ‘I don’t see why you have to do history, that’s the past,’ all that kind of nonsense attitude, which I personally don't understand.
"It all boils down to environment and what you would have been taught during your formative years.
"But what I do realise is that history is important because it teaches us what to do or what not to do.”

Bissessarsingh bought the ABHH in May 2022 and the BHH in August 2022 with the help of family. The ABHH, formerly the Meyler House, is  in Belmont, while the BHH is in Newtown. She said she had always wanted to own a gingerbread house but didn’t think it was possible.

“I thought it was not possible only because I knew those houses were heirloom-type buildings which were handed down from generation to generation, and being from Siparia, obviously owning anything in Port of Spain would have been a real stretch for my family. When the opportunity came to buy the first house in Belmont, I jumped at it immediately. It was quite a boon to have something so well-keptt. The previous owner, Mr Michael Toney, did such extensive renovation that I had really minimal work to do.”

Bissessarsingh is studying colonial design and says owning the two houses has her putting all her theoretical study into practice.

“I used to teach visual arts at the secondary-school level and I quit my job to take care of the houses. It was just something that proposed a whole new realm of opportunity for me personally, because this is now my job. I am specialised in colonial design and I mean, owning something like this is putting me to the test, because everything that I do is relevant to my studies.”

She said the ABHH is a National Trust site, and she wants to get the BHH listed as one too, although former owner Mark Pereira had done extensive renovations on it.

“I want to get it listed not only because it’s a George Brown gingerbread house, as is the ABHH, but also because Boscoe only painted one mural in his life, and it exists in his house. So buying and listing them is really about conservation, preservation and the possibilities of what the buildings could do.
"I mean, I want to do things that are enriching, not only for my personal experience, but for everybody. Trinidad is somewhere that has so many things we could do, heritage tourism of course, but also cultural and outreach activities, that I would love for these houses to be the conduit for.”

Bissessarsingh said she was able to buy the houses with the assistance of her aunt Prof Ann-Marie Bissessar, and her whole family is involved in their renovation and running.

“My dad does what he can, and my other brother, Mario, is also part owner of the ABHH. It takes a lot of energy. These houses are demanding. I am basically doing everything right now from the website to hosting tours to running events to cleaning to refurbishing some things to everything. For me it’s an all-or-nothing investment.”

The ABHH will be open to the public for various uses, Bissessarsingh said, while she plans to offer the BHH for an artist's residency.

“Angelo created the Virtual Museum of TT (on Facebook), where he was able to give people easily digestible bites of history, but I want the ABHH to be more than a continuation of that.

"So far I’ve been doing tours, but that won’t help pay for the maintenance of the house. I do encourage people to come and experience the ambience. This is what a house would look like back in 1906 when it was freshly completed. As much as possible we try to recreate genuine artifacts related to the house. Nothing is really a reproduction, so people are getting a full experience of what that time period would reflect.”

Bissessarsingh said she wants to host lunches, dinners and afternoon teas in the space, with no fewer than five people. She plans to hold different events to attract younger generations, as she realises there is a huge gap in interest between young people and older people. These would include sip-and-paint events, wine-tastings, murder mystery nights and live entertainment.

“We can have seating for 22-24 people. We have an outdoor decking for 12 and an inside space for 12. And then of course, we have a car park at the back for nine -ten cars: if you really put it into a real squeeze, is 11.”

She said the space can be rented for corporate events, and her aunt also wants to host woman-empowerment events and seminars.

“As a young woman I think it’s crucial we be at the forefront. If the house ever generates some profit, which I am hoping in the near future it will, I intend to give back to the community of Belmont, which is very kind to me. So I’d love to give back to the St Jude's Girls or the old age home. And, of course, bigger than that, if possible, to give one scholarship every three years to history and one scholarship to visual arts at the UWI.”

Bissessarsingh will live at the BHH, but wants to use the extra space to host local, regional, and international artists doing residencies.

“So international artists, writers, researchers, anybody who's in the realm of literature or history could also visit. This house has always housed an artist or someone related to art, so after Boscoe, Mark Pereira would have bought the property but then he encouraged Arnim’s (Art Gallery), he encouraged Peter Doig to stay here, he himself was an art dealer. So I know it is my responsibility and I want to continue that tradition, it is not meant for me to just be here and exist and enjoy the space for myself.”

She said the NGC Bocas Lit Fest had done some filming there and the Moko Somokow moko jumbie group had done a photoshoot there, with both events giving her an idea what could be done with the space.

“It is something that people love because it’s very minimal and it really does represent a very Caribbean lifestyle. It’s very cliched how it looks. It is very staged. I tried to make sure that it is always camera- or video-ready, because I don't think putting any and every random piece of furniture will work, and my aunt and I are very particular. It was a real learning curve for me to see what these things would entail and to see a final product afterwards, it was amazing.
"So this house is continuing on that trajectory of just being surrounded with artists, lending support to artists and always having some artistic element in it.”

The tours take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, at 10.30 am and 1.30 pm, with teas at 3.30 pm, though these have to be booked in advance. Bissessarsingh said she prefers to have school tours for forms three-six and university students.

Bissessarsingh said she realised there was a lack of knowledge of history among young people.

“My whole thesis is on colonial design, architecture, climate change and how we changed from gingerbread houses, which was something that was so efficient for our climate, to what we know now, which is just a concrete box with little windows, short ceilings, air condition going day and night, and flat on the ground.

“It is important for people to know little things about history, I’m not talking about big things like World War I and World War II, but TT is a vacuum...I don't know if the schools are at fault, I don’t know if the curriculum is at fault, but children really don't know basic things. They don’t know who Eric Williams is, who Sir Ellis Clarke is, why it is we have certain names for streets and highways, who are these people, they just take it for granted, and it’s sad.”

Bissessarsingh is working towards her dream job of being a curator, which she hopes the houses will help her achieve.
She said right now the houses are being run through the family’s personal finances, but they will have to make some money to pay for themselves.

“It is really a labour of love. I can't tell people to get into something like this and automatically you'll be a millionaire overnight. It's a huge sacrifice. Angelo dedicated his whole, very short life to digging up in the archives, going to all these old cemeteries, and giving people these digestible history quips, writing all these books furiously before he passed away, and it was like a responsibility. Now it’s my responsibility to continue in a sense and really create a kind of cultural renaissance in Trinidad.”

More information on the Angelo Bissessarsingh Heritage House can be found at https://www.abheritagehouse.org/