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transcript |  suttle street | up

Tudor Street into the western section of Bridgetown is Suttle Street. But until the late nineteenth century it was a respectable neighbourhood.

The nut… raw and roasted.

(The sweetest thing you ever heard is the old nut seller Coffee, toffee, pack o’ nuts, tell me what you want, young fella.)

Is Suttle Street really subtle? The red light district, they say. Now, it’s just alleys and back allies and allies, like…

artist profile | allison callender | up

Allison Callender grew up hearing about a street in Bridgetown that sold the widest variety and most reasonable nuts and yard brooms around. According to the older people she interviewed on this street and in the shops there, Suttle Street was once a red light district. Today, it is a series of alleys with small shops like the popular “Sookrans” which sells vegetables and the famous coconut straw yard broom, and “The Nut Place”, which has been around for just over twenty-five years. Her sound piece starts with the subtle sounds of the street today. She incorporates the folk song, “Old Nut Seller“, with the sounds of the people in the nearby shops and alleys and the actual noise of the nuts being bagged. The work ends with the hustle and bustle of the busy street winding down as evening approaches and the sound of someone kicking an old soda can on their way home.

Allison Callender is currently Assistant Curator-Art at the Barbados Museum and Historical Society. Her work there involves research, documentation, maintenance and upkeep of the collections in her care. This includes both storage and exhibition areas such as the Cunard Gallery, which features a collection of prints and paintings of the Caribbean, and The Warmington Gallery (four late 18th–mid 19th century period rooms).