The culture of the Falkland Islands is essentially analogous to that of British culture. [1] The Falkland Islands have a large non-native born population, mainly white and from England (and to a much lesser extent, other parts of the British Isles), but also from Saint Helena. [2]
The native born population is mainly of English descent, with other strains such as Gibraltarian.
The English language is used, mainly in its British English form. However, due to the isolation of the islands, the small population retains its own accent/dialect. In rural areas (i.e. anywhere outside Port Stanley), known as "Camp" (from Spanish campo, "countryside"), the Falkland accent tends to be stronger. The dialect has resemblances to Australian, New Zealand, West Country and Norfolk dialects of English, as well as Lowland Scots. Other notable Falkland island terms are the words "kelper" meaning a person who lives in the Falklands, etymologically, the term comes from the kelp surrounding the islands (although this term is sometimes considered pejorative); and "smoko" referring to a smoking break. [3]
The official language of the Falkland Islands is English, and other spoken languages are Lowland Scots, Spanish (mostly spoken by Chileans, with some Spaniards and Argentines), French, Tagalog, and historically Yaghan. [4]
Due to the low population of the islands, most of the literature of the islands has been written by outsiders, and is non-fiction. However some poetry has been written by Falklanders, including Ernest Spencer's Motherland.[ citation needed ]
The 1911 Britannica states:
The government barrack is now a guesthouse and is somewhat more in keeping with the surrounding houses.
Since this date, many more buildings have been erected in Stanley. In 1998, the Government of the Falkland Islands started a programme to encourage building of private houses; the development is known as East Stanley as it developed Stanley to the east. This led to a boom in the housing construction market with many new timber kit houses imported, largely from Scotland. These range from single bedroom bungalows to large 4-5 bedroom houses, the style of cladding and colours varying immensely. [5]
Falkland houses are renowned for being brightly painted with immaculately maintained gardens; older houses frequently have intricately carved wooden fascia boards.
The Bodie Creek Suspension Bridge is sometimes stated to be the most southerly in the world.
The following is a outline of Art of the Falkland Islands.
Art genres - Landscapes, Seascapes, Maritime, Ships, Boats, Work and the Working Environment, Domestic Life, Folkart, Illustrations, Wildlife, Flora and Fauna, Architecture, Buildings, Conflict, and People. Painting, Oils, Watercolours, print and photography.
Art of the Falklands could be broken down into three basic periods.
The early period, 1833 to 1914 was dominated by a few talented amuetur individuals, visitors to the islands and artists recording the exploration of the Falkland, Sub-Antarctica and Antarctic regions, cataloguing its fauna and flora.
From 1914 to 1986 was a period of slow development with few outlets such as postage stamps, book publications and illustrations, for local artists.
The conflicts of the Twentieth Century, and in particular, The Battle of the Falklands, The Battle of the River Plate and The Falklands War were well depicted by Naval artists of the day. The Falklands Conflict is covered by Cultural impact of the Falklands War and were been recorded by Official War Artists. These conflicts dominate this period.
Since 1986, economic diversification and a growth in population has led to an increase in Artistic activity in the Islands. The opening of Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust, the Jane Cameron National Archives have found homes for Falklands Art and Photography Collections. As well as the commercial Studio 52 in Stanley.
Artists associated with the Falkland Islands
Edward Fanshawe Royal Naval officer and amateur painter, who produced some of the earliest representations of life and landscapes in Falklands on a tour of duty in May 1849 whilst in command of HMS Daphne (1838).
William Dale 1826 - 1870, Camp manager and artist painted the early life of the colony.
Dora Blake 1853 - 1923 Artist who illustrated domestic life in late Victorian life in the Camp. Her work was published in Falkland watercolours by Dora Blake by Sally Blake and Falklands Heritage: a record of Pioneer settlement by Mary Trehearne 1978.
Elinor Frances Vallentin 1873–1924, botanist and botanical illustrator co authored Illustrations of the flowering plants and ferns of the Falkland Island by Mrs E. F. Vallentin with descriptions by Mrs E. M. Cotton (London, L. Reeve & Co., 1921). An exhibition of her work was held at Stanley in May 1911. [6]
There is one major newspaper, the Penguin News , [7] and also a radio station, the Falkland Islands Radio Service (FIRS). [8] The islands also have their own national football team and national cricket team. [9]
Cultural events are organised from time to time and involve many sectors of the population. A Fringe Festival was held in 2022 and featured monologues written by Alan Bennett, a Burlesque evening, music of various genres, poetry and other events. In 2023 Stanley held its first Festival of Lights, with dancers, floats, illuminations and music. The Falkland Islands Operatic and Dramatic Association produces plays and murder mystery evenings.
The Falklands War was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial dependency, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The conflict began on 2 April, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by the invasion of South Georgia the next day. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender on 14 June, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders were killed during the hostilities.
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. What he called his "prophetic works" were said by 20th-century critic Northrop Frye to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry led 21st-century critic Jonathan Jones to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced". In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. While he lived in London his entire life, except for three years spent in Felpham, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich collection of works, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God" or "human existence itself".
Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti, generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. Rossetti inspired the next generation of artists and writers, William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones in particular. His work also influenced the European Symbolists and was a major precursor of the Aesthetic movement.
Stanley is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a population of 2,460. The entire population of the Falkland Islands was 3,398 on Census Day on 9 October 2016.
Sir Peter Thomas Blake is an English pop artist. He co-created the sleeve design for the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. His other works include the covers for two of The Who's albums, the cover of the Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", and the Live Aid concert poster. Blake also designed the 2012 Brit Award statuette.
The Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) is the locally maintained volunteer defence unit in the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory. The FIDF works alongside the military units supplied by the United Kingdom to ensure the security of the islands.
The cultural impact of the Falklands War spanned several media in both Britain and Argentina. A number of films and television productions emerged from the conflict. The first Argentine film about the war was Los chicos de la guerra in 1984. The BBC drama Tumbledown (1988) tells the story of a British officer paralysed from a bullet wound. The computer game Harrier Attack (1983) and the naval strategy game Strike Fleet (1987) are two examples of Falklands-related games. A number of fictional works were set during the Falklands War, including in Stephen King's novella The Langoliers (1990), in which the character Nick Hopewell is a Falklands veteran. The war provided a wealth of material for non-fiction writers; in the United Kingdom (UK) an important account became Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins' The Battle for the Falklands.
The Falkland Islands is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about 300 mi (480 km) east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about 752 mi (1,210 km) from Cape Dubouzet at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, at a latitude of about 52°S. The archipelago, with an area of 4,700 sq mi (12,000 km2), comprises East Falkland, West Falkland, and 776 smaller islands. As a British overseas territory, the Falklands have internal self-governance, but the United Kingdom takes responsibility for their defence and foreign affairs. The capital and largest settlement is Stanley on East Falkland.
The only official language of the Falkland Islands is English, and this is spoken by everyone on a day-to-day basis. Spanish is spoken by 10% of the population, a significant minority. Most of the Spanish speakers are immigrants, foreign workers, and expats, predominantly from Chile. Knowledge of Spanish as a foreign language is fairly widespread, as it is a compulsory subject in school, being the lingua franca in much of mainland South America. As the schools follow the English education system, European Spanish as prescribed by the Real Academia in Madrid is taught, rather than a South American variety of the language, but Falkland Islanders may use seseo pronunciation typical of South American dialect.
Falkland Islanders derive from various origins. Earliest among these are the numerically small but internationally diverse early 19th century inhabitants of the Falkland Islands, comprising and descended in part from settlers brought by Luis Vernet, and English and American sealers; South American gauchos who settled in the 1840s and 1850s; and since the late 1830s, settlers largely from Britain with a minority from other European countries. There has also been significant recent contributions from Saint Helena and Chile.
Falkland Islanders, also called Falklanders and nicknamed Kelpers, are the people of the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands.
Falkland Islands English is mainly British in character. However, as a result of the remoteness of the islands, the small population has developed and retains its own accent/dialect, which persists despite many immigrants from the United Kingdom in recent years. In rural areas, known as 'Camp', the Falkland accent tends to be stronger. The dialect has resemblances to Australian, New Zealand, West Country and Norfolk dialects of English, as well as Lowland Scots.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Falkland Islands:
William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job primarily refers to a series of twenty-two engraved prints by Blake illustrating the biblical Book of Job. It also refers to two earlier sets of watercolours by Blake on the same subject. The engraved Illustrations are considered to be Blake's greatest masterpieces in the medium of engraving, and were also a rare commercial and critical success for Blake.
Duplicate: List of Falkland Islands–related topics
Stanley Roy Badmin was an English painter and etcher particularly notable for his book illustrations and landscapes.
The occupation of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands was the short-lived Argentine occupation of a group of British islands in the South Atlantic whose sovereignty has long been disputed by Argentina. Until their invasion on 2 April 1982 by the Argentine military junta, they had been governed by the United Kingdom since it re-established control over them in 1833.
The Falkland Islands Football League (FIFL) is the governing body of football in the Falkland Islands. The association operates the national team and the Stanley Services League, the only domestic league on the islands. They also sponsor an all-star team from the league, called Stanley F.C., who occasionally play friendly matches against stationed troops on the islands and Royal Navy makeshift teams.
Linda Kitson is a British artist. She is best known for her work as an official war artist during the Falklands Conflict.
A referendum on political status was held in the Falkland Islands on 10–11 March 2013. The Falkland Islanders were asked whether or not they supported the continuation of their status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom in view of Argentina's call for negotiations on the islands' sovereignty.