Gwyneth Squires: The Iconic Bandleader and Designer of Crop-Over Festival (Pictures by Xtra Vision Photography)

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has described the death of “icon” Gwyneth Squires as “a real blow”.

Mottley, who served as Minister of Culture in the Owen Arthur administration, said Squires’ name became synonymous with both Junior and Grand Kadooment

“According to the records of the National Cultural Foundation, Gwyneth is the most decorated bandleader and designer in the history of Crop-Over, with an enviable record for continuous participation in the annual festival. She has won more Band of the Year titles at Grand Kadooment and Junior Kadooment and Designer of the Year trophies than any other — more than 60 in all.”

The full tribute:

To say that my heart is saddened by the news that Gwyneth Squires has passed would be a gross understatement. As the Prime Minister, under whose office the cultural portfolio falls, as Minister of Culture in a previous administration and as a Bajan to whom Crop-Over means the world, the death of Gwyneth is a real blow.

There are few names in this country more synonymous with Junior Kadooment and Grand Kadooment than Gwyneth’s. The number of children who grew up in her junior band and then graduated to the style, flair and tradition of her Grand Kadooment offering for more than 30 years, must be in the thousands.

She was an icon.

According to the records of the National Cultural Foundation, Gwyneth is the most decorated bandleader and designer in the history of Crop-Over, with an enviable record for continuous participation in the annual festival. She has won more Band of the Year titles at Grand Kadooment and Junior Kadooment and Designer of the Year trophies than any other — more than 60 in all.

But she is also a perfect example of how the lives of people in all of our territories can be enhanced when we embrace each other and see the Caribbean Sea as a bridge rather than a boundary. Gwyneth was born in Trinidad and moved to Barbados as a teenager more than half a century ago — and I dare anyone to try to convince me that she was not as Bajan as anyone born here.

She competed in Grant Kadooment as a designer/bandleader in 1985 and since then has remained unmatched in her depiction and showcasing of our history and culture in costume, as well as her commitment to tradition when others found comfort in beads, bikinis and feathers.

Added to that, she would have won numerous King and Queen of the Band trophies along with other top prizes, which led in 2013, to the award of the Barbados Service Medal for her contribution to Masquerade.