THE University of Technology (UTech) yesterday unveiled a sculpture of late Reggae icon, Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley, at its Papine campus in St. Andrew. The piece, which has been erected in the institution’s Caribbean Sculpture Park, was designed by Russian sculptor, Gregory Pototsky, and presented as a gift to the institution and, by extension, the government and people Jamaica.

The unveiling of the Bob Marley sculpture coincided with the 67th anniversary of the late Reggae exponent’s birth, and was one of two pieces formally presented to UTech. The second was a sculpture, dubbed: “People’s Organism”, designed by Jamaican artist and Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA) alumnus, Warren Buckle. Youth and Culture Minister, Lisa Hanna, in welcoming the gesture by Pototsky, noted Bob Marley’s focus and commitment to uplifting the ordinary person, through Jamaica’s foremost cultural and musical art form, Reggae. She said the late musician had touched and inspired the lives of millions globally, including Pototsky, adding that “his legacy lives”.

Hanna said the sculpture would be as a lasting monument between the people and governments of Jamaica and Russia, noting that it “will stand as a lasting reminder of our friendship and cooperation”.

The Jamaica Film Academy announces that the 2012 Jamaica REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL it organizes annually, will be held April 17-21, 2012 in Kingston, Jamaica. In a preview event, the Jamaica Film Academy will host a screening of the “BEST OF THE REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL 2011” feature, documentary, short and animated films in Reggae Month, February 18, 2012.

In keeping with the format initiated at the event’s February 2008 beginning, the 2012 Reggae Film Festival will showcase films in which aspects of Jamaica’s Reggae music culture are displayed, documented and memorialized in feature, documentary and short films, animation and music videos. The 2012 Festival will once again feature the Make A Film In 24 Hours competition sponsored by RBC Bank – Jamaica, that in 2011 saw 15 film crews competing to shoot a 5-minute film on a selected theme in just 24 hours for cash prizes and awards.

Inspiring New Jamaican Film Talent 

Assisting the Jamaica Film Academy’s objective to increase and improve the output of Jamaican film making, the RBC Bank sponsorship of the annual Make A Film In 24 Hours competition has inspired and produced new Jamaican film making talent. The Festival has also discovered and supported the surprising wealth of Jamaican talent in digital animation. The acknowledged expertise and innovation of Jamaican music video makers exposing the talents of Jamaica’s powerful musical artists, provides another area highlighted by the Reggae Film Festival.

JAMAICA 50, International Programmes

A special Jamaica50 Programme will feature retrospective screenings of early Jamaican films, including the classic “The Harder They Come” that marked the start of an indigenous feature film industry, the award-winning documentary “Life and Debt” covering the politically turbulent 70′s, and the short films of cinematographer Chris Browne, director of “Ghetta Life”. In 2012 the Reggae Film Festival will introduce an International Programme of films outside the reggae genre, so as to enable the programme to include entries already received from Africa, the USA and the Middle East, including an entry from Iran.

In five years the Reggae Film Festival has showcased more than 200 films highlighting reggae culture made by Jamaicans, global reggae researchers and fans from the Caribbean, UK, USA, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Africa. The focus of many documentaries on the history of Jamaican music and music makers, has given the Jamaica Film Academy an archive of historical material on the genre genre that preserves on film the oral memories of a culture that that emerged from the Rastafari movement and spread to and been honored by the world.

Annual Awards are presented in several categories and and the international interest in the unique music and culture of Jamaica has given prize-winning films further international awards and distribution.

Schools across the country will be celebrating Jamaica Day 2012 on Friday, February 17, under the theme: ‘Celebrating Jamaica: Goals for Gold’. It is an opportunity for schools to facilitate their students in understanding the accomplishments of the past 50 years that have propelled Jamaica to prominence in all disciplines of the world stage.

Speaking at the official launch of Jamaica Day, on February 2 at the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Library, Minister of Education, Rev. the Hon. Ronald Thwaites, noted that Jamaica Day should be used to emphasise the goodness and grace of the Jamaican people.

“This is our identity, it is our hope. Some of us allow our minds to be diverted by some of the things we see on cable television or we think that bling and bacchanal is all that there is to success in life. So, Jamaica Day calls us to something far more intrinsic, far more beautiful and far more long lasting than that,” Rev. Thwaites said.

He added that the Ministry of Education is pleased to support and promote Jamaica Day activities in the schools.

“Many of us aren’t really happy in our educational enterprise. School is supposed to make you happy. It involves lots of work and effort, but it’s supposed to make you feel happy and fulfilled rather than bored and full of drudgery. So, Jamaica Day is an integral part in making that happen and I am very pleased to be a part of this observance,” Rev. Thwaites said.

For her part, Director, Culture in Education Programme at the Ministry, Amina Blackwood Meeks, said that Jamaica Day is celebrated in February, so as to facilitate the Primary Schools whose culture module end in the middle of February.

“So, it would have some meaning to them, as the Secondary Schools we believe would already have the foundation for that kind of appreciation,” she said.

She informed that York Castle High School, in St. Ann, has been chosen as the national focus school this year, as it best exemplifies the theme of this year’s Jamaica Day.

Jamaica Day is one of the flagship projects of the Culture in Education Programme. This year will mark the 10th anniversary of the celebrations and will represent a major contribution of the Ministry of Education to the yearlong celebrations of Jamaica’s golden jubilee independence anniversary, popularly referred to as Jamaica 50.

via – JIS

The Toronto-based Solamon Energy Corporation says it plans to build the largest solar power plant in the Caribbean. The solar company said that the programme, to be built in Jamaica, will cost in the region of CAN$450 million or US$444.2 million. When completed, the farm will “enhance and improve the nation’s energy infrastructure, as well as serve as a beacon to attract additional investment in the ICT (Information Communications Technology) and greentech sectors.”

Solamon’s senior vice president, Ainsley Brown, said the farm would represent one of the region’s first strategic private-public partnerships. “In order to implement a solution of this magnitude sites, several parishes are being considered as future homes of one of three 50-acre plots that when conjoined will provide the Jamaican people with 60MW of clean electricity,” he said.

“This programme represents a comprehensive approach to renewable energy development, energy diversification, job creation and training for the 21st century,” Brown said. “Its success will necessitate a level-headed and like-minded approach at the table, as we are offering to tackle and deal with all elements of risk cooperatively and openly examine the implications of carbon credits, fuel or foreign exchange savings, in order to share the greater benefits of solar with our partners, and the communities they serve over the lifetime of this deal.”

Brown said the mega-project would create many new jobs for Jamaicans, and with the completion of a requisite light manufacturing plant, will establish the island as a “bona-fide greentech hub.” In addition to generating solar electricity and, thereby, reducing for future generations of Jamaicans an “imposing reliance” on fossil fuels, he said the new revenue from the sale of carbon credits will be directed toward establishing employee training and certification programmes, “required to build this and many other similar facilities across the Caribbean.”

“I believe the utility should not be the only one to benefit from the nation going green,” Brown said. “JPS, as it currently stands, benefits from green initiatives, from not having to produce that energy, as well as the fuel-saving and foreign exchange saving, without passing anything onto the green investor or the customer at large,” he said.

The company said it is “excited” to deliver turnkey power plants using renewable solar energy as a resource to Caribbean and Central American countries, and develop mutually beneficial and long-term relationships around the world.

Newly appointed State Minister for Mining, Energy and Information Communication Technology (ICT), Hon. Julian Robinson, says he will be aggressively targeting and pursuing prospects for ICT investments in the country. In an interview with JIS News, Mr. Robinson, who has been assigned responsibility for ICT in the Ministry, headed by Hon. Phillip Paulwell, said Jamaica is viewed “favourably” as an ideal location for business process outsourcing (BPO) by several overseas-based entities engaged in this undertaking.

The State Minister, who was involved in the ICT sector while engaged in investment promotions at JAMPRO, where he previously worked, as well as in private consultancy, disclosed that already, he has been in touch with a number of stakeholders, “who have indicated an interest in moving some of their business operations here.”

Mr. Robinson pointed out that discussions are still taking place, and he is confident that, “with a focus on this area…we can attract the investment.”

“There is a lot that we can do to promote Jamaica as a location for ICT investments and business process outsourcing. We have some advantages as a country…and ICT investments provide a great opportunity for job creation. So, that’s certainly one of the principal areas that I am going to be focused on,” he assured.

The State Minister also highlighted several other key issues which the Ministry would seek to address, including the revitalisation of the bauxite industry, and the associated production costs, which he laments are “too high,” consequent on the high price of energy.

In this regard, he said the Ministry and by extension, the administration, is committed to sourcing and pursuing alternative energy options to oil, in the effort to reduce the nation’s energy bill and to enhance the economy’s competitiveness.

“We will be continuing the work that the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Steering Committee has done. There are a number of other proposals to look at in relation to alternative sources of fuel, and we are committed to doing that, (not only) from the perspective of consumers, who have to pay very high electricity bills, but also from the perspective of businesses that simply can’t compete with our neighbours,” the State Minister said.

Mr. Robinson, who assumed office just over a week ago, informed that he has been familiarising himself with the Ministry’s various agencies and departments, staff and focus areas.

“In my discussions with Minister Paulwell, what we have agreed on is that I will be exposed to all areas and aspects of the Ministry. But, I will hone in specifically on the ICT portfolio. So, I have spent the time understanding some of the issues, and being briefed by the civil servants. We want to be fully acquainted with the issues to ensure that we address them properly,” the State Minister said.

Via – JIS

The Minister of Youth and Culture the Hon. Lisa Hanna, has said she intends to ensure that Jamaica increased its foreign exchange earnings from its cultural content with the proper management and marketing of its products and content. Minister Hanna’s comments came today as she received a courtesy call from officials of the Creative Production and Training Centre (CPTC).

“I firmly believe that substantially increasing our foreign exchange earnings is a sure path to economic growth for Jamaica and I believe that right now we have a great opportunity to produce market and sell our cultural content to the world.”

Minister Hanna also said that the CPTC must consider broadening its basic training offerings to our young people into areas such as sound, lighting and film so that we can create a cadre of trained professionals for the development of our cultural industries both locally and internationally.

“And as we seek to aggressively market our culture internationally we must move to strengthen our agencies for increased productivity and efficiency.”

CPTC CEO Chantal Hylton-Tonnes told the Minister that the CPTC, which was being “revitalised” and was moving back to its “core mandate” which was to the produce and market “cultural content”. She said the CPTC was receiving considerable interest in material produced by the company in countries such as Japan and Australia. She told Minister Hanna that the company was creating cultural content to be sold overseas so that the company could become sustainable

Mrs. Hylton-Tonnes agreed with Minister Hanna that, “Jamaica’s culture was one of its most valuable assets.”

Mr. Christopher Samuda, Chairman of the CPTC, was also present at the meeting while Mr. Robert Martin, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary; and its Principal Director for Culture, Mr. Sydney Bartley sat with the Minister.

Via – JIS

Virgin Media UK has kicked off a brand new media campaign and the man at the forfront of the blitz is non other than Richard Branson… no wait a minute Usain Bolt? It is Usain Bolt! It’s hilarious in a quirky kind of way and were’re loving it. I just hope the virgin Media customers (and potential customers) in the United Kingdom love it too! But, what’s there not to love, their broadband speed will be doubled starting next month! Full commecial embedded below:

Hi, I am Richard Branson and I am doubling everyone’s Broadband speed

I was taking the balloon for a ride the other day and got thinking: ‘These days, everyone’s doing more and more online. We all tweet, shop, play, video-chat, even watch HD movies.’

Then it hit me. ‘My customers already have the UK’s fastest broadband, but they’d get a lot more enjoyment out of it if I doubled their speeds.’

So that’s what I’m going to do for over 4 million Virgin Broadband customers. Because I can.

Bella Luna Yoga is on a mission to celebrate a global, ever-expanding yoga consciousness. First stop, the tropical climate of the Caribbean! The inaugural Caribbean Yoga Conference will be held February 2-5, 2012 at the Rose Hall Resort and Spa in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Bella Luna Yoga is the brainchild of Kimberly Moon, an educator, yoga instructor, and entrepreneur. Born from her passion for yoga and travel, Kimberly founded Bella Luna Yoga, an innovative business that provide resorts with world-class yoga and wellness programming and offers skilled yoga instructors the means to share their love of yoga with the world. Bella Luna’s team of experts offers professional consultations and program development in a variety of areas from yoga and wellness program development and lifestyle coaching to recruiting and placement of professional yoga instructors.

Moon is excited to announce the addition of the Caribbean Yoga Conference to Bella Luna Yoga’s agenda to enhance the world’s passion for yoga. “We are excited to bring people together from around the world who are inspired by the practice of yoga, curious about exploring our planet, and ready to embrace a growing community of practitioners from all walks of life,” says Moon of the warm celebration of sun, sadhana, sand, seva and sangha.
The conference lineup includes workshops for all abilities with world-class instructors including Toni Bergins, Gaia Budhai, Kathryn Budig, Jeffrey Cohen & Andrea Boyd, Seane Corn, Sharon Feanny, Scott Feinberg & Amy Lombardo, Moses Jas Jeet, Noah Levine, Nadine McNeil, Sadie Nardini, Jason Nemer & Jenny Sauer-Klein, Simon Park, Stacey Shanks, and MC Yogi & Amanda G. Topics range from Vinyasa Flow and Journey Dance to Core Strength and Kudalini. The conference will offer two 2.5-hour sessions each day with opportunities for morning meditation and Noon yoga on the beach.

A unique element to this conference is the outreach to the community, and country, where the conference is being hosted. In partnership with Shakti Mind Body Fitness in Kingston, Jamaica, The Caribbean Yoga Conference is pleased to offer The Shakti Love Scholarship. Through The Shakti Love Scholarship, Jamaican youth councilors, social workers, and teachers are invited to bring their passion, knowledge and curiosity to the conference at absolutely no cost. In addition to their own restorative R&R, each scholarship recipient will have the opportunity to learn to yoga-related skills to bring back to their professional lives from some of the world’s most beloved yoga teachers.
The conference will deliver a strong sense of giving back to the community and making a difference in the world we live in. A “Karma Korner” will be setup throughout the conference for participants to learn about different ways to spread good karma in everyday actions. In addition, an off-site karma yoga workshop will be held at The SOS Children’s Village in Montego Bay on Saturday, February 4, 2012, giving participants an opportunity to get involved right away.
“Many yoga conferences involve sitting on a mat, learning and practicing. I want to honor the practice on the mat, but give participants a chance to take immediate action beyond their mat,” Moon says of the importance of the conference’s off-site karma workshop.

Sponsorship opportunities are available starting at $700. The yoga community is an economic power house spending $5.7 billion a year in the US alone, becoming a part of the Caribbean Yoga Conference will give any company’s services and products international recognition, marketing power, and an audience of approximately 500 participants. Current supporters include PRANA; Shakti Mind, Body, Fitness; Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa, a Hilton Property; YOGANONYMOUS; Ancient Language Collection; Jade Yoga; Be Present; Kripalu Yoga Teachers Association; I Love Yoga; Yoga & Life; and the Jamaica Tourist Board.

Complete conference details are available at CaribbeanYogaConference.com. Registration is $345 per person and includes access to all the conference events including your classes, morning meditations, Noon yoga sessions, keynote address, closing address and evening events. Transportation, meals and accommodations are not included.
For additional information visit http://www.CaribbeanYogaConference.com or contact ShawnnaLea Zemanek at (802) 233-6510 or shawnnalea(at)bellalunayoga(dot)com.

World renowned Devon House Ice Cream made National Geographic’s list of Top 10 Places to Eat Ice cream worldwide and now it’s Ackee and Saltfish’s turn to get in on the top 10 list action as it comes in at number two on the top 10 list of National Dishes worldwide.

Despite ackee’s unhappy origins as slave food, Jamaicans have reclaimed it as part of their national dish. A nutritious fruit with a buttery-nutty flavor, ackee resembles scrambled egg when boiled. Jamaicans sauté the boiled ackee with saltfish (salt-cured cod), onions, and tomatoes. Sometimes the dish is served atop bammy (deep-fried cassava cakes) with fried plantains.

Read Full Top 10 list

The First International Reggae Poster Contest 2012 is open for entries for our 2012 edition, The Reggae Poster Contest 2012 from December 26 2011 until March 30 2012. The best posters will be selected by a jury of design profession and will be published in a catalogue/book and exhibited.

THEME: Toward a Reggae Hall of Fame: Celebrating great Jamaican Music.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the First International Reggae Poster Contest 2012 is to continue to build awareness for Reggae music and to celebrate the global achievements of Reggae and its impact on the world. The term Reggae encompasses all the popular Jamaican musical genres; Ska, Rocksteady, Roots Reggae, Dub, Dancehall and the unique Jamaican Soundsystem. We are looking for your talent and vision and we are very excited to see what designers can come up with in their original poster designs that will capture the energy and vibe of Reggae Music.

The goal is simple: Create a poster about Reggae Music – the rest is up to your imagination. Feel free to explore themes of Reggae covering any one of the genres; Ska, Rocksteady, Roots Reggae, Dub, Dancehall and the unique Jamaican Soundsystem. Good luck!

ELIGIBILITY: The First International Reggae Poster Contest 2012 is open to all graphic designers and artists internationally. Artists/Designers are allowed to submit any number of original poster Entries. Posters should not have been published in internet, social medias etc.

RIGHTS GRANTED: Artists/Designers will have rights to their posters. First International Reggae Poster Contest 2012 shall have the right to reproduce and distribute to third parties a limited edition (fewer than 1500 copies) poster copy of each winning Entry in a format of 50cm x 70cm. Reggae Poster Contest 2012 shall have the right to reproduce and distribute to third parties the posters in the First International Reggae Poster Contest 2012 catalogue/book in unlimited quantities.

More about the contest

• Rules and Regulations
• Creative Brief
• Contest Vision
• Committee and judging
• Awards and Prizes
• Official Website