Teeming with creativity and innovation, Jamaica has produced some of the major musical currents in today’s popular music landscape; yet, its rich history and diversity are often overshadowed by its most famous icon, reggae superstar Bob Marley. This exhibition aims at showcasing a broader vision that has allowed the world to know the island’s music, by digging deep into its past and present in search for the roots of “rebel music”, beyond the cliché and the postcard.

The most ambitious exhibition ever staged on the topic, Jamaica, Jamaica! celebrates the musical innovations born on the island in its specific historical and social contexts, unveiling the story behind the musical genres of kumina, revival, mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub and dancehall – as well as the impact of the local sound system culture, street culture, and visual arts on today’s global pop culture.

Exhibition Highlights

Interactive installations, an “operate it yourself” sound system and touch-screen riddim navigator.
Dedicated web radio and app, “Radio Jamaica”.
A true multimedium exhibition, Jamaica, Jamaica! mixes classic fine arts (Mallica “Kapo” Reynolds, Everald Brown, Sydney McLaren), contemporary art (Ebony Patterson, Matthew McCarthy, Leasho Johnson.), mural art (“Bones” Williams, Errol “Gideon” Reid, Ras Lava), photographs (Peter Dean Rickards, Beth Lesser, Arthur Gorson, Cookie Kinkead, Peter Simon), audio, video and musical artifacts – including equipment from Studio One, King Jammy’s and Randy’s studios, Peters Tosh’s M16 guitar, Count Ossie’s percussions, drum kits from the Skatalites and Sly and Robbie, and Hedley Jones’ guitar.

Programmes

There will be a full range of programming, including film screenings, and artist and curator talks.
The regular National Gallery Last Sunday programme on the last Sunday of every month continues. Each one will explore a different aspect of the exhibition.
Special Language Group Tours. Free German, French, Japanese and Jamaican Language tours available by appointment.
Children’s Musical Programming on Saturdays.

Sections

The exhibition is articulated in six sections, each section focusing on a key moment or a specific aspect of Jamaican music.

Introduction: Seeing Sounds, Hearing Images

A prelude and a synthesis, this introductory section juxtaposes two elements that have made Jamaican music unique: its secular aspect and it’s ritual aspect – by showcasing together iconic items of sound system culture (equipment, photographs, video), and spiritual musical instruments. This section will also feature a monumental series of portraits of Jamaican iconic music makers from all eras and musical styles – courtesy of downtown legends, mural artists Ras Lava, “Bones” Williams and Errol “Gideon” Reid.

1— Freedom Sounds

The musical heritages born from slavery are showcased in this historical room: from revival, kumina, and the maroons, all the way to Count Ossie’s drummers and nyabinghi music. This section incidentally examines how these ritual genres mixed up with local folk and (seemingly) more innocuous mento drew the blueprint of Jamaica’s own “rebel music.”

2— Voices of Independance

When founding members of The Skatalites met at Alpha Boys School, a revolution happened: for the first time, the music “from the streets” entered the musical spectrum. From a Jamaican blend of jazz to ska and its next embodiment, rock steady, these new sounds preceded reggae throughout the 1960s, echoing the island’s physical independence from England.

3— Studios: The Echo Chamber

As ska entered the picture, Jamaica’s music industry became a crucial part of daily life, intertwining music and social issues – as a subsection about cult movie “The Harder They Come” reminisces. This section is a voyage through Jamaica’s top studios over the years: from Studio One to the synthetic sounds of Sly and Robbie, via Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Black Ark, Randy’s, and King Jammys.

4— Get up, Stand up

At the beginning of the 1970s, Rasta philosophy seeped through the whole music fraternity, gathering more and more steam beyond the strict nyabinghi drummer circles. From then on, why would the freshly born reggae, also known as “roots music”, call on to Jamaican Pan African visionary Marcus Garvey and Ethiopian Emperor Hailé Sélassié? This section details who these two often-quoted figures are, and their everlasting presence in Jamaica’s popular music.

5 — Trench Town to the World

A social experiment of communal living eventually scarred by political violence, Trenchtown’s tenement yards contributed to the musical destiny of Jamaica. Honouring Trenchtown’s greatest, this section explains how Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer brought reggae to the world from their humble beginnings in this West Kingston neighbourhood.

6 — Dancehall Stylee

Following Bob Marley’s passing in 1981, Jamaica once again invented a new musical paradigm – a new genre called dancehall. Dancehall felt as if the country wanted to talk to itself again – by celebrating the sound system culture it created and had perfected over decades, and its bubbling visual, linguistic and graphic creativity. From the early days of dancehall culture to its most contemporary icons and movements, this last section showcases the visionary pioneer spirit born in Jamaica that global pop music has been tapping into – without always crediting its origins.

About the Curators

Sebastien Carayol, Independent Curator. Born and raised in France, Sebastien Carayol initially discovered Jamaican music through the power of Jamaican-English sound systems in London and developed his passion from this initial experience. His quest led him to interview key characters in reggae’s history for music magazines such as Wax Poetics, Natty Dread, Riddim, Vibrations. He directed the acclaimed 10-episode documentary series Sound System for the ARTE channel (France/Germany) in 2017. As a curator, he has developed exhibitions on the topic in Paris, France (Jamaica, Jamaica!, Philharmonie de Paris, 2017; Say Watt, le Culte du Sound System, La Gaîté Lyrique, 2013) and Los Angeles (Hometown Hifi, Sonos Studios, 2015).

Herbie Miller, Jamaica Music Museum. Herbie Miller is a cultural historian specializing in slave culture, Black identity and ethnomusicology. He is the Director/Curator of the Jamaica Music Museum where he introduced the popular Grounation series. Miller managed reggae stars The Skatalites, Toots & the Maytals, Third World and Peter Tosh. In a career that spans over 40-years, he has produced exhibitions, concerts and recordings of ska, reggae and jazz, locally and internationally. He also composed and produced the critically acclaimed “Aluta Continua” done by reggae artist Big Youth. Two of his songs, “Feel It” and “Survival Plan” were used in major Hollywood movies Something Wild and The Manchurian Candidate. A prolific writer, Herbie Miller has had his essays published in journals, magazines and as book chapters.

O’Neil Lawrence, National Gallery of Jamaica. O’Neil Lawrence is the Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica, and also has curatorial oversight for their western branch National Gallery West. He was the lead curator on the exhibitions Seven Women Artists (2015), Masculinities (2015), I Shall Return Again (2018) and Beyond Fashion (2018). Lawrence is an artist whose photography and video work has been included in several international exhibitions. His research interests include race, gender and sexuality in Caribbean and African Diasporal art and visual culture; memory, identity and hidden archives; photography as a medium and a social vehicle; Caribbean and general art history and museums and other public cultural institutions. He has contributed essays to publications on Caribbean art most recently Histórias Afro-Atlânticas Vol 2 Antologia (MASP 2018). In 2018 he served on the Board of the Davidoff Art Initiative and he is currently on the Advisory Council of the Caribbean Art Initiative.

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• February 5th – The Harder They Come
• February 12th – Rockers
• February 19th – Dancehall Queen
• February 26th – The Journey of the Lion

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Babylon – Brinsley Forde

Raw and smouldering, it follows a young reggae DJ (Brinsley Forde, frontman of landmark British group Aswad) in Thatcher-era Brixton as he pursues his musical ambitions, battling fiercely against the racism and xenophobia of employers, neighbours, police, and the National Front.

Heart-Shaped Box

Blind dates can be scary, especially if they don’t work out and one person is over it while the other just can’t let go. What happens when rejection turns into a nightmare?

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Sadly, athletics is still a male-focused sport and it was good to once again see Jamaica’s women continue to carry the Jamaica flag high at the World Champs as they have had constantly done. Gone are the Bolts, the Powells and the Blakes but still the Jamaican women carry the torch lead by the indomitable Shelly-Ann Frazer-Pryce.

If we tally Jamaica’s medal haul at all the World Champs, the women, by far outshine the men in quantity and quality. If we go father and look at World Championship medalists with 6 or more medals the men only have Usain Bolt (14) and the (sadly) long-forgotten 400m specialist Greg Haughton (6). While for the women we have athletics royalty with the names Merlene Ottey (14), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (11), Veronica Campbell-Brown (11), Beverly McDonald (7), Lorraine Graham (7) and Novlene Williams-Mills (6).

So before you say that Jamaican athletics is declining, ask yourself…. “Where would Jamaica’s athletics be without our women?”

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The schedule is as follows:

Thursday, June 13, 2019:
Pulse’s 40th Anniversary Launch @ The Chairman’s Suite, Pulse Rooms, 38a Trafalgar Road, Kingston 10

Friday, June 14, 2019:
Caribbean Fashionweek Welcome Reception @ Nigeria House, 2 Millsborough Close, Kingston 6

Saturday, June 15, 2019:
Caribbean Fashionweek Night 1, The Collections from Africa and the Caribbean @ Pulse Suites @ Villa Ronai, Old Stony Hill Road

Sunday, June 16, 2019:
Caribbean Fashionweek Night 2, The Collections from Africa and the Caribbean @ Pulse Suites @ Villa Ronai, Old Stony Hill Road

CFW primarily will be a by invite series of events, with very limited tickets available for sale.

The event categories include Runway at $10,000, Sky Deck at $7,500 and Upper Deck at $5,000. These very limited sale tickets are to be available at Pulse.

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At the 2018 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, governments from nearly 40 countries convened to boost their collective engagement on climate. The group recognized the challenges posed by climate change, the unique capacity of the world’s finance ministers to address them, and ways in which these efforts could be strengthened. Several governments expressed strong support for the development of a Coalition of Finance Ministers which would promote cohesion between domestic and global action on climate change, boost ambitions, reaffirm commitments, and accelerate actions to implement the Paris Agreement.

In December 2018, the Finance Ministers of Finland and Chile, supported by the World Bank’s Climate Action Peer Exchange (CAPE) initiative, agreed to co-lead the Coalition and invited other governments to meet and discuss its structure, focus, and goals for the coming 2 years.

The countries that have endorsed the Helsinki Principles are:

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The Conference, convened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, has been positioned as the global forum that connects Jamaicans from all over the world for discussions and concrete actions in vital areas of national importance. This biennial staging will target expanding and building pathways for the Diaspora and Jamaica working together to prepare effectively for the Future within the context of achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030 which incorporate the core goals of the Vision 2030 National Development Plan.

The focal areas for dialogue, as well as the expected outcomes of the Conference, take into consideration important global trends and their impact on the future marketplace and the workplace, as well as critical Jamaica-Diaspora partnerships.

A Youth Forum within the Conference will engage young people of Jamaican descent in an effort to further build affinity and nurture their involvement in the life of our nation. Signature features of the Conference will include the MarketPlace exposition of Jamaican goods and services; Government At your Service– a fast tracked one stop shop exclusively at the Conference and a range of hospitality and cultural activities to provide a meaningful and memorable experience for those attending. The Diaspora Day of Service scheduled to culminate activities, encourages Jamaican organizations and individuals to organize themselves to volunteer their time, skills and resources to community projects of their choosing, anywhere in Jamaica.

Be a part of the change…Lets Build Jamaica Together!

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Jamaica`s Group Stage match times

Sunday, June 9th – Jamaica vs Brazil – 8 AM Jamaica time
Friday, June 14 – Jamaica vs Italy – 11 AM Jamaica Time
Tuesday, June 18th – Jamaica vs Australia – 2 PM Jamaica Time

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• Through an account held in your name, in any Jamaican commercial bank
• Through the NCB Prepaid Keycard
• JMMB Money Transfer*
• JN Money Transfer Services (JNMTS) *
• Victoria Mutual Money Transfer Services (VMMTS) *

*Please note that contributors opting to receive refunds via JMMB Money Transfer, JN Money Transfer and Victoria Mutual Money Transfer Services will be required to pay a transaction fee to the agency when collecting their funds if payment is in excess of $500.00, as follows:

• JMMB Money Transfer – J$ 165.00
• JN Money Transfer Services – J$ 300.00
• VM Money Transfer Services – J$160.00

The application process can be done online by visiting https://www.nht.gov.jm/ and following the on-screen instructions.

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1. Kingston is the smallest parish yet the most populated city on the island.
2. The geographical border for the parish of Kingston encompasses the following communities, Tivoli Gardens, Denham Town, downtown Kingston, National Heroes Park, Kingston Gardens, Rae Town, Bournemouth Gardens, Norman Gardens, Springfield, Rennock Lodge, Port Royal along with portions of Allman Town, Franklyn Town and Rollington Town
3. Kingston city proper is bounded by Six Miles to the west, Stony Hill to the north, Papine to the northeast and Harbour View to the east. Two parts make up the central area of Kingston: the historic Downtown, and New Kingston. Kingston is surrounded by the Blue Mountains, Red Hills, Long Mountain and the Kingston Harbour.
4. Kingston’s Harbour is the 7th largest natural harbour in the world that is protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island
5. A magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit Kingston on Monday January 14, 1907 destroying or damaging many buildings and resulted in a massive fire causing further loss of life and property. Kingston Parish Church was built in 1911 on the foundations of the original church destroyed by the earthquake.
6. Kingston is the largest English-speaking city in the western hemisphere outside of the United States and Canada.
7. Kingston was designed on a grid system of regularly spaced streets and lanes intersecting at right angles. At the intersection of King and Queen streets is Saint William Grant Park (Formerly Victoria Park hosting a Great Parade Ground and military barracks).
8. The Kingston Railway Station was built along the Jamaica/Georgian lines of architecture. It was constructed on a grand scale, symbolising the economic importance of the city of Kingston as the centre of trade. It was opened in 1845 and closed in 1992.
9. In 1966 Kingston was the host city to the Commonwealth Games
10. Kingston has several Sister cities including Miami (United States), Guadalajara (Mexico) and Shenzhen (China).

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