African to Jamaican: Music and Creolized Black Culture exhibition officially opened

SINCE FEBRUARY, the Jamaica Music Museum (JaMM) has been giving access to the public to its exhibition, ‘African to Jamaican: Music and Creolized Black Culture’, in its main gallery situated inside the Institute of Jamaica at Tower Street, downtown Kingston.Yet it was not officially opened until Sunday, August 31, when Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange cut the ribbon at the entrance to the space.

In her address to the gathering, Minister Grange said, among other things, “Our music powerfully unites our past with the present, taking the soulful melodies of our ancestors and amplifying them on international stages. This exhibition is a testament to the enduring strength and relevance of our musical heritage. This exhibition demonstrates the power of music as a multidisciplinary connector, and as a compelling chronicle of Afro-Jamaican legacy and sociopolitical history. It weaves art, music, and history to create a clear story of who we are and how far we have come.

“I must especially celebrate the director and curator of the Jamaica Music Museum, Herbie Miller, whose remarkable ability to unite diverse cultural expressions and academic disciplines results in this powerful narrative of our historic journey, an achievement clearly evident in this exhibition.”

Miller, who gave patrons a tour of the gallery, has been at the helm of the JaMM since 2008. He was a picture of joy when The Gleaner spoke with him in the said space earlier this week. It is aesthetically pleasing, exquisite, and chock-full of artefacts that tell the evolution of Jamaican music, without a word spoken, or a note blown. He himself seemed like a living artefact; Herbie Miller is music, music is Herbie Miller.

About the exhibition, he said, “What I am looking at as a permanent exhibition, it’s not necessarily to say, John Brown made the most number-one songs, or so and so did this, and that. But, collectively, how from the time of capture, shipment, arrival on plantations, to today, music has been a primary source of our survival, and that evolution is right here.

“We sang our songs, we made our plays, we thought and encouraged our children through ring games, etc, we inculcated them about their past, we gave them something to endure their present, as we pointed to the future, and we must continue doing that in this age as Nanny and Sam Sharpe and Paul Bogle, and Tacky, among others, did for us to be sitting right here looking at artefacts and objects that evoke that journey, that evolution, that aesthetic that is both pain and joy, how out of this situation we created dance and music and philosophies … and the impact that they have had on the world.”

In speaking to the theme of the showcase, Minister Grange said, “Through the sounds of African music, including kalimbas and drumming, creolised ritual traditions, such as gerreh, bruckins, Revival, Kumina, and mento evolved. As a result of those forms, Jamaica’s connection to the motherland continued. It gave rise to additional innovative cultural expressions. They include Nyabinghi, ska, rocksteady, DJ, reggae, dancehall, and various other genres of music. To inform and educate, such as the role of the griot, an African storyteller and musician, the JaMM will always have stories to tell.”

KEY PEOPLE ACKNOWLEDGED FOR CONTRIBUTION

Minister Grange also acknowledged the contribution of key people and organisations towards the process and manifestation of this permanent gallery, which will be relocated when the building to house the Jamaica Music Museum is completed. Ground was broken for the construction of such on the same day.

Minister Grange singled out former Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) Executive Director Vivian Crawford, “whose steadfast dedication and encouragement made the JaMM a reality”; former Director Leslie Harrow, whose “pivotal decision to assign this space to the JaMM set the stage for today’s celebration”; current IOJ executive director, Michelle Creed-Nelson, “whose steady guidance fills us with pride and excitement as we mark this special occasion”; and former Executive Director Anne Marie Bonner, “whose leadership was essential in realising this dream”.

“Through storms and under the bright sun, they have consistently stood by us. They have honoured their commitment to refurbishing the JaMM’s Tower Street Gallery, restoring important instruments, and contributing to the preservation of Jamaica’s rich musical heritage,” Minister Grange said.

Denis O’Brien, founder of the Digicel Group, in the form of US$30,000, and Digicel Foundation Jamaica were also recognised for their unwavering support and generosity. A plague mounted at the entrance to the gallery says, ‘The Jamaica Music Museum Main Gallery was restored and opened thanks to the generous contribution in memory of Colm Delves (1966-2020), former Digicel Group CEO, whose passion for music and the arts inspired countless lives.”

Other sponsors were the Culture, Health, Arts, Sport and Education Fund; Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport; Freight Handlers Ltd; VP Records; V and P Foundation; LASCO Foundation; Wisynco; and Martell Fennell.