Culture Passport Holders to Benefit from Black History and Reggae Month Activities

Primary and secondary school students who are already registered participants under the Ministry of Youth and Culture’s Culture Passport programme are to benefit from targeted initiatives being hosted by the Ministry’s Culture Agencies and selected cultural communities during February, which is being observed as Black History and Reggae Month.

Culture Passport allows young people to experience Jamaica’s culture and heritage. The initiative forms part of the Ministry of Youth and Culture’s ongoing efforts to fulfil its mandate to share with Jamaicans the depth of Jamaica’s cultural heritage. Culture Passports provide students free or reduced cost access to several heritage sites, museums and cultural performances. Students can access Culture Passports by becoming members of their school’s Culture Club programme which currently operates in over 200 primary and high schools island-wide. The Culture Club programme was developed by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) which manages the programme on behalf of the Ministry.

The Culture Passport programme is the brainchild of the Minister of Youth and Culture, Lisa Hanna who, in developing the initiative, noted that Jamaicans, particularly youth, are largely unaware of the country’s culture and heritage.

The first activity of the renewed drive to enhance appreciation of the nation’s cultural heritage among youth is a series of lectures hosted by the National Museum Jamaica, a division of the Institute of Jamaica.  The lecture series complements an exhibition currently on show at the museum titled, “Uprising: Morant Bay, 1865 and its Afterlives.” Once passport holders attend the lectures they will be able to view the exhibition and by extension enjoy the other offerings of the museum. Director of the National Museum Jamaica, Dr. Jonathan Greenland is lauding the MYC’s passport initiative and committing the museum’s full and long term support of the programme. The lecture series begins on February 22.  Other lectures will take place on April 14 and May 18, with presenters from the University of the West Indies.

Students drawn from a number of Culture Clubs in primary and secondary schools across the island will also be able to participate at reduced rates in all Black History and Reggae Month activities being hosted by other divisions of the Institute of Jamaica. These include the Jamaica Music Museum, the Natural History Museum, Liberty Hall, and the National Gallery.

Passport holders will also be able to access an exhibition called BJCM- Jamaica’s First World Heritage Site which is being mounted by the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica.  The exhibition which highlights the tangible and cultural heritage of the Blue and John Crow Mountains will open on February 16.

Two of the island’s cultural communities, Moore Town and Accompong are also supporting the Culture Passport initiative, having reduced access fees for tours of the communities.