Grounation Begins Sunday at IOJ Lecture Hall

The Jamaica Music Museum (JaMM) heritage series, Grounation, will begin on Sunday (February 4) at the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) Lecture Hall, 10-16 East Street, Kingston at 2:00 p.m.

The series, which is in its 12th staging, will be held each Sunday in February, under the theme ‘Music and Reasoning in Working Class Culture: Implications for Governance and Constitutional Reform’.

Each week’s discussion will be highlighted by performances from the JaMM orchestra and invited guest artistes. It will be livestreamed on the IOJ’s YouTube channel.

Director/Curator, JaMM, Herbie Miller, told JIS News that the first event will examine the topic ‘Our 61-year Independence Journey: Lessons for Creating a Jamaican Republic’.

Presenters include economist Dr. Michael Witter; political scientist and lecturer, Professor Clinton Hutton; and journalist, Earl Moxom, with journalist, George Davis, as moderator.

The February 11 session will have the theme ‘Reasoning with Creatives: Social and Cultural Expressions in Changing Times’, and the topics for February 18 and February 25 will be ‘Advocacy for Constitutional Change and Good Governance: The Importance of Creativity and Culture’ and ‘Envisioning a Jamaican Creative Republic’, respectively.

Mr. Miller said that this year’s Grounation will be a “little more enticing” than previous years, based on the number of sponsors that have come on board.

“It is just a wonderful family experience. It’s educational, entertaining and an opportunity to meet and greet old friends from last year and [reminisce about] those who have moved on. So, it’s a great experience for everybody to participate in,” he said.

Expressing his views on the discussions that will take place at the first event, Mr. Miller said that Jamaica is at a crucial point in its constitutional reform, which requires community dialogue and cultural involvement.

“So, just investigating that through music and reasoning and looking at the working class and the implications that will come with Constitutional Reform, it simply means our voices have to be in there,” he added.

Grounation is among the plethora of events being organised to celebrate Reggae Month in February.