Music Exhibition at King’s House August 2-7, 2018

An exhibition titled, ‘The Music of Jamaica: People, Voice and Song’, will be on display in the Ballroom at King’s House from August 2 to 7.

The exhibition will open on the same day of the Independence reception on the lawns of King’s House on August 2, and guests to the event will have a first-hand view of the display curated by the Jamaica Music Museum, a Department of the Institute of Jamaica.

Presented by Their Excellencies, Governor-General, the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen and Lady Allen, the reception and exhibition are part of activities to celebrate Jamaica’s 56^th Anniversary of Independence under the theme ‘Jamaica 56 – One Love, One Family’.  The reception replaces the annual Independence Day Parade at King’s House.

Director and Curator of the Jamaica Music Museum, Herbie Miller, told JIS News that the exhibition will focus on those forms that have had a distinct and direct influence on popular Jamaican music.

He added that different genres of music, beginning with the Taino will be highlighted. These will include ska, rocksteady, mento, jazz, reggae, the Mystic Revelations of Rastafari and revival music. More than 20 instruments will be on display in glass cases and on panels. There will also be interactive touch screens with information on the history of Jamaican music.

Mr. Miller noted that over the years, music has been a force of inspiration that has allowed Jamaicans “to endure, resist and dream”.

“Music represents events from procreation to burial, for community and youth. It also provides relief and communicates through plays and games and ways to act and behave,” he said, noting that people can also learn from ring games such as ‘I Come To See Mary’ and ‘There’s a Brown Girl in The Ring’.

“Whether for worship, work or play as lullabies or laments, even as a tonic to induce the courage to resist, music, as all arts, can convey past histories, current realities and indicate future possibilities,” he said.

Asked what people should take away after viewing the exhibition, Mr. Miller said: “I want people to take away the idea that if they listen keenly to music, they can hear their own stories in it, their own history and the history of this country.”

The Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport is giving support to King’s House in the staging of the reception and exhibition.