The government is to establish a museum of reggae music and artifacts, to represent the struggles and achievements of Jamaican music, and will establish a special initiative to encourage and assist Jamaican film makers to produce works on Jamaican culture.

The announcement was made last week by Minister of Water and Housing, Dr Horace Chang, who was giving the welcome address on behalf of Prime Minister, Bruce Golding at a launching reception for the seventh International Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference. The reception was held at Vale Royal, the Prime Minister’s official residence.

Noting that culture remains an important part of “who we are, what we are and how we do what we do,” Dr Chang stated that Jamaica’s cultural identity and image worldwide were strongly linked to reggae music, “an indigenous product of which we are very proud.”

Describing reggae as an international language of the oppressed, he credited the work of artists like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, whose “lyrics captivated international audiences, unified people in their struggles and served as the basis for negotiating significant truces.”

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