The history of Jamaican music, going back some 40 years, is being revealed currently in an exhibition in California.
Global Treasures' 'World Of Reggae' exhibition of treasured artifacts from the Jamaican music heritage, as well as Bob Marley collectibles, are being featured at the exhibition.
The exhibition housed in the English Village at the Queen Mary Hotel in Long Beach, actually opened on January 20. It features selections from reggae historian/broadcaster Roger Steffens and covers 40 years of Jmaican music through the eras of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, lover's rock, the ska revival, dub poetry and contemporary dancehall and raggamuffin music.
It is being presented by the exhibition management company, Global Treasures and was designed and created by the Pasadena-based Curatorial Assistance. It showcases nearly 1,000 individually mounted album covers and a large number of seven-inch vinyl singles, most of them autographed by the respective artistes.
Visitors can explore some 24 areas where the musical spotlight falls on important Jamaican performers. There are hundreds of posters from around the world, interspersed with original photos, flyers, T-shirts and postcards.
A spiralling series of displays lead viewers into a row of bleachers, from which a film on the life of Marley can be viewed. On an adjacent wall, 144 albums depicting the various images by which Marley's music was presented to the world is also visible.
In the introductory area, a film depicting the mini-history of the various forms of Jamaican music will be running. Columns are filled with 160 singles from Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. Included are also relics of their Rastafarian religion.
Throughout the year there will be a number of special events hosted by Steffens at the venue, including a very special weekend programme for May 11 to 12, remembering the death of Marley.
These are in addition to the posthumous presentation of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award to Marley at the annual Grammy Awards in February and the allocation of a star in his name on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame on February 6.
Steffens is also an actor, lecturer, author and 10-year veteran of Los Angeles' radio.
The following weekend Dem A Go Tired Fi See We Face, another annual celebratory event will be staged by Junie Star's Prime Time Entertainment and Tuff Gong International at the community centre at Nine Miles, St. Ann, Marley's home village.
The event will follow a float parade from the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston and will raise funds for the building of the Nine Miles basic school.
