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Building Capacities of Jamaica’s creative and cultural sector on the 2005 Convention
“There are more than 300 reggae festivals in Europe” announces Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, proudly to the audience on October 31 in Kingston.
Reggae music and its “King of Reggae”, Bob Marley, is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Jamaica and its culture. Maybe you've heard of the Reggae girls after this year's FIFA Women's World Cup 2019, Jamaica's women's football team, or Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who became the fastest people in the world. But besides these most famous exporters of Jamaican culture, what do you know about fashion, literature, media art or movies in Jamaica? Jamaica has a rich and diverse cultural landscape and increasing creative potential.
Jamaica's National Policy on Culture and Creative Economy (2017-2027), supported by the UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD), is currently being revised to seek greater recognition of Jamaica's culture and identity among Jamaicans and globally. To take advantage of this momentum, a national multi-stakeholder consultation was held on 31 October, followed by a national training workshop on the 2005 Convention from 6 to 8 November in Kingston, Jamaica.
Jamaica, represented by its Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, has ratified the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. The Convention provides a new international framework for the management and administration of culture, based on the understanding of culture as a driver and enabler of sustainable development, thus recognizing culture and creativity as strong forces for promoting social and economic development.
The framework supports developing countries to strengthen their cultural and creative sectors, for example by promoting cultural trade agreements with developed countries such as the European Union's CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Its Article 16 on "preferential treatment" advocates international cooperation to facilitate the mobility of artists and the flow of cultural goods and services, particularly from the Global South.
The opening ceremony of the National Consultation on 31 October took place at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, with presentations and remarks by Mrs Katherine Grigsby, Director of the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean, Mrs Olivia Grange, Minister for Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Mr Everton Hannan, Secretary General of the Jamaican National Commission for UNESCO, and Mr Peter Goldson, Honorary Consul of Sweden in Jamaica. The multi-stakeholder consultation discussed issues such as media diversity, digital technology, mobility of artists and gender equality in the cultural and creative sectors.
Avril Joffe, a member of the UNESCO Expert Facility of Cultural Diversity held the three-day training workshop in Kingston, Jamaica, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport in cooperation with the UNESCO Caribbean Office in Kingston, Jamaica, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency for Development (SIDA). The participants represented government entities related to culture and stakeholders from Jamaica's creative and cultural sector, such as fashion, broadcasting, film, literature, academia and the Rastafari community.
The national training aimed to improve their understanding of how the 2005 Convention can benefit Jamaica's creative and cultural industries and advised them on the development of the quadrennial periodic report (QPR). The QPR is a mandatory report to be submitted every four years by the Parties to the 2005 Convention. It also stressed the importance of cultural policy in achieving the objectives of sustainable development, such as decent work and economic growth, gender equality, access to global markets and combating inequalities.
Participants found the workshop enriching: “There is too little transparency as to what financial support is available in the cultural sector. In these three days, for example, I have also learned many things that are happening in our creative sector or on the government side in the country that I did not know about. This report will help us to get a better overview and to present and place ourselves to Jamaica and internationally”.
Reggae music and its “King of Reggae”, Bob Marley, is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Jamaica and its culture. Maybe you've heard of the Reggae girls after this year's FIFA Women's World Cup 2019, Jamaica's women's football team, or Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who became the fastest people in the world. But besides these most famous exporters of Jamaican culture, what do you know about fashion, literature, media art or movies in Jamaica? Jamaica has a rich and diverse cultural landscape and increasing creative potential.
Jamaica's National Policy on Culture and Creative Economy (2017-2027), supported by the UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD), is currently being revised to seek greater recognition of Jamaica's culture and identity among Jamaicans and globally. To take advantage of this momentum, a national multi-stakeholder consultation was held on 31 October, followed by a national training workshop on the 2005 Convention from 6 to 8 November in Kingston, Jamaica.
Jamaica, represented by its Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, has ratified the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. The Convention provides a new international framework for the management and administration of culture, based on the understanding of culture as a driver and enabler of sustainable development, thus recognizing culture and creativity as strong forces for promoting social and economic development.
The framework supports developing countries to strengthen their cultural and creative sectors, for example by promoting cultural trade agreements with developed countries such as the European Union's CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Its Article 16 on "preferential treatment" advocates international cooperation to facilitate the mobility of artists and the flow of cultural goods and services, particularly from the Global South.
The opening ceremony of the National Consultation on 31 October took place at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, with presentations and remarks by Mrs Katherine Grigsby, Director of the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean, Mrs Olivia Grange, Minister for Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Mr Everton Hannan, Secretary General of the Jamaican National Commission for UNESCO, and Mr Peter Goldson, Honorary Consul of Sweden in Jamaica. The multi-stakeholder consultation discussed issues such as media diversity, digital technology, mobility of artists and gender equality in the cultural and creative sectors.
Avril Joffe, a member of the UNESCO Expert Facility of Cultural Diversity held the three-day training workshop in Kingston, Jamaica, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport in cooperation with the UNESCO Caribbean Office in Kingston, Jamaica, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency for Development (SIDA). The participants represented government entities related to culture and stakeholders from Jamaica's creative and cultural sector, such as fashion, broadcasting, film, literature, academia and the Rastafari community.
The national training aimed to improve their understanding of how the 2005 Convention can benefit Jamaica's creative and cultural industries and advised them on the development of the quadrennial periodic report (QPR). The QPR is a mandatory report to be submitted every four years by the Parties to the 2005 Convention. It also stressed the importance of cultural policy in achieving the objectives of sustainable development, such as decent work and economic growth, gender equality, access to global markets and combating inequalities.
Participants found the workshop enriching: “There is too little transparency as to what financial support is available in the cultural sector. In these three days, for example, I have also learned many things that are happening in our creative sector or on the government side in the country that I did not know about. This report will help us to get a better overview and to present and place ourselves to Jamaica and internationally”.
15 November 2019
Last update:20 April 2023
