Page:“Trench Town Rock”： Reggae Music, Landscape Inscription, and the Making of Place in Kingston, Jamaica.pdf/7

Urban Studies Research



Painting of Emperor Hailie Selasie, Trench Town. Source: Francis-Rhiney, 2012.

These inscriptions also link into a much broader discourse on the importance of the Rastafari culture and its influence on reggae music and Jamaican identity. The ascendancy of reggae was parallel to the increasing popularity of Rasta which reached its peak in the 1970s. In summarising this situation, Stolzoﬀ asserts:

"While many of the leading artists had long been influenced by Rastafari, in the reggae era a great majority of these Rasta-identified performers publicly declared their new identity and conversion to Rastafari (page 95)."

The rise of the Rastafari movement in Jamaica was linked in part (and probably still is) to the marked racial and socioeconomic divisions that were evident in the society, especially in Kingston. In time this resistant culture would find creative outlets in the rise of reggae music, and dancehall to a lesser extent. Reggae music and the Rastafari movement were therefore borne out of the same harsh socio-economic and political realities associated with everyday life in the ghettos of West Kingston and are arguably inseparable from each other. This would explain the appeal Rastafari had for many of the top Reggae icons during the decades of the 1970s and 1980s.

Other types of murals were seen throughout the community, mostly paying homage to political representatives and local area leaders or “dons.” While these and other place inscriptions (including a range of graﬃti texts) were not as pronounced and pervasive as the murals showcasing reggae icons such as Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, they were also strategically positioned. These inscriptions could be found mostly in the inner sections of the community, seemingly outside of the public’s “gaze.”

This was in sync with the way the area, or at least parts of it, was being showcased on one hand as an authentic replica of the Trench Town Bob Marley spoke about in his songs—an impoverished and depressed inner-city community yet free from the political stranglehold that characterises so many of downtown Kingston’s garrison communities. However as one ventures further in the community it becomes increasingly apparent that Trench Town’s landscape is no diﬀerent from the sort of political “turfism” imbued in most of the graﬃti seen throughout Kingston. Numerous graﬃti were seen throughout the community on both walls and zinc fences making references to the community’s aﬃliation to either of the two major political parties. Interviews with residents confirmed that the community was in fact going through a transitional phase and was almost equally split in terms of support to both the JLP and PNP. This was in line with the results of the 2007 general elections in Jamaica which saw the JLP marginally defeating the reigning PNP at the polls after being in opposition for some 18 years.

If we should apply MacCannell’s seminal work on “Staged Authenticity” here, then Trench Town is similar to many theme parks and tourist destinations around the world that are intentionally divided into a “front stage” and a “back stage”. According to MacCannell back stage regions comprise the private living area of residents and are strategically situated out of the reach of visitors. However, as Pearce rightfully contended, visitors can, at times, access back stage areas but only under certain conditions. In the case of Trench Town, movement is largely confined to the outer sections (front stage regions) of the community along Collie Smith Drive and the top of First Street where the Trench Town Culture Yard Museum and Reading Centre are located. Access to the inner sections of the community by an outsider is largely prohibited. Entry is usually gained by means of a “guided tour” by one or two residents of the community (most often a male resident who comes highly recommended by the operators of the Culture Yard) and visitors are cautioned about taking photographs of people or their homes without prior consent.

3.2. The Culture Yard and the Making of Place. The Trench Town Culture Yard Museum can also be interpreted as representing another form of landscape inscription. A close look at the museum shows how much it is designed to conjure up selective images of Bob Marley and the wider Trench Town community, though in a slightly and uniquely diﬀerent way from that of the murals. Like most of the murals reminiscent of the community’s historical association with reggae music, the “Culture Yard” as it is popularly called is situated at the front of the community. Even though this location was not predetermined and is simply based on the tenement yard where Bob Marley spent most of his childhood and adolescent years, it is not surprising that the museum is situated in close proximity to the murals seen at the entrance of the community. The murals were reportedly commissioned by the Marley Foundation to pay homage to the contributions made by Bob Marley and other reggae icons such as Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer to Jamaican music, as well as other important black figures such as Marcus Garvey.

The Trench Town Culture Yard was opened on February 6, 2000 (symbolic of Bob’s birthday), as tribute to the yard where Marley grew up and was inspired to write many of his internationally renowned songs. The Yard is operated by a few members in the community and is geared at attracting visitors both locally and abroad. The entrance of the Museum is very simple and basic (Figures 6 and 7). The only other thing that signals that a museum does in fact exist is a sign that reads “Trench Town Culture Yard: An Inner City Heritage Tourism Product.” On the sign is a drawing depicting a Rastafari with his dreadlocks colored in red, gold, and green, seemingly preparing a meal around a wood fire. Below the drawing is another set of subtitles entailing an excerpt from one of Marley’s songs “No Woman No Cry.” The subtitle reads “Inn [sic] a government yard in Trench Town.”