Page:“Trench Town Rock”： Reggae Music, Landscape Inscription, and the Making of Place in Kingston, Jamaica.pdf/8

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 * Entrance of Culture Yard Museum, Trench Town. Source: Francis-Rhiney, 2012.




 * Sign at entrance of the Culture Yard Museum. Source: Cavell Francis-Rhiney, 2012.

The Culture Yard comprises a warren of 16 cramped rooms where Marley and his friends once lived. The tour generally entails a walk through several of these rooms. Each room is arranged slightly diﬀerently from the other. The first room consists of past aerial photographs of the area, schematic plans of the housing scheme, and historical data on Trench Town including background information on the Trench family. The second room comprises some of Marley’s memorabilia, including pictures and newspaper clippings of him and other famous persons from the community. In this room lies Marley’s first guitar which is neatly placed in a glass case. One of the rooms is said to have been the home of Vincent Ford also called “Tarta.” An interview with residents in the Yard revealed that Tarta is believed to have taught Bob how to play the guitar and had inspired Marley to write the words of the song “No Woman No Cry.” This was also pointed out as being the main reason for the inclusion of an excerpt of the song in the sign situated at the front of the museum.

Outside, in the courtyard are the preserved remains of Marley’s first vehicle—a 1970 Volks Wagen van—and an original statue of Marley that was donated to the Culture Yard by the Marley family (Figure 8). The Yard seems to be a regular hang-out spot for local men from the community, most of whom stated that they were unemployed. In the background one can often hear the sounds of Marley’s most famous songs playing from the veranda of one of the buildings.



(a) Marley’s 1970 Volks Wagen on display



(b) Original statue of Bob Marley


 * Images from the Trench Town Culture Yard Museum. Source: Rhiney, 2009.

Overall, the Culture Yard seems to be struggling to remain open. Visitor numbers are relatively low and inconsistent. The tour is ad hoc and the Yard, though properly kept, seems wholly lacking in amenities and the infrastructure is in a dilapidated state. The residents’ inability to attract visitors to the Culture Yard might be partly linked to peoples’ perception of the place as being a crime-ridden inner city community. Despite a drastic reduction in crime in the community since the mid-1990s based on oﬃcial records and the reassurance of local residents of visitor safety, the operators of the Court Yard reported that it is extremely diﬃcult to attract local tour operators to visit the area.

Interviews revealed that the operators of the Culture Yard believe that the biggest threat to the survival of the museum in Trench Town is the competition presented by the Bob Marley Museum, located less than 10 kilometres away in the neighbouring parish of St. Andrew. The Bob Marley Museum