Page:“Trench Town Rock”： Reggae Music, Landscape Inscription, and the Making of Place in Kingston, Jamaica.pdf/9

Urban Studies Research is in stark contrast to the Culture Yard in terms of physical infrastructure and visitor presence (Figures 9 and 10). The Museum is owned and operated by the Marley Foundation—which is an aﬃliate of the Bob Marley Group of Companies (comprising Ghetto Youths International, Tuﬀ Gong and the Rita Marley Foundation). The Museum, unlike the Culture Yard, was opened to the public on May 11, 1986, which commemorates the date at which Bob Marley died. Marley died of cancer at the age of 36 on May 11, 1981.




 * Entrance of the Bob Marley Museum. Source: Rhiney, 2009.

The Museum showcases Marley’s posh upper St. Andrew home, located along Hope Road, one of Kingston’s major thoroughfare. The house is a colonial style bungalow, with latticed windows and a marble stairway. Here, Marley rehearsed five albums and survived the 1976 assassination attempt. The package entails a well-organised tour through the museum. With a culmination of artefacts, memorabilia, writings, newspaper clippings, and photographs (including a life size hologram of Bob) each room portrays the life and achievements of Bob Marley. The Museum also houses a theatre and a gallery, a library, a restaurant, and a gift shop and is arguably Kingston’s top tourist attraction. On any given day, the Museum is bound to be filled with visitors, a significant number of whom reportedly travelled to Kingston from distant resort towns such as Ocho Rios and Montego Bay situated along the island’s north coast just to visit Marley’s Hope Road residence.

Despite the stark diﬀerences observed between these two places, they share a few things in common. One of the most interesting and striking similarities between the two museums was in the artefacts they both chose to highlight. Both properties had one of Bob’s former vehicles on display for instance. At the Culture Yard, Marley’s 1970 Volks Wagen was put on display while his 1976 Land Rover was being exhibited at the Hope Road complex. Both museums also showcase a statue of Bob Marley playing one of his favourite guitars along with several other artefacts, memorabilia, newspaper clippings and photographs highlighting the artist’s various accomplishments. Additionally, it was seen in a number of instances where attempts were being made at the Hope Road property to showcase Bob’s connection with Trench Town. There is actually a replica of the record store Bob and his wife, Rita Marley, once owned and operated in Trench Town in the main museum as well as photos in the front yard depicting some of Marley’s early years in the West Kingston community.



(a) Marley’s Land Rover on display



(b) Front view of the museum with Marley’s statue in the foreground


 * Images of the Bob Marley Museum, Hope Road, Kingston. Source: Rhiney, 2009.

As in the case of the murals, the Culture Yard also represents a form of landscape inscription—an inscription that claims to be representative of a particular Trench Town and its contribution to Jamaican music, identity, and culture. Yet still, upon closer inspection, the Culture Yard, like in the case of the murals seen throughout the community, seemingly plays into popular conceptions and stereotypes of the place. The tremendous emphasis placed on Bob Marley and his life accomplishments eﬀectively downplay the role and contribution of so many of Trench Town’s residents. While most of these individuals were singled out, their achievements and the contributions made to the development of the community were largely understated when compared to Bob Marley. One may argue that this is indicative of the outstanding accomplishments of Marley