High interest in Rex Nettleford Arts Conference

The seventh biennial Rex Nettleford Arts Conference, themed Mirror Mirror – Arts and Culture for Social Transformation, set to take place at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in St Andrew from October 11 to 13, promises to be an enriching and thought-provoking event with over 43 combined papers and presentations.

The conference will bring together scholars, arts practitioners, and administrators who will share their ideas, theories, and praxis through a diverse range of formats, including research papers, lecture demonstrations, captivating performances, panel discussions, thought-provoking films, workshops, and an art exhibition.

The programmes committee has been meticulous in selecting a wide array of topics from the abstracts submitted, ensuring that the conference will explore vital themes such as Jamaican culture’s global impact on fashion; culture and the Caribbean classroom; the intersection of artificial intelligence and culture; reimagining Caribbean Art museums; the power of Caribbean comedy; culturally responsive teaching; and the role of theatre arts in supporting teen mothers.

One of the conference’s standout features is the international representation among presenters. Distinguished voices from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Nigeria, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom will converge to enrich the discourse. Of note, both past and current members of the Edna Manley College’s faculty and staff feature prominently among the conference’s presenters, demonstrating the institution’s deep commitment to the arts and culture.

The conference’s opening ceremony will be graced by the keynote address of Sir Hilary Beckles, a distinguished academic, international thought leader, vice-chancellor of The University of the West Indies, and chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Reparations Commission.

The conference will culminate on October 13 with the Edward Seaga Distinguished Lecture, an annual highlight on the college’s calendar. This year’s lecture will focus on kumina, a traditional Jamaican folk form, under the theme, Feasting on the Heritage: The Centrality of Food to Ancestral Veneration. Dr Kirt Henry, the recently appointed head of the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica, and researcher Cheryl Ryman, former dancer with the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica, will be the distinguished presenters. The lecture will unfold around a kumina table featuring the Port Morant Kumina Group from St Thomas.

Established to honour the legacy of Rex Nettleford, the renowned Jamaican scholar and creative luminary, the Rex Nettleford Arts Conference serves as a pivotal platform for discourse within and beyond the creative and cultural industries. The conference aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue on the transformative role of these industries in society, stimulate discussions on their potential for wealth creation, and provide a space for the critical exchange of ideas that bridge the arts with wider societal issues.