Preamble

Individual human development is fundamental to the process of cultural and ultimately national development. The nation's cultural policy must therefore have a clear definition of the role and importance of culture in the development process, must establish the strategies and mechanisms for effective and lasting impact and must ensure the ongoing strengthening and enrichment of the process.

In the process of establishing its post-colonial cultural integrity, Jamaica has been confronted with major challenges. The main challenge is to overcome tendencies to disjunctive cultural responses and the resultant impact on the society, arise from the constant bombardment of extraneous influences through advanced technological transmission.

Jamaica must face the fact that it will always have to contend with these extraneous influences and that the cultural development process is dynamic and will always be undergoing change. Jamaica must, however, urgently reinforce the texture of its own cultural fabric if it is to provide the basis for the development of those value systems which themselves shape and define the society and which inform and determine the fundamental rights and responsibilities of its people.

Definition of Culture

Culture defined as ethos (attitudes / values / methods / traditions and belief systems) is an intrinsic factor which affects all aspects of human life. Its is the catalyst which determines attitudes to work, production, etc. Although it is not quantifiable or tangible, it is central to the definition of the basic unit of economic development - the individual and the human spirit - and the eventual unleashing of creative energies.

Cultural Policy directives must facilitate:

• the nurturing of individual creativity.
• access to and participation in cultural expression as a fundamental right of the individuals (Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
• the use of culture as an agent of social transformation.
• the creation of plurality of expression and tolerance of diversity.
• a recognition of the uniqueness of Jamaican culture and the immense influence of Jamaican cultural expression internationally

Cultural Policy in Jamaica

The Jamaica Cultural Policy aims to establish an understanding of the organic relationship between culture and development.

The Policy seeks:

• to establish relevant and realistic objectives.
• to create, or renew structures for the delivery of cultural services.
• to provide adequate resources to help to create a people centered approach to cultural development.

Aims of a Cultural Policy

The cultural policy aims to:

• articulate a clear vision of the place of culture in national life and the overall objective which the proposed cultural actions are intended to achieve;
• give an indication of the plans, programmes and strategies that will be implemented to achieve the set goals;
• make provision for full participation of communities in cultural development;
• set out the ways in which cultural institutions and structures will be enabled to manage cultural institutions and structures will be enabled to manage cultural development;
• identify the sources of funding for cultural development;
• indicate plans for the development of arts and letters, the preservation of cultural heritage, the stimulation of the preservation of cultural heritage, the stimulation of artistic and intellectual creativity and the promotion of arts education and museums development;
• establish links between cultural policies and policies relating to education, science and technology, industrial development and environmental protection;
• indicate Government's intentions regarding the documentation of main cultural trends, the collection of oral traditions, the development of museums, and art centres, and the promotion of a motion picture industry;
• declare Government's commitment to providing facilities for on-going cultural research and the training of cultural practitioners.

Objectives

• The accessibility of cultural expression to all people.
• The preservation and nurture of the integrity of the Jamaican culture so as to counteract the growing feeling of alienation and disempowerment due mainly to the impact of globalization and foreign cultures.
• The fostering of an environment which will encourage creativity and secure a place for artists and other creators in the society.
• The recognition of the authenticity of the Jamaican reality, cultural context and cognitive experience in the early stimulation of intellectual activity and the formation of character, attitudes and values. As part of this recognition, the teaching of West Indian and African history should be mandatory.
• The engendering of an aesthetic of the built environment, of public and commonly held spaces through the documentation of codes for the establishment/erection of public gardens and national monuments .
• The recognition of the seminal importance of the natural environment and its preservation as a part of the national cultural patrimony.

Cultural Policy: Planning And Implementation

Structures and Mechanisms

The Government of Jamaica, through its Ministry of Culture will be the main facilitator for Cultural Development.

In order to guide policy in a positive way, the areas with line responsibility for culture within the Ministry must be considerably strengthened and sustained if Culture is to receive the respect and support which it deserves as a critical component of development.

An Inter-Ministerial Committee will become a permanent mechanism for ensuring an integrated approach to cultural development. Ministries are to include - Education, Tourism, Information, Finance, Local Government and Industry and Technology.

The integration of Culture and Education must be ongoing even if they are in separate Ministries. These two support the home and family in shaping the Society's values and attitudes.

Cultural Agencies

The Ministry and agencies within and without this Ministry responsible for the process of cultural development -

• the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ),
• the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT),
• the Jamaican Cultural Development Commission (JCDC),
• Things Jamaican Limited and their affiliates

All must collaborate within a coherent framework for planning and implementation.

This will involve

• ongoing dialogue with the community and general public to ensure a process of ongoing cross-fertilization of ideas and impulses.
• ongoing research and the use of the research findings to inform and educate thereby enriching the knowledge and appreciation of the Jamaican culture, and fostering a greater sense of pride and patriotism;
• continuing facilitation of the process of preserving and encouraging the endemic cultural traditions and facilitating their interpretation and reception through the media of artistic production and discrete study;
• the sensitization and training of increased numbers of persons as cultural agents who will work through the formal and non-formal educational system as teachers, facilitators, animateurs;
• giving greater focus to some of the non-formal educational institutions such as Museums and Libraries as well as community programmes so as to empower individuals and communities and stimulate greater citizen participation.
• supporting and promoting the natural and cultural heritage as an aspect of domestic and foreign tourism;
• encouraging, and where possible, facilitating, the growth of cultural industries e.g. music, videos, art and craft and within this context to nurture the new and traditional crafts and skills in achieving levels of excellence;
• encouraging a continuing dialogue between formal educational structure and the community of the arts with the coordinated programme for the curriculum in school, college and universities;
• functioning as resource and information centres for the community of artists and cultural agents;
• fostering ongoing collaboration and dialogue with other Ministries and Agencies locally, and with regional and international bodies involved in similar and related endeavours.
• reviewing and where necessary, revising laws and regulations regarding the development of Cultural Property with the view to protecting the country's cultural heritage.

It is envisaged that the cultural agencies will be made into executive agencies, with the organisational structure, resources and authority to creatively and efficiently implement the cultural policy. Cultural Agencies must be made accountable and subject to regular reviews so as to reflect inevitable changes. The work of all the Cultural Agencies are to be rationalized with closer collaboration and partnerships established between them.

The Creative and Performing Arts

The Performing, Visual and Literary Arts are traditionally the wellspring of creative expression. They are at the nexus of self-actualization and communal communication. Through them the process of reflection, realization and critical analysis of the self and the other take place. They allow for the tangible and visible representation of culture as ethos.

Through the traditional areas of the applied arts - through architecture, craft and in new areas: art therapy, computer graphics and animation, the creative arts are woven into the fabric of the society.

The Government of Jamaica is committed to providing a context for the free practice of the arts, for the nurturing and fostering of individual talent, for the plurality of artistic expression and for the experimental exploration of new ways of cultural expression.

It is the conviction of the Government that Artistic Expression should not be exclusive, restrictive or elitist - either in its production or its reception. The Government is committed to making the process and the results of artistic expression accessible to the whole community.

Institutional facilities for training in the creative and performing arts already exists through the following institutions:

The University of the West Indies:

The UWI was established in 1948, as a college of The University of London, at Mona, by 33 medical students from across the region. In April 1962, the College was renamed the University of the West Indies with degree granting status. The UWI expanded from its Mona campus, to St. Augustine in Trinidad and the Cave hill campus in Barbados. Today, approximately 20,000 students attend the campuses, with the majority (10,000) being at Mona. The UWI is divided into the faculties of Arts and Education, Social Sciences, Medical Sciences, Pure and Applied science, with the faculties of Law and Engineering located in Barbados and Trinidad, respectively.

The University of Technology:

The University was established in 1958 under the name The Jamaica Institute of Technology. In 1959, the name was changed to the College of Arts, Science and Technology (CAST) and the institution was formally accorded University status in 1995 under the name the University of Technology (UTECH). The UTECH has grown from 50 students and 4 programmes in 1958 to a student population of 6,000 and offers over 100 different programmes at certificate, diploma and degree levels.

The Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing Arts:

The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts was originally founded as the Cultural Training Centre (CTC) in 1976. The CTC brought together the four Schools of Art, Dance, Drama and Music to facilitate tertiary level training in the visual and performing arts. In 1995, the centre was renamed The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA) and offers courses leading to Specialist diplomas and certificates in art, dance, drama and music. Advanced study in these areas lead to academic degrees in association with the University of the West Indies.

The Teacher Training Colleges

More use must be made of the performing arts as a teaching tool to facilitate the development of discipline, self-expression and self-esteem.

Unfortunately many of the graduates in these areas of creativity are forced to seek employment outside of their fields and opportunities should be created to absorb more of the cultural workers and professionals.

Support for the Arts

Fine Arts, Music, Dance, Theatre, Film, are to be encouraged and supported. Apart from assisting artists with training programmes, appropriate legislation will be enacted to protect their rights and to enable them through tax relief on professional material and equipment. Artists must be informed on the terms of the Copyright Act and a specific Agency designated to liaise with them.

Culture and Technology

Cultural agencies must be provided with the necessary material resources to ensure efficiency. The use of advanced technology for research, and other activities, particularly information collection, is essential. It is important that there be access to internet information so as to accommodate interchange between cultural agencies and also to provide general information on arts and culture to the widest possible audience.

The Government recognizes the influence of technology not only as a tool for development, but of its increasing role as a cultural determinant in its own right. The Government is committed to encouraging a popular facility in the usage of technology and the widespread familiarity with those aspects of technology which will enhance creative expression and the human spirit. Access to the information age must become an accepted norm and a cultural imperative.

Culture and Media/Culture in Media

The Government recognizes the central role of the mass media in communication and dissemination of information and in the shaping of ideas, values and attitudes. Radio, Television, print media and the Internet are essential tools in the process of stimulation of debate, allowing for self-expression, communal interaction. The media can play an active role in the strengthening of a proactive civil society and maintaining the ideals of a participatory democracy, the framework for certain expression.

The Government is committed to the maintenance of a vibrant mass media, in its own right as an expression of cultural values and as an instrument of information dissemination and education.

Culture and Industry

Like media, industrial technology has become an increasingly integral part of the Jamaican reality. The challenge of a cultural policy is to facilitate a further inclusiveness into the community ethos. In particular the links between economic activity and cultural expression, must be established: the importance of the symbiotic relationship between economic prosperity and well being of the human spirit must be inculcated into the common consciousness.

The Government is committed to the establishment of industries directly related to the products of cultural expression and cultural heritage. Through the School of the Visual Arts and the University of Technology an ethos of industrial artistic design are to be encouraged, constantly reflecting the country's aesthetic values. The cultural heritage agencies will facilitate appropriate product development processes, and foster the manufacture of licensed reproductions of the National Collections. It is envisaged that the Institute of Jamaica will establish a Gift Shop franchising service.

Cottage Craft Industries are regarding as an excellent means of fostering traditional and new means of creative expression, at the same time increasing within communities increased economic activity.

The Government is committed through collaborative effort of the relevant cultural agencies, training instances, the Scientific Research Council and JAMPRO, to stimulate research in traditional materials and methods and to foster innovation in creativity, design and marketing.

Cultural Heritage

The Government is committed to the protection of the National Heritage: respect for and sensitivity to the importance of the past without stifling on-going creativity and change.

The regulations and mechanisms for safeguarding the heritage must cover material culture of present and past era the natural and built heritage, as well as the rituals and traditions: oral and written. But they must also protect the popular cultures and the rights of artists, and other creators, particularly against commercial abuses.

The main cultural agencies involved in the protection of the heritage are:

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust:

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust was founded in 1958 as the Jamaica National Heritage Commission which was later changed to the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) in 1985. The JNHT is responsible for all prehistoric and historic sites, monuments and features in Jamaica. Their archaeology division is responsible for mapping, excavating and monitoring sites such as Port Royal, Spanish Town and Maima-Seville Heritage Park. The JNHT also conducts research and public education programmes.

The Institute of Jamaica:

The Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) was established in 1879 and is responsible for the following organizations: The Museums Division, The National Library of Jamaica, the Natural History Division, the Junior Centre, The Institute of Jamaica Publications Ltd., The African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica/Jamaica Memory Bank and The National Gallery of Jamaica. The main functions of the IOJ are: establishing and maintaining museums and galleries for the collection, preservation and presentation of artifacts, maintaining the National Library, maintaining and displaying Jamaica's flora and fauna collections, developing the craft and artistic potential in children and compiling and publishing information of literary, scientific and historic interest.

The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission:

The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) began in 1963 as the Jamaica Festival Competition, with its mandate to develop and promote the creative talents and cultural expressions of the Jamaican people. It function is also to ensure that the nation's cultural heritage is preserved and sustained for future benefit. The Commission fulfills it mandate primarily through its annual Festival of the Arts. The Festival of the Arts include: the performing arts, the culinary arts, fine arts, photography, Miss Festival Queen, and National Song and Gospel song contest.

The mandates for these agencies must be clear so as to enable them to formulate and implement pertinent policies for the protection of the nation's heritage. New technologies must be employed for the recording and information aspects of the heritage.

More museums must be created to reach a much wider cross-section of the Society and the island's libraries and archives upgraded with the necessary technological capabilities.

Community and Culture

Private citizens and their collective efforts weave the basic fabric of a community and civil society as a whole. Since the nation is the sum of the composite number of its communities, community development is critical to national development. Culture and cultural expression is at the root of community life - its beliefs, traditions and customs, its spiritual and moral values, its behaviour patterns and social relationships, its creativity, its history and heritage: all of this and more.

Culture must therefore be used positively to motivate community action and to enliven and enrich the lives of citizens who will take pride in nation building. This means that all community agencies, including the Parish Councils, Social Development Commission, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, Agricultural bodies, Schools, Churches, Boys Scouts, Girl Guides, National Youth Service, the Private Sector and others must work towards strengthening the values of the community and encouraging creativity, and an appreciation of their indigenous cultures, the history and heritage.

Communities must be specifically aware of the importance of the natural environment as a cultural resource, and must promote, where possible Eco-tourism based on the concept of preservation and sustainability. Communities must be aware of the national symbols and encourage respect and observance and work towards human security and peace.

Culture and Tourism

Tourism is important to Jamaica's economy. Therefore, it is important that communities understand its relevance to the country and their own role in tourism. Citizens must be educated to the fact that foreign tourists are generally just as interested in the history, culture and creativity of the Jamaican people as they are in the Island's physical beauty.

The Ministry of Tourism must, therefore, have a close and integrated policy relationship with the ministries of Education and Culture and its agencies. The Ministry of Tourism must also ensure that there are on-going training programmes for workers in the tourism sector and that these workers include cultural agents who will help to ensure authenticity of our product and information. The benefits of tourism must be demonstrated at the community level through infrastructure development and cultural centres.

Communities must be encouraged to safeguard their heritage sites and monuments and to preserve the environment.

Resources

If the importance of Culture to national life is to be realized, then adequate resources are most critical. The Government is committed to providing resources for sustained and sustainable development in Culture. At the same time the Government recognizes the importance of private initiative and is committed to the fostering of joint venture programmes, and facilitating special projects for which the private sector is the main engine.

Human Resource

This is the most critical factor in the development of culture and cultural expressions. Therefore, training must be made available at varying levels and on an on-going basis for persons in all areas of creative pursuit. This includes writers, artists, crafts people, designers, cultural agents, teachers, professionals in film, theatre, museums, libraries etc. These are the people who as catalyst will in turn motivate others and stimulate creativity especially in young people. They are the driving force in the process of development. Opportunities should be provided , through adequate remuneration as well as possibilities for professional development, to encourage trained personnel to remain in their field.

Finance

An appropriate percentage of the Government's budget through the consolidated fund as well as, from time to time, specially dedicated funds must be earmarked annually for the work of the agencies and institutions (including schools) which work in the field of cultural development. In addition, the agencies themselves must devise plans and programmes which will generate budgetary subsidies. Private sector funding should also be encouraged especially on a community basis where assistance is visible and more meaningful. Where necessary, international funding should be sought through the appropriate channels.

Ministry of Education & Culture
2 National Heroes Circle
Kingston, Jamaica
March,1999