Jamaica Music Museum (JaMM) is hosting its annual Grounation series with heritage lectures each Sunday in February at the Institute of Jamaica lecture hall.

The free events, which begin at 2:00 pm, are part of the Reggae Month calendar of activities.

Grounation is an exploration of African continuities in Jamaican culture and the ways music serves as a bridge between identities, histories, and spiritual traditions.

This year’s 14th staging is being held under the theme ‘From African to Jamaican: Music and Creolised Black Culture’.

Director and curator at JaMM Herbie Miller said the theme centres on the ongoing process through which African peoples forged a shared culture in the New World.

“This year, the focus is on ourselves… how did we come here as Africans [and] how have we become Jamaicans,” he said.

Miller noted that this cultural blending is rooted in the diversity of African ethnic groups forced into the Caribbean.

“There are so many different nations within the West Central African continent that were transported to Jamaica, and the New World in particular, because we came from different languages, different socio-spiritual backgrounds. It meant that we were not just one set of people… we were very diverse people,” he pointed out.

“Music becomes a bridge, a tunnel, an underground railroad, a classroom, [or] an influencer that brought the culture because it can be embedded inside of songs… the message is in the music,” he pointed out.

The 2026 series opened on February 1 with the topic ‘Africa Calls, Jamaica Answers’ featuring presentations on Sierra Leone-Jamaica ties.

The second event, on February 8, examined the subject ‘African Roots, Jamaican Fruits’, with scholars exploring Central African linguistic influences and Kumina as a spiritual and aesthetic practice.

The lecture on February 15 will deepen the exploration of African retentions under the topic ‘Walking the Spirit: Religions, Rituals, Music, Dance, and Magic’.

Grounation will conclude on February 22 with a joint presentation by Professor Hopeton Dunn and Miller on the topic ‘Marcus Garvey, music and the arts as black aesthetics and pan-Africanist consciousnes’, accompanied by music from the JaMM.

“Everything about Grounation is educational, is uplifting, is family-oriented, and it brings a level of consciousness through music and culture and arts… to look at very serious issues at home and abroad within the black Diaspora,” noted Miller.

The Grounation series is also streamed live on the Institute of Jamaica’s YouTube channel.

— JIS