Sebastien Carayol, co-curator of Jamaica Jamaica! How Our Music Conquered the World was over the moon on Sunday at his first Jamaican exhibition.

“It’s like a dream come true to be accepted by the community. For the other curators and I to be together and execute visions for an exhibition is amazing. As the Rastas say: ‘Each one, teach one’, so it was like a democratic process where nobody came to take from the other. We all collaborated,” the Frenchman told the Jamaica Observer.

The event took place at the National Gallery of Jamaica in downtown Kingston.

Senior curator at the National Gallery of Jamaica, Oneil Lawrence, and Jamaica Music Museum’s director, Herbie Miller, were also in attendance. They had pieces from their galleries on show.

The exhibition showcased between 400 and 500 pieces ranging from photographs, visual art, audio recordings and films (all from private collections and museums), and rare memorabilia. It covered all Jamaican music genres, spanning slavery to contemporary.

Having hosted a similar exhibition at La Philharmonie de Paris in the French capital in 2017, Carayol noted that the Jamaican leg has more original local pieces.

“What we did this time was to really include more pieces from Jamaican collections, ’cause it’s very important for the music community to realise that the things they have from back in the day are not junk. That’s why we brought in as many people as we could from studios (such as Studio One) and it’s an honour for them to trust us with their pieces,” he said.

Carayol discovered reggae two years ago.

“Reggae is not part of everybody’s daily life in France; so only people that are in tune with reggae music would consider it popular. I come from the working-class, so the music I grew up on was working-class music like punk rock and hip hop. I had some friends from Jamaica who were listening to what you would describe as ‘pop reggae’ and that music just kind of had a power over you, and eventually I got into it fully,” he said.

Carayol hopes other curators will carry the mantle after this exhibition closes on June 28.

“I would love to see a real Jamaican music museum exist. I was just sort of here to use the finance from France to help it kick-start, but I would love to be just a visitor at an exhibition like this is the future,” the 10-time visitor stated.

Meanwhile, attendees were pleased with the exhibit.

“It was a group excursion done by my second-year experience coordinator, as she wanted to get us into the culture of our country. The exhibits were really informative; my favourite one was the high-resolution photo of Bob Marley,” said University of the West Indies, Mona student Robert Francis.

Musician Tony Riley was in awe.

“It’s really amazing to see the talent that’s out here…I’m lost for words really,” he told the Observer.

The occasion also saw Toots Hibbert handing his guitar to Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports, Olivia “Babsy” Grange for inclusion in the exhibition.

Hibbert and veteran toaster Big Youth provided the evening’s entertainment.