Downtown Kingston is the place to be this Sunday, October 25. Four free events land on the same day, all within walking distance of each other: the Kingston Creative Artwalk Festival on Water Lane, the Meet You at the Station photography exhibition at the old Railway Station, the launch of Mervyn C. Alleyne’s African Roots of Jamaican Culture on Ocean Boulevard, and the National Gallery of Jamaica’s Last Sundays.

It is the final Sunday of National Heritage Month, and the day’s line-up reads like a roll call of the people who carry Jamaican culture forward: sound system selectors, roots musicians, mento players, dub poets, photographers, scholars, storytellers, folk singers and the makers who turn craft into a living. Here is who you will see, and where.

Artwalk Festival: “Rewind and Come Again”

Sunday, October 25, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. · Water Lane · Free

Kingston Creative’s Artwalk Festival returns under the Heritage Month theme “Rewind and Come Again,” an invitation to revisit the sound systems and traditions that shaped the city.

Stone Love Movement headlines. Founded in 1972 by Winston “Wee Pow” Powell, Stone Love is one of Jamaica’s most celebrated sound systems, and its selectors carried the culture from local street dances to stages around the world. Expect the full weight of that history on the Water Lane stage.

Earl “Chinna” Smith brings his Binghistra Orchestra for a live set. The veteran guitarist’s ensemble delivers the deep, rhythmic roots sound he has championed for decades.

Herbie Miller, the music historian and curator of the Jamaica Music Museum, has organised a live mento band at the Railway Station a fitting Heritage Month nod to the island’s original popular music.

Representing the next generation, Trenchtown’s Karbon D Hard 1 shares the Artwalk Stage with the veterans, putting roots, elders and new performers on the same bill.

Spoken word lovers get their turn too. Poet Xgzabeher from JAIKU will give a poetry performance for dub poetry fans.

Kingston Creative will offer walking tours at 1:00, 2:30 and 4:00 pm and then you can relax in the new hot spot 105 Water Lane which will offer music, food and cocktails in a chic, trendy environment.

The makers

The Artisan Village gathers local designers, makers and food producers. Among them:

• Fashion and accessories: Rockin KoolKlothes, Pluff Atelier, Sima Koolins, Naturi Designs, Arimode, Coleenhaj Creation Studio, Stringz by Jo, Ika’tan Collection, Pretty Lilbaz and Jemac Accessories, and MilfordRuby Leather
• Home and wellness: Wood You Art With Me, Joyé Aurea Studios, Flame Candle Bar, Jungle Experience, Arctic Glow Essentials, Jamizola Naturals and Flavors of Jamaica, By Zass (soapsbyzass), Sreven Plushies and Creations, Lunar Connect, Siani Creates and PKay Enterprise
• Food Village: Brodz Juices and More, Karen’s Patties and Jamaica Cold Press

The festival is supported by the Jamaica Tourist Board, the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation, Legend Beer, AV Montage and Gracekennedy’s Catherine’s Peak. Parking is available at the Myers Fletcher Gordon lot on East Street.

Meet You at the Station

Sunday, October 25 · Walking tour leaves Water Lane at 11:30 a.m. · Kingston Railway Station

Swedish photographer Charlotte Mortensson turns her lens on Kingston’s rail heritage in Meet You at the Station. The exhibition focuses on the people and the stories tied to the railway, and it hangs in the place those stories began: the historic Railway Station.

Getting there is part of the experience. Architect Doris Gross leads a guided walking tour from Water Lane at 11:30 a.m. She will point out some of the city’s most historic buildings along the route before the group arrives at the station and the photographs.

Book launch: African Roots of Jamaican Culture

Sunday, October 25, 11 a.m. · 10–12 Ocean Boulevard, Kingston

Ian Randle Publishers, in association with the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica/Jamaica Memory Bank, launches African Roots of Jamaican Culture by the late Mervyn C. Alleyne (1933–2016), former professor of linguistics at The University of the West Indies. The book is a new edition of his classic Roots of Jamaican Culture, now with a contextual introduction by Maureen Warner-Lewis and Rupert Lewis.

Alleyne’s argument is that much of what we call Jamaican culture grew from the amalgamation, adaptation and evolution of African culture as it made a home in the New World. The launch flyer asks the question in the language the book studies: “Unu a kom?” (Are you coming?)

The programme brings together scholars, storytellers, family and musicians:

• Amina Blackwood Meeks, Founder/Artistic Director of Ntukuma, The Storytelling Foundation of Jamaica, moderates. She gives the opening and closing remarks and introduces the guest speaker.
• Kirt Henry, Director of the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica/Jamaica Memory Bank, delivers the welcome.
• Trevor Alleyne, the author’s son, speaks for the family.
• Professor Emerita Maureen Warner-Lewis of The University of the West Indies, Mona, is the guest speaker.
• Ian Randle, Chairman of Ian Randle Publishers, gives the publisher’s remarks.
• The Jamaican Folk Singers perform two musical selections.

For information, email marketing@randlebooks.com.

National Gallery of Jamaica: Last Sundays

Sunday, October 25 · 12 Ocean Boulevard, Kingston · Free admission

The National Gallery of Jamaica opens its doors for Last Sundays, its long-running monthly afternoon of free entry and guided tours. Over the years the series has paired the gallery’s exhibitions with dance, theatre, live music, talks and book launches.

This is one of the last chances to see Of Wood and Water: The Scotiabank Collection, which has been extended to Sunday, November 1. The exhibition brings together more than 40 works from the Scotiabank corporate collection alongside pieces from the gallery’s permanent collection. Its title comes from the Taíno name for Jamaica, “land of wood and water.”

The gallery sits on the same stretch of Ocean Boulevard as the book launch, so the two pair easily. Check the National Gallery’s social media for this month’s performers and opening hours.

Plan your Sunday

The book launch and the walking tour both start in the late morning, so pick one to open your day. The Artwalk Festival runs until 7 p.m., leaving plenty of time to catch the iconic Stone Love and the Binghistra Orchestra live performance.