Street Art, Gentrification & Downtown Kingston
An interview with Lisandria Thomspson from NLS, New Local Space Limited.
NLS Interview
Firstly, huge thanks to the NLS team for including us in the research and in the podcast. We always appreciate the opportunity to get the word out, to tell the story of what we are doing …and more importantly, why we are doing it. The Downtown question allows for a discussion of Downtown’s past, present and future place in the narrative of Jamaica’s creative achievements and we hope that these responses can shed some light on what Kingston Creative hopes to achieve.
1. Your website describes Kingston as the creative capital of the Caribbean. What inspired this belief?
That is an early version of our vision statement, which reflected our desire to position Kingston as a creative hub delivering support, inspiration and tangible benefits not just to the rest of Jamaica, but across the region to the wider community of Caribbean creatives. While it was a very inspiring statement – I mean, we all love to say “Jamaica to di werl’!” and sometimes we even try to claim Rihanna – we realised that this wording can be exclusionary and could reinforce some of the competitive history that obtains in the region and which frankly has not served us well as small island developing states who need to collaborate in order to survive.
In our January 2020 planning session we subsequently changed the vision statement to read: Kingston is a Creative City. We stand behind this vision and want to see Kingston leverage its creative heritage and its world-class talent. We want to see Kingston reach its potential to become a Creative City, not just in name or by UNESCO designation, but as a social and economic reality for all who live in Kingston. We envision a thriving Art District, a Creative Hub that develops creative people and a healthy creative ecosystem in Jamaica; that really will be a game-changer. It is a big vision, but certainly a vision worth working towards.
2. Why is it important for your organization to specifically focus on Downtown Kingston as the epicentre of your creative and cultural endeavours?
It is important to focus on Downtown Kingston as it is not only the nation’s capital but also the heart of its creative and cultural production. Kingston’s historic “old town” possesses a rich heritage in terms of architecture, cultural sites, museums, galleries and a waterfront that borders the 7th largest natural harbour in the world. Downtown Kingston has historically been the hub of Jamaican culture, particularly in the fields of music, dance and the visual arts. As well as being the home of Bob Marley, Dennis Brown and other world-famous musicians, it was also a site for traditional craft-making and vending, exemplified by the Victoria Craft Market and in place names such as Potter’s Row. More recently, it is defined the birthplace of Dancehall, a global cultural phenomenon, an earlier the birthplace of Reggae, with Orange Street (aka Beat Street) being the site of some of Jamaica’s most influential music studios owned by icons like Lee “Scratch” Perry. Downtown was also the home of Jamaica’s first visual artists on record – Isaac Mendez Belisario and the photographer Adolphe Duperly in the 19th century and home to several well-known visual artists, such as in the mid-20th century, John Dunkley and David Pottinger, as well as several highly accomplished self-taught street artists.
Many of our well known cultural institutions are based in Downtown, such as the Ward Theatre, the Institute of Jamaica, the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, the National Gallery of Jamaica, the Jamaica Music Museum, Liberty Hall, the Bank of Jamaica Money Museum and the Kingston Craft Market, as well as private, community-based cultural organizations such as Studio 174 and Life Yard on Fleet Street. There is also public art, such as the statues at the St William Grant Park, and a significant architectural heritage, which includes the Holy Trinity Cathedral and its magnificent, recently restored murals and stained-glass windows. It was also the first site of what is now the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts – the Jamaica School of Art was originally located on North Street and in Kingston Gardens.
Given its rich history and diverse cultural assets, Downtown Kingston is well-placed to define its own version of an Art District, in a way that will benefit local residents, creatives and cultural entrepreneurs, while serving as a powerful social transformation strategy that serves to reinforce the brand of Kingston as a Creative City, and of Jamaica as a whole.
3. What does Kingston Creative hope to achieve with the ongoing mural project?
The mural project, ‘Paint the City’, is one of several projects that we are implementing in order to transform Downtown. Our projects fall into two categories – either “Art District” projects that focus on “placemaking” and developing the physical space (Murals, Urban art parks, Artwalk events and festivals) or “Creative Hub” projects that focus on developing people (training, accelerators, networking, coworking spaces, online platforms, capital and business clusters). All the projects work together to empower creatives and transform Downtown Kingston using art, culture and technology.
The innovation in this mural project is around the use of augmented and virtual reality, which we intend to create an immersive experience for the in-person and virtual visitor. 59 murals have been developed to date, by Kingston Creative employing local and community-based artists. Water Lane is being developed as the focal point of the street art experience and the murals along this lane will feature augmented reality technology and will have a corresponding walking tour and a virtual tour. The lane is walkable and connects the Museums on East Street with the National Gallery on Orange Street. In the lane, there are several community businesses, restaurants and bars who benefit from the increased traffic and business as the area develops.
The murals are to be included the National Library of Jamaica Digital Collection, as a publicly accessible site. The National Library of Jamaica’s (NLJ) holdings constitute the most comprehensive collection of Jamaican documentary offering an invaluable representation of Jamaica’s history and heritage. To enhance access to its rich and varied collections, the National NLJ has digitized thousands of historical photographs, prints, drawings, and now will be including the Street Art Murals in Downtown Kingston, which is fantastic.
4. How are artists selected to contribute to the mural project?
Kingston Creative uses an open call or limited call to find participants for its projects. Generally, a flyer is created and the opportunity is advertised on social media and also sent out via Whatsapp to a list of artists that include a listing of artists from Downtown gathered through community engagement. When artists respond to the call, they are shortlisted and selected.
There is a panel that selects the artist – or shortlists the artists if the work is commissioned for a third party. The last selection panel comprised Phillip Thomas, O’Neil Lawrence and Camille Chedda, noted creatives, educators and arts administrators in their own right. The limited call is used when a client has a project in Downtown and wants something very specific – for example an underwater ocean scene – and we know that just a few artists specialise in that type of work. We would approach those artists and ask if they are interested in proposing a design. We also have a target of 25% community involvement, meaning that the teams that develop murals should include artists from the community.
5. How does Kingston Creative approach developing public art projects?
Paint the City is a public-private-third sector partnership led by Kingston Creative and funded by TEF, Sherwin Williams, the KSAMC and other nongovernmental organizations. It builds on the legacy of Downtown murals created on shops, walls and street corners around town. Often these murals memorialise famous personalities and cultural icons, sometimes they promote positive messages that the community wants to reinforce. We do two types of murals – those in the Central Business District and then murals in communities such as Rae Town, Trench Town and Tivoli Gardens. All the murals and digital content reflect on local contexts and the city’s rich cultural history but there are nuances in how both types are developed.
Community murals are created through a process of community engagement, in which citizens, entrepreneurs and artists co-create and take co-ownership in the works. They choose the theme, they select the designs, working through the Community Development Committee or another Community Based Organisation. This builds long-lasting and reciprocal social engagement. For murals in the Business District, it is slightly different. The private sector contributes the wall space, Government and Private Sector provide the funding, and through the partnership with Sherwin Williams that provides discounted paint, other building owners are also encouraged to paint their buildings – even if they are derelict – in complementary colours and to protect the heritage overlay (architectural exterior) if and when they choose to upgrade their premises. This all contributes to preserving the architectural and heritage value of the Art District in the long term.
The phenomenon of painting murals is not new to Downtown. Recently there was a series of murals at 41 Fleet Street in Parade Gardens developed by a group called Paint Jamaica, led by local artists including Matthew McCarthy, Dan Thompson, Taj Francis, Djet Layne and Kokab Zohoori-Dossa and founded by Marianna Farage. These murals were developed in partnership with Life Yard, a social enterprise in the area, and was a successful model of using art to achieve social transformation in Downtown Kingston.
The new murals have become a catalyst, a destination, a backdrop for the work of other creatives like photographers, fashion designers, musicians, and filmmakers. Most recently, reggae legend, Papa Michigan, who performed at the Artwalk in February 2020 returned to Water Lane to shoot his 2020 Festival song video in front of the murals. American pop star Jason De Rulo, and Protoje’s new video were also filmed in Water Lane, along with a slew of different dancehall videos. The murals have become a new location for content creation in Kingston, that both celebrates Downtown and supports the work of local visual artists and creatives, much like its predecessor at Fleet Street.
Additionally, visitors to the Kingston Creative website are now able to virtually experience the murals from their homes and this virtual reality experience is something we plan to develop on, not just as a COVID-19 strategy, but as a way of reaching more people in the Diaspora with an immersive experience and a fresh look at how the city is changing. At the end of the mural project, murals in Downtown will have Virtual Reality Tours and Augmented Reality experiences, much like the ones on the section of Water Lane between Church Street and Temple Lane.
6. In what ways do you think Kingston Creative has contributed to the Jamaican public’s outlook on Downtown Kingston as a local travel destination?
Over the past two years Kingston Creative has held over 50 events held in Downtown Kingston, from Artwalks to Meetups to Historical tours of locations like the Chinese Buddhist temple, the Railway Station and Holy Trinity Cathedral. These events have been captured by photographers from the Jamaica Photography Society and a number of writers, bloggers and vloggers who understood early on the value of documentation. We have seen the attendance grow, showing a return of confidence and a reduction of stigma for those that attend. We hope that we have contributed in some way, but it should be noted that people have always been coming into Downtown.
The majority of our museums are located Downtown and these institutions under the Institute of Jamaica have always held public events. The NGJ is located in Downtown and they in particular have forged a path with its Last Sundays series. Rae Town, Passa Passa and other dance events have drawn large audiences to Downtown. The Mayor of Kingston started an inspirational campaign a few years ago with the hashtag #Still Believing and has been implementing the redevelopment of the Ward Theatre, an iconic cultural space. Pop up events have been held over the years by entities like Earl Chinna Smith’s Binghistra Inna Di Yard movement, various music concerts in Trench Town and on the Waterfront.
The Jamaica Food and Drink Festival held its launch event in Downtown and has staged some of its signature culinary events in Downtown. Kingston on the Edge, an underground arts Festival has also hosted events in Downtown Kingston; Xamayca Carnival has held soca fetes with thousands of guests in Downtown and Brand New Machine has held parties in Downtown in partnership with F&B Downtown. Finally, Victoria Pier’s opening on the waterfront with ice-cream parlours, restaurants and a dance club has also had a major impact on bringing night life back to Downtown.
What is important is the coalescing of all these efforts into a new vision of a transformed Downtown. For our part, our vision includes green spaces, walkability, and an Art District that is safe, balanced and inclusive, one that has protections for heritage and for people, one that is developed to enhance the experience for the local visitor – not made for an external audience. Creating authentic experiences, building on the real history of Downtown life and protecting our tangible and intangible heritage is critical if we want to succeed.
7. How would you respond to concerns by some members of the public that your organisation is spearheading a gentrification movement Downtown?
If people are concerned about gentrification, we would thank them, as their vocal opposition is essential to preventing gentrification from happening. We are aware that there are several different plans afoot to develop Downtown – as there always have been. Some would be good in our opinion and others that we have heard of would be a disaster.
Kingston Creative wants to achieve slow, balanced, inclusive development of Downtown Kingston that is centred around arts, culture and the people that create the culture. We want Downtown Kingston to improve, to become safer, to upgrade the crumbling infrastructure and make it a more liveable city, but for it to be sustainable, it must be developed in a way that benefits the existing communities and respects the architecture, heritage and culturally significant spaces.
Gentrification is defined as the process whereby the character of a poor, urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, replacing existing housing, and attracting new businesses, displacing current inhabitants in the process. It is a real concern for us, firstly because we have found it is not widely understood by some, and secondly because we ourselves are not an authority or governing agency with the power to prevent it.
We have to educate and use persuasion – appealing to the stakeholders’ enlightened self-interest. Our position to building owners is that if the area were to become gentrified, with the knocking down of historic buildings and putting up of new high-rise housing blocks, it would irreparably damage the cultural value of the area, and destroy what we are trying to create.
Frankly this issue should be a concern for all stakeholders in this process as it would only take the actions of a few to ruin it for all. Community empowerment is the only way that we can resist gentrification, so it is good that there are members of the public that are concerned about it. We want more vocal critics, as voices united against gentrification is the only way in which we can ensure that this urban renewal can be inclusive, equitable, sustainable, and ultimately beneficial to all.
Gentrification is also defined by Oxford as “the process of making someone or something more refined, polite, or respectable”. To understand the politics behind gentrification and why it is not what we want for our city, we have to look at the social history of Kingston, coming from colonialism to present day. Kingston started as a slave trading port and then evolved into what can be described as a battle for actual and symbolic space, between different social groups with very uneven economic and power resources – between the poor, the affluent, and the many degrees in-between, all of whom have a stake in the area. Any discussion about gentrification, culture, and development in Downtown Kingston must be cognisant of this history and context.
The battle for space that has shaped the development of Kingston has deep historical roots, going back to the Slavery and Emancipation eras, but reached a boiling point in the mid-20th century, in the period leading up to and following after Independence in 1962. Downtown was home to wealthy families that did business on the port. Rural-to-urban migration and accelerated population growth resulted in the rapid expansion of the poor and lower income inner-city population, particularly in the western belt of the city, as well as the expansion of the urbanized areas into the previously suburban and semi-rural areas of St Andrew.
Sprawling informal settlements with little or no modern infrastructure appeared, and social tensions, violence, and crime became more prevalent. As we have heard from ‘old-timers’ that lived through this, the social geography of Downtown Kingston changed dramatically as a result, with the more affluent residents moving to the hills, to the upper regions of St Andrew, even though this affluent class retained ownership of major real estate and business interests in the old city centre. Downtown was all but abandoned, and New Kingston, several miles to the north, was developed as the business centre.
We do not want to revert to a segregated exclusive space, or make Downtown into a new playground for the wealthy. We want to use art improve it, bring visitors and commerce in for tours, for music, for night life, and thereby create economic opportunities, a new sense of identity, peace and social transformation that benefits everyone, especially the existing residents who are a highly creative population.
8. Does Kingston Creative believe that its work could increase the property value of Downtown Kingston over the long term?
We are focused on creating a space for creatives, where they can have opportunities for retail, for collaboration, for training, for exhibition. It is of course a well-established fact that if an area is made safer and more attractive, that property values will rise. It is likely that buildings empty for half a century will be able to be rented and some renovated, but it is possible to improve without displacing or destroying. We are advocating for development that pays respect to the historical preservation and inclusion that is needed to maintain the integrity of an Art District.
9. Does Kingston Creative feel a responsibility to ensure all long-standing marginalised communities Downtown are not priced out or displaced from living there, but reap equitable benefits from the Kingston Creative project?
Yes, we do feel a responsibility to these communities that surround the business district as they each have a unique story and cultural value, from the sound system dance in Rae Town, to Culture Yard in Trench Town to the community of Potters in Rose Town. In our tours, Artwalks and other developmental activities, we highlight the history and cultural value of these communities and hope that everyone will recognise the importance of protecting, preserving and not displacing the people in these communities.
It is important to note that Kingston Creative is not the only or even the main factor in the equation. It is also well known that Downtown Kingston is already undergoing a redevelopment campaign, with the development activities and plans for the Kingston Waterfront, new office complexes going up and the Master Plan for the Heroes Circle area. The current urban renewal campaign arguably started in the early 2010’s with the construction of the Digicel headquarters on the Waterfront, and has been followed by the construction of new Grace Kennedy headquarters and a new building for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the renovation of the old Oceana Hotel and the development of an entertainment complex on Victoria Pier.
There are also plans for new luxury condos and retail and recreational areas on the western part of the Waterfront. There are also other smaller-scale developments in the Downtown area that do not involve new construction and introduce new business interests to the area, such as the recent profusion of wholesale businesses on the Orange Street corridor, most of which are owned and operated by recent Chinese migrants.
The plans for Heroes Circle include the planned construction of a new Parliament building complex in National Heroes Park, a suite of government buildings to the south of the park, and the general renovation and modernization of the adjoining Allman Town community. These plans have become somewhat controversial mainly because it involves the planned appropriation and demolition of dwellings and the relocation of residents, allegedly to new structures that they may not be able to afford or to live in sustainably. There had been little or no prior consultation with the affected residents.
Major gentrification issues have thus already appeared in Downtown Kingston, in association with these new urban developments and plans. It is hoped that by designating the central part of the business district as the Art District that we can protect people and place. By demonstrating that this area and the culture is of value, the heritage overlay of these buildings can be protected and hopefully this area will not be destroyed with a wholesale redevelopment. Local businesses, bars and cultural spaces should be mapped and preserved in the process and the surrounding communities developed in a balanced, inclusive way, protecting the essence of cultural life in Downtown Kingston and in the process, preserving our priceless cultural heritage.