Kingston Creative is a nonprofit arts organisation started in 2017 by a team of three co-founders who believe in using Art and Culture to achieve social and economic transformation. We want to see the city of Kingston leverage its creative heritage, its world-class talent and reach its potential to become a Creative City, not just in name or by UNESCO designation, but for this to be a reality for all who live in Kingston. We envision a safe and vibrant Art District in Downtown Kingston, a Creative Hub that develops and trains people and long-term, a healthy creative ecosystem in Jamaica. We are a small, voluntary organisation, and we recognise that this is a huge vision, but it is certainly a vision worth working towards.

We  focus on Downtown Kingston, as besides being the nation’s historic capital city, it is also the heart of its creative production.  Its “old town” possesses a rich cultural heritage in terms of architecture, heritage 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, Downtown was the home of Jamaica’s first visual artists on record – Isaac Mendez Belisario and the photographer Adolphe Duperly in the 19th century – and a site for traditional craft-making and vending – as in the Victoria Craft Market and as evidenced in place names such as Potter’s Row. More recently, it has been the home of Dancehall, a global cultural phenomenon, the birthplace of reggae, with Orange Street (aka Beat Street as the site of some of Jamaica’s most influential music studios, 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 street artists.

It is the home of cultural institutions 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 is also the birthplace 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.

Kingston Creative won the RJR Gleaner National Award for Arts and Culture in 2020. Over the past three 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.  The events and all our projects include the people who live in and around Downtown.  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, signaling a return of confidence and a reduction of stigma around the area.  We hope that we have contributed in some way to changing perception, but it should be noted that people are, and have always been coming into Downtown.

The majority of our markets and museums are located there and the cultural spaces under the Institute of Jamaica hold regular public events. The National Gallery of Jamaica is located in Downtown and they in particular have forged a path with the ‘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 #StillBelieving 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, and various music concerts are held in Trench Town and on the waterfront.

Downtown has a history of great food, and Moby Dick, crabs at Heroes Circle and Ital food spots are hidden treasures. The Jamaica Food and Drink Festival held its launch event in Downtown and has staged some of its signature culinary festivals 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 partygoers in Downtown and Brand New Machine has hosted soirees in Downtown in partnership with chic eatery F&B Downtown. Finally, Victoria Pier’s reopening on the waterfront with ice-cream parlours, restaurants and a dance club had a major impact on bringing night life back to Downtown.

We will keep working together in partnership to coalesce of all these disparate efforts into a new, inspiring vision of Downtown Kingston – with an Art District that is safe and attractive, balanced and inclusive, one that has protections for heritage and for people, one that is developed to enhance the experience of our culture for the local visitor – Kingston residents. Creating authentic experiences, building on the rich history of Downtown life and staying true to and protecting our tangible and intangible heritage is critical. By working together, we will get there.

Kingston Creative is now a member of the Global Cultural Districts Network, and the Art District is listed alongside with other art districts in Paris, Sydney, London and Dubai. The strategy is to create a world-renowned Art District and Creative Hub in the old city and we are in the process of implementing the following projects; Paint the City Street Art murals, Urban art parks, sculptures/public art and a co-working space and business accelerator for creatives. If you want to become a partner in the transformation of Downtown or to support programmes that build a healthy creative ecosystem, please feel free to contact us at info@kingston creative.org.