Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Expanding
Boundaries
Jeano Edwards
MA: Design:
Expanded Practice
Goldsmiths,
University of London
Dedicated To
My Late
Grand Mother
Noami Robinson-Steers
‘Can there be a global blackness that connects,
articulates and synchronises experiences and
histories?’
Contents
Introduction 9
Preservation
& Its Place In The Context of Kumina 22
Design,
Research & Reflection 30
Bibliography 33
Creators
Jasmine studies design at Goldsmiths and is one of my dearest Ras Happa is a Jamaican Master Drummer, he was I was Introduced to Ras Prince by Ras Happa
friends. She became interested in the project because of her love our London based Kumina expert and point of ref- during a drumming session we had organized
for music and her curiosity about the sounds and practices of Ku- erence for the project. He is the person responsible to both document and to host discussions
mina. She is the main vocalist and sound engineer on the project. for providing the core drums that acts as a heartbeat in regards to the significant of Kumina. Ras
Her involvement in the project was invaluable as she serves as the or pulse throughout the main sound pieces on side Prince was our Bandu drummer for the night
primary technical backbone for everything audio. ‘A’ of the Record. and was both open and insightful.
Javed
Saxophonist
Jamaica/New York.
Javed is a Jamaican saxophonist who was inter-
ested in exploring the sounds of Kumina through
his lens and practice. He provided the lovely
harmonies of the saxophone to complete the
rhythms of Kumina.
Kumina Group
Musical band Portland,
Jamaica.
WU-LU is a South London based band headed by I am the Creative Director and Fa-
Miles. Miles is half Jamaican and was interested in cilitator of the project. My role was
the project from the onset. WU-LU is responsible for to facilitate the conversation and ex-
the amazing bass on track one of side ‘A’ of the record. changes between people across the di-
aspora, as a means to question the idea
of preservation as it pertains to cultur-
al practices and in particular Kumina.
Introduction
I would like to start by offering some context, as I believe this will aid in helping
the reader understand the underlying motives driving my inquiry. I was born in
Saint Thomas, a parish in the remote eastern part of Jamaica. I was raised by my
Grandmother, a direct descendant of the Maroon Tribe. The Maroons are often
described in both literary and popular cultural productions, as serving an ‘essen-
tializing’ function. Not only do Maroons embody positive values such as defiance,
resistance, and autonomy, but they represent an original cultural authenticity never
compromised by the experience of plantation slavery (Bilby, “Making” 265). The
aforementioned qualities of the Maroons, along with their rich African spiritual
practices were elements that played a major role in my upbringing and in forming
my identity.
In Saint Thomas, not far from the Maroon communities, live a group of people
who refer to themselves as ‘Africans’, members of a separate ‘nation’ which they
sometimes call the Bongo Nation. Like Maroons, they have retained a distinct iden-
tity, and an African-based religious tradition, Kumina, with its own music, dance,
ritual and cult of possession by ancestors. There has previously been confusion in
regards to the origins of Kumina. However, recent studies have shown that Ku-
mina was introduced to Jamaica shortly after emancipation by the Bongo Nation
who arrived on the island between 1841 and 1865 (Bilby, “Two Sister”).
I was not born as a part of the Bongo nation, I do not know how to
speak the Bongo man’s language nor have I ever played the drums,
but when I hear Kumina, when I assemble and enter the ritualistic
space where the drums take control of your heartbeat, your mind,
and body, at that moment I understand it. Not in terms of aesthetics
- the drumming pattern, the language or even the way they dance -
Instead, I understand what it represents, and what it represents goes
far beyond the things I’ve just mentioned.
The fabric of Kumina is made of many thematic threads. The under-
lying themes that drove Kumina are identical to those of other Black
Atlantic, Afro-Spiritual traditions. The difference is the way in which
the threads are woven, the various pattern they have from through-
out the history of the African diaspora. A thematic journey means
we are not vainly plagued by the nuances of specificity in regards to
the aesthetics and particularities in the execution of the practice. In-
stead, we are able to take into account the local nuances of Kumina
in regards to their relationship with specific themes which enable us
to connect other practices within the rest of the Black Atlantic.
The objective of this thematic journey is multifaceted. My aim is for
the reader to fundamentally understand each theme and its signifi-
cance. And by extension understand how the themes are instrumen-
tal in forming the structural backbone which represents the ontolog-
ical significance of Kumina within the Jamaican society.
Location
Dislocation
The theme of location and dislocation represents two sides of the same
coin in the context of the African diaspora. Our history in the Atlantic
is one that is deeply linked to a psychological and physical dislocation
of the mind and body respectively. This initiated a perpetual search, in
which the black man ceaselessly tries to locate himself in the world. Lo-
cation and dislocation are major components which act as an adhesive
for the fragmented Black Atlantic and is, therefore, a crucial element in
understanding cultural practices throughout the region.
The importance of embarking on a changed since its introduction. My of having a shared thematic history and
thematic journey of Kumina was not views on preservation are one that how the concept of musical pan-African-
to just list and speak on the various the- must take into account the context in ism acts as a mechanism through which
matic elements that Kumina consists which the practice being preserved ex- one can reference from in order to tackle
of. It was a process through which I isted in, the role it played in that socie- contemporary social/cultural problems.
was able to understand the motives that ty and the underlying themes and mo-
drove Kumina. A process that allowed tives that drove its propagation. With This can clearly be seen from Bilby’s
me to look beyond the aesthetic and this foundation, I believe preserva- conversation with Wailing Roots - a ma-
physical aspect of the practice, whether tion in the context of this publication roon/reggae band from French Guiana:
it by the drumming pattern or the lan- and by extension, the practical aspect
guage spoken. In other words, it helped of the brief is best represented by the “On a recent cassette release, Oudou
me to uncover some of the fundamen- term Praxervation. Praxervation can Loutou includes a song called ‘Regae’
tal aspects of what Kumina represent- be thought of as preservation coupled [sic], backed by a new style of Maroon
ed and still represents today. Through with the idea of praxis. It is a self-updat- drumming created by stripping the reg-
this understanding, it becomes much ing system that continuously responds gae ‘beat’ down to its rhythmic essen-
easier to tackle the question of how to changes and development happen- tials; this new reggae-inflected Maroon
to go about preserving the practice. ing within a given cultural network rhythm, played on the aleke drums, re-
by referencing the mechanisms em- sembles nothing so much as the tradition-
As someone who is originally from Ja- ployed within the past cultural tradi- al nyabinghi rhythm of Jamaican Ras-
maica and of a generation that marks tion in order to develop new practices. tafarians, which itself was an important
the decline of the old and the ascent Although the term praxervation was influence in the original development of
of the new, I can say that I under- never formally mentioned prior to reggae during the 1960s...Both Maroon
stand the place of the new; the place this publication it is a concept that reggae bands such as Wailing Roots and
of the sound system, reggae, dance- has been explored in other academ- neo-traditional aleke bands such as Ou-
hall. However, this mindstate ex- ic works. For example, Kenneth Bil- dou Loutou have discovered that the
ists as a duality, one in which the old by’s Making modernity in the hinter- communicative potential of this import-
and the new are both able to coexist. lands is a wonderful paper that clearly ed pan-African/Caribbean musical style
speaks on and embodies a great deal can be as fine-tuned to local realities, or as
Kumina existed as a medium to serve of the ideas embodied in the concept broadly calibrated to diasporic concerns,
the needs of a community, a com- of Praxervation. In particular, Bilby as need be” (Bilby, “Modernity” 276).
munity whose people and needs have examines some of the implications An even more direct thread can be seen by
Implementation
looking at the transition from Kumina believe this re-interpretation of preser- Though there are numerous ap-
sessions into a new emerging ontologi- vation does is to help move us away or proaches a designer could take to test
cal musicking space which embodies the beyond the surface glow of nostalgia or or implement this theory, we will only
old but acknowledges and seeks to co- aesthetic preferences. It places us inside be looking at one - The MFLS. The
exist with the new. Hutton description the internal structure, inside the en- Musical Feedback Loop System is one
of the sound system culture and its im- gine that drives the machine. Through possible way the concept of praxerva-
pact paints a clearer picture of this idea: this sort of mechanical comprehension tion can manifest itself. The MFLS is
of the practice, one is removed from a combination of electronic transmis-
“thousands of Jamaicans constantly the role of a spectator and is instead sions of pulsations and rhythms which
journeyed into ritualized dance spac- placed in the seat of the operator, the is, in fact, a transatlantic conversation
es, to participate in a community of facilitator, the creative director. Make between people of color across the Af-
movement to sound, engendering and no mistake in thinking this a hierarchi- rican diaspora. The primary aim of this
languaging a common national emo- cal role with only one driver, for it is system is to highlight the role praxer-
tional, psychological, aesthetic ethos, in actuality very rhizomatic in nature. vation could play in a contemporary
transcending the epistemology and cultural framework, while also embod-
ontology of coloniality and its pow- ying the notion of the past and present
er to alienate subjected peoples from coexisting.
themselves, from their physicality and
metaphysicality, from the sovereignty The MFLS acts as a blueprint for these
of their imagination, from their lin- rhythmic exchanges/conversations. Al-
eality. The sound system movement though the system is designed using
seemed to be drawing on the crea- Kumina as a case study it can be ap-
tive/aesthetic traditions developed plied to almost any cultural practice
by the enslaved to forge a popular with minor tweaks.
national aesthetic modernism as Ja-
maica moved towards independence
in 1962” (Hutton, “Creative” 19)
Design + Preservation
I believe that design can, in fact, play
a crucial role in an anthropological
and sociological environment. With-
in the scope of this brief, the role of
the designer sits at the center of the
aforementioned concept of praxerva-
tion as a theoretical concept and its
physical implementation in the word.
2. Bilby, Kenneth. “Making Modernity In The Hinterlands: New Maroon Musics In The
Black Atlantic”. Popular Music, vol 19, no. 3, 2000, pp. 265-292. Cambridge
University Press (CUP), doi:10.1017/s0261143000000179.
4. Boukman Barima, Kofi. “Cutting Across Space And Time: Obeah’s Service To Jamai
ca’s Freedom Struggle In Slavery And Emancipation”. Africology: The Journal
Of Pan African Studies, vol 9, no. 4, 2016, Accessed 28 Nov 2018.
7. Hutton, Clinton. “The Creative Ethos Of The African Diaspora: Performance Aes
thetics And The Fight For Freedom And Identity”. Caribbean Quarterly, vol 53,
no. 1-2, 2007, pp. 127-149. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/00086495.2007.
11672312.