Exhibition curator Kwaku standing by one of two of Popsy’s Black Music exhibits.
BritishBlackMusic.com/Black Music Congress (BBM/BMC) will mark International Reggae Day (IRD) on Wednesday July 1 with a special curator’s talk and a series of events centred around the Reggae Tree in Harlesden, London, and its sister tree in Accra, Ghana.
At Harlesden Library, where The Brent Reggae Album Covers Exhibition is currently on display, historical musicologist and British Black Music Month (BBMM) convenor Kwaku will deliver a curator’s talk and presentation. Exploring the theme ‘Where Would Reggae Be On The Global Stage, If Not For Migration?’, Kwaku will examine how Caribbean migration to the UK and beyond helped spread and evolve reggae music globally. Brent, and Harlesden in particular, feature prominently in this story, alongside other key UK reggae centres such as Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Wolverhampton.
The exhibition, which ends on October 31, features reggae album covers photographed at various locations across Brent, spanning releases from 1969 to 2024. Highlights include the iconic sleeve for Carroll Thompson’s ‘Hopelessly In Love’, widely regarded as the biggest-selling lovers rock album of all time. During the talk, attendees who bring reggae vinyl records featuring covers shot in Brent will have the chance to win prizes. Selected records will be played and discussed.
Two pioneering Harlesden-based record label and record store owners whose releases feature in the exhibition will be honoured with The Brent Reggae Album Covers Award: Roy ‘Hawkeye’ Forbes-Allen, founder of Hawkeye Records and Cleveland ‘Popsy’ Deer (posthumously), the late co-founder of Starlight Records. Both stores, established in the mid-1970s, continue to trade today. The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Popsy, who died in May.
Click here to watch The Brent Reggae Album Covers Exhibition Trailer In Memory Of Popsy, to whom we’re dedicating the exhibition.
Reggae Tree Ambassador Diane Shrouder-Johnson and JV will deliver a lively music presentation in the library. Brent Mayor Cllr Amer Agha is expected to attend part of the event. Prior to the library session, the Mayor will join community activities at The Reggae Tree, located in front of the Hawkeye store on Craven Park Road. The programme includes performances by Frenchie King and the Akwaaba Drum Sistas, plus discussions on the local community, reggae culture and the environment.
The Reggae Tree was planted by BBM/BMC in partnership with Brent Council in 2018 as a living symbol of International Reggae Day’s ‘Plant A Tree’ campaign. A new stake plaque will be unveiled during the event. Organisers are still searching for the original plaque, which was removed during earlier site works. Anyone who finds it is asked to contact BBM/BMC at bbmbmc@gmail.com or Brent Museum.
All events are free and open to walk-ins. For more information and to book, visit: https://BBM.eventbrite.com.
In addition, BBM/BMC is supporting a sister celebration at The Reggae Tree Accra in Ghana’s KB Asante Memorial Park. The Ghana event will mark International Reggae Day and include the launch of Atewa Matters, a new campaign by the environmental group Eco-Conscious Citizens calling for the Atewa Forest to be declared a National Park.
