The Reggae University, one of the fundamental pillars of the Rototom Sunsplash cultural program, celebrates its tenth anniversary.
The Reggae University has experienced growth that has brought together an increasingly numerous, prepared and participatory audience. This has made it possible that you were able expand its program with exhibitions, film screenings under the title Film Festival, seminars on the style of Rastafarian life, or ACR Meetings, by the homonymous National Association of reggae, which took off in 2010 after the festival was established in Spain. Indeed the Reggae University has become a catalyst capable of generating similar forums in Europe and even in Jamaica.
Special guests and Movies
For this the tenth anniversary of the Reggae University two special guests from world of academia will participate throughout the week. It is the professor of the University of the West Indies Carolyn Cooper, who pioneered making reggae and dancehall a field of study; and Associate Professor of Media Technology Institute Dennis Howard, who in addition to his perspective in the field of music promotion will draw on his experience in academic and policy fields.
As for the artists participating this year in the sessions meetings, among the first confirmations (more to be announced) are names such as Alborosie, Kabaka Pyramid, Freddie McGregor or Max Romeo, as well as dub producers the likes of Mad Professor, on the 40th anniversary of his label Ariwa Sounds.
This year there will be two special sessions with a focus that is linked to several of the films screened at the Film Festival, which includes eight screenings with global, international and national premieres. So, on Sunday August 14 the controversy related to the role of women in dancehall dancing will be analysed on the same day of the world premiere of ‘Brukout. A Dancehall Queen Documentary‘, which also includes scenes filmed in Spain.
In turn, the reality of the Rastafarian communities in Ethiopia, Jamaica and other parts of the world will be addressed through one session and four films. So, on Thursday 18 ‘Shashamane. On the Trail of Promise Land’ will be screened, filmed in collaboration with the Italian RAI. That same day there will also be a meeting held entitled ‘From Shashamane to Bobo Hill‘ and also to be screened is the short film ‘10 Milles Bull Bay‘, dedicated to the teachings, philosophy and lifestyle of Bobo Ashanti (one of the most important groups of the movement Rastafari).
This same theme will be addressed, on Wednesday 17, at the world premiere of the film ‘Stolen Paradise. Life in Pinnacle ‘, which tells of how was the childhood of children who lived in what was the first Jamaican Rasta community, as well as ‘Negus‘, based on the historical events dating back to the Italian occupation of Ethiopia to discuss the convergence of history, myth and magic of Haile Selassie’s legacy I; it will be the films first screening in Spain. The international premiere of ‘United for Jamaica‘ (Monday 15) on the association work of Kabba Roots to build a community centre in the Rockfort ghetto (Kingston) and display for first time in Spain, the exhibition of ‘Jah Rastafari. The Roots of Reggae ‘(Tuesday16), produced by Arte TV, due to be broadcast for the first time in English, complete the program. All films will be shown on a large LED screen.
Spanish Reggae and House of Rastafari
The Reggae Cultural Association (ACR) has prepared three of its Meetings this year. On the one hand, guests such as Green Valley and Irie Souljah will discuss their experiences abroad, in Latin America and Jamaica respectively. On the other hand, the new voices of Spanish reggae will be discussed with Alex Bass, Lasai and Yeyo Pérez, as well as the current situation of dub, together with different producers (guests be announced).
As for House of Rastafari, their collective returns to the festival in a key year for the history of the movement. That is because 2016 is the 50th anniversary of the visit to Jamaica of Haile Selassie First (Groundation Day). What was a key event in both the history of the Rastafarian faith as well as reggae. In this edition, House of Rastafari has prepared three sessions devoted to employing different perspectives to analyse the basics of foundations of the movement and the future of I-ncients, the Rastafarian elders, whose testimony and example have transmitted generation after generation the key aspects of this lifestyle, based on principles such as love, respect, spirituality and collective security.