As the Caribbean’s first UNESCO Creative City of Music, Kingston is the epicentre of Jamaican culture and is poised to be a driver of the creative economy of not only Jamaica, but the wider Caribbean region. This annual forum based in the heart of the “old city” seeks to unite the ecosystem, highlight how the Cultural and Creative industries are critical to Jamaica recovery, showcase Downtown’s historical and cultural significance and to make the case for further data-driven policy and investment in creative people.

The path to transformation of Downtown Kingston, expanded opportunities for creatives and the development of a healthy creative ecosystem has become more complex with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the importance of the cultural and creative industries to the vitality of Jamaica and the region, it is important to work toward this vision together, considering the role that technology, enabled by public-private-third sector partnerships, might play in sustaining our creatives, diversifying fragile economies and transforming Downtown Kingston into a vibrant Art District and Creative Hub.

Explore our Forum Contributors, where you can learn about each speaker,
panel and cultural practitioner that joined us in greater depth.

Meet our Partners – over 50 organisations that participated in the Kingston Culture Forum.

Performances by Sevana, Runkus, Kemoy Outar and selections from the JAFTA Propella Film series