A petition launched by Black Music Research Unit (BMRU) calls for the establishment of a permanent exhibition dedicated to the recognition and celebration of African and Caribbean music and performances and their contribution to shaping British culture, as well as the integration of the topic into the school curriculum.
The BMRU points to the influence of Black British Music in contributing to the national economy, shaping global music trends, and as a force for social change. They equally highlight growing interest in the subject by referencing recent and upcoming exhibitions on Black British music, including Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music at the British Library (co-curated by Mykaell Ryley, director of the BMRU; 2024), 2 Tone: Lives & Legacies at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, and The Music Is Black: A British Story, the inaugural exhibition of the V&A East, set to open in 2025.
The petition has been signed by artists, musicians and writers including Sonia Boyce, Jazzie B, George the Poet and Paul Gilroy, author of The Black Atlantic (1993).
Gilroy has suggested that the exhibition should be funded by those working in the private sector who have profited from Black British and Caribbean music. ‘I don’t understand why the resources are all being squeezed out of the state, when actually there’s private sector resources, people like Richard Branson, people like Chris Blackwell, whose company has made enormous amounts of capital out of Black British music production and Caribbean music production’, he told the Guardian.
Branson is the co-founder of Virgin Records, one of the first labels to support reggae artists in the UK. Blackwell is the co-founder of Island Records, a record label initially based in Jamaica that signed numerous reggae artists including Bob Marley. Both labels are now part of the Universal Music Group.
