Reggae history and Montreal’s vibrant sound system culture will be the main focus at The String Up, a new exhibition by the Afrosonic Innovation Lab launching on Feb. 7, 2025 at the National Film Board in Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles . The exhibition will feature iPad stations with sound archives from CKUT 90.3 FM.
The String Up is a multimedia exhibition sampling elements of Montreal’s rich reggae music histories. It is designed to honour and salute the many selectahs, sound systems and deejays that have made the scene so vibrant and memorable.
Mark V. Campbell founded the Afrosonic Innovation Lab, to support other researchers at the University of Toronto studying Black music.
His main research focus at the University of Toronto is exploring the relationships between Afrosonic innovations and human notions.
“One of the reasons we’re working with sound and notions of the human is that there’s something that connects all the displaced Africans from the continent, regardless of religion, language or geography,” Campbell said.
Campbell explained that researchers are working on Cuban hip-hop, Toronto’s reggae scene, hip-hop culture, music education and other topics.
“The idea is to create a space where the researchers can flourish and where they feel welcome to ask these questions that nobody has the answer to,” Campbell said. “Only the community members know the history of Black music in Canada.”
He added that since they are screening the exhibition in Montreal, they thought it was a good opportunity to celebrate the local Montreal reggae scene and acknowledge the effort it took to sustain the Black music scene in Canada.
Campbell said he hopes the event will spark future generations’ interest in participating in their work and celebrating Black music in Montreal.
“To start to light a fire under young people who can take up the mantle of helping to make our history. So we’re not just celebrating Martin Luther King and Harriet Tubman forever. Still, people will celebrate their local heroes,” Campbell said.
More information about the event can be found at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/billets-sounds-and-pressure-le-voyage-du-reggae-au-canada-1205883944339?aff=oddtdtcreator
The short doc series can be found on Sounds & Pressure: Reggae in a Foreign Land by Chris Flanagan, Graeme Mathieson – NFB online for free at nfb.ca
