Exhibition Information

The University (College) of the West Indies came into being in the aftermath of World War II (1939-1945), on the grounds of a military camp which had taken over the grounds of a previous civilian evacuee and refugee camp. Indeed the soldiers moved off the site at the end of 1947 to make room for the university’s advent; and the name Gibraltar Camp is still part of the UWI heritage.
One tangible artefact at the UWI Museum helps tell that story, hence its value is significant though it is one of millions produced.

“Ras Tafari came to drum beats.
The Negus
God-like on a golden lion
rode shafts of sunlight
and burnt away the rain…”
(Raymond Mair, 1966, published in ‘these days i celebrate’)
Our visiting exhibition commemorating the visit to Jamaica and other Caribbean islands by Ethopian Emperor Haile Selassie I in 1966, 50 years ago, has drawn wide-ranging interest.