A collaboration between the National Windrush Museum and City St George’s, University of London
Chaired by Dr Les Johnson, Founder & Chair, National Windrush Museum
Tuesday 24 November 2026, 6.00–8.30 pm
Doors open at 5.30 pm
National Maritime Museum
Romney Road, Greenwich, London SE10 9NF
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This event will be hybrid. Please complete the relevant form to attend either in-person or online:
About the Event
The National Windrush Museum (NWM) and City St George’s, University of London invite you to an evening celebrating the launch of A Digital Atlas of Jamaican Music in London and Windrush Cultural Heritage.
Initiated by Professor Enrico Bonadio and David Katz, the Digital Atlas brings together academic research, cultural knowledge, community memory, archival material and digital mapping to document the extraordinary contribution Jamaican music has made to London and to Britain's wider Windrush story.
The project maps venues, sound systems, record shops, recording studios, clubs, performance spaces and other cultural locations through which Jamaican music travelled, developed and helped transform British culture.
By connecting places with people, music, memories and histories, the Atlas seeks to preserve an important but sometimes under-documented dimension of Britain's musical and Windrush heritage.
The Atlas is conceived not simply as a digital map, but as a growing public digital heritage resource through which researchers, communities, musicians, cultural institutions and future generations can explore the people, places, stories and networks behind Jamaican music in Britain.
The collaboration between City St George’s and the National Windrush Museum brings together complementary expertise in academic research, digital scholarship, music and cultural studies, Windrush heritage, community knowledge, oral history, collections and public engagement.
The launch at NWM provides an opportunity both to present the first stage of the Digital Atlas and to explore its future development as a significant resource for researching, collecting, mapping and interpreting Jamaican music and Windrush heritage on the global stage.
Programme
5.30 pm — Doors Open
Guests are invited to gather in the Museum café.
6.00 pm — Chair's Welcome and Introduction
Dr Les Johnson, Founder & Chair, National Windrush Museum
6.15 pm — Presentation: A Digital Atlas of Jamaican Music in London and Windrush Cultural Heritage
Professor Enrico Bonadio and David Katz
6.45 pm — Panel Discussion
Mapping Jamaican Music and Windrush Heritage
Chair: Dr Les Johnson
Panel:
- Professor Enrico Bonadio — Project Curator
- David Katz — Project Curator
- Professor Julian Henriques
- Professor Mykaell Riley MBE
- Professor William "Lez" Henry
- Dr Dennis Howard — online
- Professor Sonjah Stanley Niaah — online
An interdisciplinary conversation exploring reggae, sound-system and sound-clash culture, musical creativity, migration, memory, technology, entrepreneurship and place. The panel will consider how Jamaican music travelled through Britain; the musicians, communities, businesses and cultural spaces that sustained it; and how universities, museums, archives, researchers and communities can collaborate to document this history.
The discussion will also examine the role of digital media in preserving Black popular culture and consider how mapping might help reveal connections between music, migration, cultural innovation and the Windrush experience.
Finally, the panel will consider the future of the Digital Atlas and its potential development as a growing national and international research and public-history resource.
7.30 pm — Audience Questions and Discussion
Chaired by Dr Les Johnson
Audience members will be invited to contribute memories, identify people, places and stories that should become part of the developing Atlas, and discuss opportunities for future research and collaboration.
8.00 pm — Chair's Closing Remarks
8.00 pm — Networking
8.30 pm — Close
Speakers
Dr Les Johnson — Chair of the Event
Dr Les Johnson is Founder and Chair of the National Windrush Museum. He is a global reggae scholar and convenor of the Black Popular Culture Research Group at Birmingham City University. He chairs the MOU Windrush Research Group at the University of
Greenwich and University of the West Indies (UWI).
Professor Enrico Bonadio
Enrico Bonadio is Professor of Intellectual Property Law at City St George’s, University of London. His research examines intellectual property, copyright and music borrowing, including remix, reuse and the collective creative processes that have shaped Jamaican music.
David Katz
David Katz is an author, documentary producer and reggae DJ whose work focuses on the music and culture of Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. His books include People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee "Scratch" Perry and Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae.
Professor Julian Henriques
Julian Henriques is Professor of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. His research explores sound-system culture, sonic media, technology and street culture. He is also a filmmaker and sound artist.
Professor Mykaell Riley MBE
Mykaell Riley is Professor of Black Music at the University of Westminster and Director of its Black Music Research Unit. A founding member of Steel Pulse, he is also a producer and was lead researcher on the Bass Culture project.
Professor William "Lez" Henry
William "Lez" Henry is a criminologist, sociologist, writer, poet and cultural commentator whose work examines race, Black diasporic experience and reggae culture in Britain. Also known as pioneering British reggae-dancehall deejay Lezlee Lyrix, he has written about
mapping reggae history in South-East London.
Dr Dennis Howard
Dennis Howard is a lecturer, ethnomusicologist, cultural-policy specialist and creative industries strategist at the University of the West Indies, Mona. His research focuses particularly on Jamaican popular-music production and the creative industries.
Professor Sonjah Stanley Niaah
Sonjah Stanley Niaah is Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies, ona, and Director of its Centre for Reparation Research. She is internationally recognised for her work on dancehall, popular culture, Black Atlantic performance and reparatory
justice.
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