PBCJ launches exhibition chronicling 100 years of audiovisual history

The Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ) has launched an exhibition chronicling 100 years of the country’s audiovisual history.

The exhibition, which covers the period 1913 to 2013, encompasses photos, images and equipment, highlighting some of the people, technology and programmes that paved the way for Jamaica’s vibrant broadcasting industry.

It may be viewed at PBCJ’s South Odeon Avenue offices in Kingston, until the end of November.

Addressing the official launch on Tuesday, November 12, PBCJ’s Chief Executive Officer, Keith Campbell, said the exhibition was the brainchild of the library staff, led by Carol Francis and Joan Andrea Hutchinson.

“They have had sleepless nights – seven days a week, almost 24/7 – to try and pull this all together. I do hope that you will enjoy the exhibition and that it will bring back memories,” he said.

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PBCJ Board Chair, Rose Bennett-Cooper, noted that the exhibition places significant focus on the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC), because of its impact on the country’s broadcasting landscape.

“We live in a techno-dominant global environment where our every action and thought is driven by and bound up in technology. One thing is clear, technology does not stand still, it is constantly evolving. What seemed like cutting edge and highly innovative technology years ago is now completely obsolete and in another 100 years, the things we celebrate as new technology will be a distant memory,” Mrs Bennett-Cooper shared.

She saluted the men and women who have contributed to Jamaica’s rich audiovisual legacy, pointing out that the nation is richer because of their work.

“Our dynamic audiovisual and broadcast legacy stands on the foundation which you helped to build. This is just a start and my hope is that in the near future, we will see an even bigger exhibition which partners with entities such as the CPTC (Creative Production and Training Centre), JIS (Jamaica Information Service), TVJ (Television Jamaica) and the National Library, collaborating to document our audiovisual journey,” Mrs Bennett-Cooper said.

Veteran broadcaster, Tony Patel, who joined the JBC in 1965, said technology has come a long way.

Patel showed the audience a 16mm film and then explained how a telecine was used to convert film images to signals for television broadcast.

He shared that in comparison to today’s technology, broadcast of the past was “primitive, but we got the job done.”

Reminiscing on the years he spent at JBC, Patel said that the first video tape recorders (VTRs) used at JBC were a gift from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to the education ministry for the purpose of recording and play back of the school broadcast each morning.

“The thing about those early VTRs is that they couldn’t edit. So when we’re recording a half an hour programme, if at 25 minutes into the programme the telecine didn’t run or the film opened, it meant we had to go back and start the programme from beginning,” he recounted.

For his part, director of the Caribbean School of Media and Communication (CARIMAC), Dr Patrick Prendergast, congratulated PBCJ on the exhibition.

“I hope the public, especially our young people, will make the time to benefit from its staging. This is not just a story of Jamaica’s print and broadcast industry and the people involved in it, but also a reflection of how our people and the region have evolved in very unique and special ways,” Dr Prendergast said.