International Cultural Custodian Professor Rex Nettleford has died Fatima Dupres- Griffiths reminds us of his extensive contribution to the globe.

Professor Rex Nettleford International Cultural Icon Died 2nd February 2010

Sadly, for the Caribbean region and internationally, Jamaican-born Professor Rex Milton Nettlford died 2nd February 2010 at the George Washington Hospital in the USA after suffering a cardiac arrest. Vice-Chancellor Emeritus at the University of the West Indies, UWI, Professor Nettleford was being treated for catastrophic brain injury. During his 76 years, he was revered globally as a cultural icon, activist, writer, choreographer, orator, celebrated curator of arts and culture, and cultural advisor to the Jamaican Prime Minister.

Born in Falmouth, Trelawny, Jamaica on February 3rd 1933, Rex Nettleford used his rural, working-class origins to fire his passion for dance and dance theory. His innovative approach to dance, viewing it as a survival tool, weapon and means of creative invention and identification of nation, assured Professor Nettleford of a permanent place in the memory of the culturally conscious. For him, knowledge could not be confined to the verbal or archival. The body and its actions were a key site of post- colonial struggle and a source of emancipatory knowledge.
According to him, the origins of this idea started during plantation slavery, which he theorised as the moment when the dance became a primary instrument of survival that furthered cultural resistance. Professor Nettleford argued in 1985, that firstly: “It, (dance) is a skill that depends on the physical and mental capabilities of the survivor. One’s body belongs to oneself, despite the laws governing chattel slavery in the English-speaking Caribbean, which until 1834 allowed a person to be the ‘property’ of another.” He further argued, that secondly: “the language by which the body expresses itself does not have to be anyone else’s language, least of all the master’s…” According to the Professor, “these strategies are crucial in a situation of pervasive dependency, where all influences are dictated by the overlord…A hold on any activity beyond the control of a cynical power is a valuable weapon of cultural self-defence.”

Professor Rex Nettleford was viewed by many as an invaluable global asset for his revolutionary input to society both practically and philosophically. Many refer to his gift of erudition: “On behalf of the local government fraternity, it is with deep regret that we mourn the passing of one of Jamaica’s erudite minds and a committed stalwart of local democracy.We celebrate his work and thank him for his legacy of leadership in enhancing Jamaica’s local government reform process.” Robert Montague, Minister of State for local government in Jamaica paid tribute to the late Professor.

However, it was his radical dance concepts that brought him to the attention of academics and dancers.“Movement in community is the place of being and becoming. It is a path to knowledge, and it is the basis on which communities of resistance can give rise to new subjects.

Dancers move in the spaces between words and in this space act to generate new ways of self-identification. Within this language of action they bring new human subjects into being.” Professor Nettleford’s commitment to imagining national community in performance and finding the strategy to bring it into existence was accompanied by an incredible record of scholarly works, notably, Mirror Mirror: Identity, Race and Protest in Jamaica (1970). This brought him unprecedented recognition as a writer who was unafraid to tackle the complexity of race and cultural identity when the subject was still taboo. He also co-authored an authoritative report on the Rastafari movement in Kingston, Jamaica. This report helped positively review the perceptions of Rastas worldwide.

Education/Background

Despite humble beginnings, Rex Nettleford achieved great academic success and recognition in the arts, especially dance, where he revolutionised practice and philosophy. He graduated from Cornwall College in Jamaica, then the UWI with an honours degree in history, and later as a Rhodes scholar from the prestigious Oxford University with a postgraduate degree in politics. He received Jamaica’s highest honour, the Order of Merit, and was the UWI vice-chancellor from 1996 to 2004. Professor Nettleford founded the National Dance Theatre Company in 1962.

He worked to create a network that brought together an amazing range of people from diverse backgrounds and institutions. He served the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, the Little Theatre Movement of Jamaica and the Institute of Jamaica. He worked so that they would serve the formation of community across the divide of class, colour, shade, education and gender.

The Professor knew a vast mix of people and disciplines like trade unions, dance, writing, anthropology, education, cultural management and social welfare. He created the conceptual brief for the schools of art, dance and drama in the 1970’s and conceptualised the curriculum of the Edna Manley College to produce what he called a cultural agent, not a conventional teacher but someone who could practise art, talk about it and teach it. This cultural agent was the antithesis of the Western idea of the individualised artist. It was an artist responsive and responsible to the community served and named, who’d develop, discuss and teach ideas about what it meant to be Caribbean, by drawing from popular forms of all kinds, interpreting, enacting and representing them in communities, theatres, cultural centres, art galleries, schools and studios.

As chair of the Council of the Institute of Jamaica, he and novelist Neville Dawes helped ensure that the research necessary to support the work of many happened. All this was part of teaching the meaning of community and citizenship. Within this vocabulary, several generations learned new forms of identification. However, ensuring that his legacy endured, Professor Nettleford created and inspired teamwork and volunteerism among colleagues and fellow artists. His strong leadership skills despite limited resources gave the cultural institutions he led a reassuring stability, and the young performers, artists and scholars who worked alongside him can never forget how the Professor challenged and motivated them to do more than they imagined possible especially in the face of adversity. Leading by example, this cultural custodian, this son of Jamaica will be missed globally. Fatima Dupres- Griffiths