Article

UNESCO's Transcultura programme and WOMEX lift Caribbean musicians to the global stage

For Jamaican musician Blvk H3ro, winning the UNESCO Transcultura Programme Call to perform at the Worldwide Music Expo, WOMEX, is a unique opportunity.

28 October 2021

Last update:20 April 2023

It’s an amazing honor to be recognized for the hard work we put into being ambassadors for our music and our culture. We are very excited to share our talents with the world to see!

Blvk H3ro, Jamaican musician

The young Jamaican's music proposal is the result of years of experimentation, and of his progress along the road of music, a path that he began as a singer in his church choir.

Blvk H3ro & Reggae Soul Band brings together a group of talented young Jamaican musicians handpicked by Blvk H3ro, the stage name of Hervin Bailey Jr.

In 2016, the band finished a European tour that took its members to the prestigious Reggae Jam Festival in Germany and the Reggae Geel Festival in Belgium. This year, from 29 to 31 October, they will return to Europe, this time thanks to the UNESCO Transcultura Programme initiative, which aims to provide young Caribbean artists and music professionals with new opportunities to access the international market.

Womex will be a great platform for me to showcase my talents for the world to see. After being on lock down for 18 months Reggae artists like myself have not been able to visit and/or perform for our fans in Europe. Womex would be the first time I’d be on European soil in over 3 years and will certainly be a memorable occasion performing with my full band for the first time in many years.

Blvk H3ro, Jamaican musician

In addition to the band, H3ro has acted as label ambassador for legendary names of Jamaican music, such as Bob Marley and Bunny Walker. In 2019 he released The Immortal Steppa album, which has received favourable reviews in the specialised press for its innovative spirit, able to cross the borders of Reggae as a music genre to offer a daring and diagonal proposal.

Offering opportunities for young people such as H3ro is one of the strongest motivations of the UNESCO Transcultura Programme implemented by the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, funded by the European Union and with the contribution of the UNESCO offices in the region

Thanks to this initiative, 58 applications from music professionals were subsidised by the Programme and the 4 winners have the opportunity to perform for producers, entrepreneurs and the public, as well as exchange with artists from other parts of the world in WOMEX, the greatest international music fair in the world, to be held in Porto, Portugal in October.

Accordingly, young people from 17 Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) who are part of the Programme, will be able to access opportunities that will allow them to further their careers as cultural professionals.