Global Treasures presents
 THE WORLD OF REGGAE AND BOB MARLEY
 an exhibition featuring
 TREASURES FROM ROGER STEFFENS’ REGGAE ARCHIVES
 TO OPEN JANUARY 20, 2001 AT THE QUEEN MARY IN LONG BEACH
 
 
 Thousands of artifacts from the rich history of Jamaican music and the 
 legendary career of Bob Marley, the King of Reggae, will go on display in a 
 unique exhibition to be housed in two buildings of the English Village at 
 the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, beginning January 20.  Selected 
 from the internationally renowned collection of reggae authority Roger 
 Steffens, the exhibition covers forty years of Jamaican musical creativity. 
 Beginning with the birth of ska in the early 1960s and moving through the 
 eras of rock steady, reggae, dub, DJ (rap), lovers rock, two-tone and ska 
 revival, dub poetry, and through the present ascendancy of dancehall and 
 raggamuffin, The World of Reggae and Bob Marley is a stunning aural and 
 visual experience, immersing the visitor in a barrage of sensations that 
 will be sure to illuminate and entertain.
 
 Presented by the exhibition management company, Global Treasures, and 
 designed and created by the Pasadena-based Curatorial Assistance, the 
 exhibition showcases nearly 1,000 individually mounted album covers and a 
 large number of 7" vinyl singles, most of them autographed by the respective 
 artists. As visitors explore some two dozen areas, musical spotlights fall 
 on the major performers. Hundreds of posters from around the world are 
 interspersed along with original photographs, fliers, t-shirts, post cards, 
 magazines, books, banners, bumper stickers, buttons, and scores of other 
 memorabilia from reggae’s most famous figures (including Joe Higgs' 
trademark red   beret).
 
 In the introductory area a film depicting the mini-history of the various 
 styles of Jamaican rhythms will be running. In the second, larger structure, 
 a spiraling series of displays leads viewers into a row of bleachers from 
 which they can view a film on the life story of Bob Marley, whose album 
 Exodus was recently chosen by Time magazine as "The Best Album of the 
 Twentieth Century."  On an adjacent wall, 144 albums depict the various 
 images by which Marley’s music has been presented to the world. Nearby, two 
 columns are filled with 160 singles by Marley and his former partners in the 
 Wailers—Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer.
 
 The spiritual underpinnings of Bob Marley and many other reggae musicians is 
 the way of life known as Rastafari, named in honor of the Emperor of 
 Ethiopia, Haile Selassie I. To its adherents, Selassie is a divine 
 incarnation, and has become an object of veneration worldwide.  A repository 
 of near-priceless objects has been loaned to the exhibition by one of the 
 world’s premier collectors of Rasta relics. These include examples of all 
 the medals worn by His Majesty on His Golden Jubilee, items from the 
 Imperial household in Addis Ababa, decorations and orders, paintings, 
 photographs, newspapers and magazines from the coronation ceremonies in 1930 
 and the subsequent Italian invasion, autographed pictures, and contemporary 
 items utilizing Selassie’s image in popular culture.
 
 Another area of the exhibition surveys the internationalization of the 
 irresistible beat of reggae, with items from France, England, Japan, Poland, 
 Nigeria, Brazil, Israel, Sweden, South Africa, and other nations in which 
 the music has gained a foothold. There are even entries from the Hopi and 
 Havasupai Indian nations of North America, cultures in which Marley is 
 regarded as a prophet.
 
 An interactive installation features computer terminals in which Roger 
 Steffens’ video interviews with various artists—including his conversations 
 with the Wailers, Peter Tosh, Bob Marley’s mother, Jimmy Cliff, Bunny 
 Wailer, and others—can be readily accessed.
 
 Throughout the year, there will be many special events with Steffens as 
 host. These include several two-day affairs on the Queen Mary that will 
 combine a Friday evening seminar with a Saturday afternoon outdoor concert 
 in the Queen Mary park. Themes include Ska, Reggae Art, Women in Reggae, and 
 a very special weekend to be held on May 11 and 12, the 20th anniversary of 
 Marley’s death. The year 2001 will also witness Marley being presented with 
 the music business’s ultimate honor, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 
 on February 21, in addition to a star on Hollywood Boulevard on February 6, 
 the 56th anniversary of his birth.
 
 Never before has there been an exhibition anywhere in the world like The 
 World of Reggae and Bob Marley. Steffens feels that his three-decade-long, 
 self-described "reggae obsession" is finally coming to fruition. "I’ve 
always wanted 
 to share the six rooms of my house that are jammed full of this incredible 
 history with the world at large. I am really grateful to Global Treasures 
 and the Queen Mary for providing me with the fulfillment of this dream of a 
 lifetime." 

ATTENTION REGGAE MEDIA, WRITERS AND DJS:
A very special press day has been set aside for Roger to guide media 
representatives, writers and disc jockeys through the exhibition. Anyone 
interested in attending this day, Wednesday, January 24, should contact:

Ms. Lovetta Kramer
VP of Public Relations at the Queen Mary
(562) 499-1620