News Archive - Jukebox Collective

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Learn about Ludo, the classic family board game, loved by African and diaspora communities all over the world

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Ludo, though originally invented in India as Pachisi, has become deeply embedded in Jamaican culture across generations and communities.

In Jamaica, Ludo evolved from a simple family board game into a competitive, communal activity, especially popular in homes, street corners, bars, and during social gatherings. People of all ages engage in Ludo, creating a space for conversations, jokes, and friendly rivalries.

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cultural influence

Ludo is a social game, bringing together friends & family.

Homemade Ludo boards are creatively hand-painted on tabletops, wood, or cardboard, showing the resourcefulness and creativity of Jamaican culture.

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in jamaican daily life

Whether played in a shop yard in Kingston or a quiet countryside veranda, Ludo in Jamaica is a cultural ritual that everyone can enjoy

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craft your own ludo board

Hosted by The Real Ting, join us on Sun 29 June 2025 to design your own Ludi board, expressing your unique cultural heritage.

In this workshop, groups of 2-3, will have the chance to customise their own boards, bringing to them their unique culture and creativity. All materials will be provided.

This workshop is curated by Jukebox Collective and delivered as a part of our partnership with SSAP for Jamii Day, a Black-led family event bringing our multigenerational community together to celebrate health, culture and wellness.

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Dive into the heart of Jamaican cuisine and learn about the origins, traditions and importance of Jerk

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the origins of jerk

Jerk chicken is at the heart of Jamaican cuisine with deep roots in the island’s cultural history. Its origins trace back to the Maroons—descendants of Africans who escaped slavery and formed independent communities in Jamaica’s inland mountainous regions after fleeing Spanish and later British colonisers in the 17th century. These resilient communities developed the “jerk” method as a practical and nourishing way to preserve and cook wild game.

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who are the maroons?

The Maroons of Jamaica were freedom fighters who resisted and fought against colonial oppression. Their knowledge of the terrain, guerrilla warfare tactics, and determination made them formidable opponents and symbols of Black resistance. Through decades of rebellion and negotiation, the Maroons forced the British into peace treaties that granted them autonomy. Their courage not only preserved their own freedom but also inspired broader resistance movements, contributing significantly to the eventual abolition of slavery in the Caribbean. The Maroons remain a powerful testament to the fight for freedom and the enduring legacy of Black liberation.

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the traditional jerk method

Jerk cooking continued to evolve uniquely in Jamaica through the fusion of African and Taíno (the indigenous people of Jamaica) culinary traditions. The original jerk technique involved slow-cooking meat over pimento wood (from the allspice tree) in a pit fire, which infused it with a smoky, aromatic flavor. The Maroons would season the meat heavily with local herbs and spices, then wrap it in leaves and cook it underground—a method that allowed them to prepare meals discreetly while evading colonisers.

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roots & resilience

Jerk chicken tells the story of survival, it represents resistance, ingenuity, and tradition. From its Maroon origins to its modern presence at street stalls and global restaurants, jerk embodies the adaptability and spirit of Jamaican identity. It stands as a symbol of Afro-Caribbean resilience that is celebrated globally. In Jamaica, it remains a beloved national dish, often enjoyed at get-togethers, family yards, street stalls, and events.

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make your own jerk merinade

Join The Real Ting on 29 June 2025 at Grange Pavilion, Cardiff to make your own authentic Jamaican Jerk marinade

Learn about the ingredients, make a blend to take home & finish with a taste of jerk chicken fresh from the jerk pan!

Curated by Jukebox Collective and delivered in partnership with SSAP as a part of Jamii. Creative wellness workshops for African & Caribbean diaspora communities in Cardiff

Limited number of spaces available. Sign up on the day for your slot.

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Black-led family event bringing our multigenerational community together to celebrate health, culture and wellness.

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Jamii Day is a black-led family event bringing our multigenerational community together to celebrate health, culture and wellness.

Expect a mix of peer-led and culturally relevant health, fitness and wellbeing activities, led by facilitators from within our communities. From movement sessions, mindful workshops to performances, Jamii Day shares positive, accessible ways for our people to get together & shape holistic experiences.

Taking place on Sun 29 June 2025 from 11am to 5pm at Grange Pavilion, Cardiff

This all day event is Free to attend and welcomes all ages!

Expect a mix of peer-led and culturally relevant health, fitness and wellbeing activities, led by facilitators from within our communities. From movement sessions, mindful workshops to performances, Jamii Day champions positive, accessible ways for our people to strengthen their mental health, wellbeing and sense of identity.

Reserve your free tickets here!

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jukebox community stage

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Jukebox Community Stage

Featuring Performances, Ludo workshop, Jerk workshop and social dance curated by Jukebox Collective. Yoga, fitness and mental health activities curated by SSAP.

12pm – Dance Performances
3pm – Community Dance Social with Treu Beatz
4pm – Battles

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make your own jerk marinade

Join The Real Ting on 29 June 2025 at Grange Pavilion, Cardiff to make your own authentic Jamaican Jerk marinade

Learn about the ingredients, make a blend to take home & finish with a taste of jerk chicken fresh from the jerk pan!

Curated by Jukebox Collective and delivered in partnership with SSAP as a part of Jamii. Creative wellness workshops for African & Caribbean diaspora communities in Cardiff

Limited number of spaces available. Sign up on the day for your slot.

craft your own ludo board

Hosted by The Real Ting, join us on Sun 29 June 2025 to design your own Ludi board, expressing your unique cultural heritage.

In this workshop, groups of 2-3, will have the chance to customise their own boards, bringing to them their unique culture and creativity. All materials will be provided.

our partners

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Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel (SSAP) was formed in 2009 when a number of African diaspora groups in Wales met to consider how they might collectively advance their common interest in local issues affecting African communities in Wales as well as those in Africa. They apply lived experience, skills, capacity and knowledge found within Welsh African diaspora communities.

This project is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and led by SSAP. In partnership with Soul Connect and North Wales African Society

Read about our past Jamii workshops

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Curated work opportunities for Welsh creatives in music, production, project management, and more!

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Digital Content Creator – S4C

S4C seeks a bilingual digital creator to produce compelling content for YouTube and social media.

Find more info here

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Creative Steps Enabler

Join Arts Council Wales to help deliver a funding programme focused on increasing diversity in the arts.

Find more info here

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Arts Development Enabler

Develop arts sector knowledge while supporting delivery teams at Arts Council Wales.

Find more info here

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Technical Apprentice (Stage Bias)

Wales Millennium Centre offers a hands-on apprenticeship for future stage tech professionals.

Find more info here

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Marketing and Communications Manager

Lead creative communications for NoFit State Circus and grow its reach and impact.

Find more info here

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Project Manager – Live Music Now

Help deliver music-based projects and fundraising for one of the UK’s most respected arts charities.

Find more info here

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Project Management Officer – Arts Council Wales

Lead internal project planning and delivery in a key strategic role at Arts Council Wales.

Find more info here

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Fundraising Assistant – Chapter Arts Centre

Support the fundraising team at Chapter to help meet annual targets and build donor relationships.

Find more info here

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Creative Youth Producer – Common Wealth

Join a new youth arts and activism project in Cardiff, supporting working-class young people.

Find more info here

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We know looking for creative work opportunities can be long! Subscribe to our newsletter to get this curated monthly round-up delivered to your inbox eepurl.com/dNIjpQ

Need support with an opportunity?

Drop us an email, we’re happy to help you get started or give some feedback on an ongoing application. We’ve worked with creatives to develop grant applications for performance, music, literature, dance, community projects and so much more!

Cover image: Public Interest – Common Wealth

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Honouring the late Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh, a visionary that reshaped global art through African perspectives

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This African Liberation Day, we honour visionary Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh, who reshaped global narratives of liberation through culture and art.

Throughout her career, Kouoh worked to centre African perspectives within contemporary art. Through her exhibitions, institutional leadership, and mentorship of emerging artists and curators, she remained steadfast in her belief that African art must speak in its own language.

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Born in Douala, Cameroon in 1967 and raised in Switzerland, Kouoh came to curating through activism, publishing, and organising. In 2008, she founded RAW Material Company in Dakar, which quickly became one of the continent’s most influential independent art spaces, a place for radical thought, artistic experimentation, and community.

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In 2019, she became the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town. Under her leadership, the museum shifted from a contested institution to a vital cultural space, with programming that challenged reductive understandings of African art and opened up richer, more nuanced conversations.

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One of her most celebrated exhibitions, When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting, embodied this approach. First shown at Zeitz MOCAA and currently at Bozar in Brussels, the exhibition traces 100 years of Black self-representation in painting, weaving together themes of joy, love, spirituality, and resistance.

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“Liberation is not an act of charity. It’s a process of unlearning the assumptions of others, of reclaiming authorship, and shaping the narrative on your own terms.” said Koyo Kouoh

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As part of the Bozar programme, Jukebox Collective was invited to share short film Of Us, alongside a live performance, directed by Liara Barussi. Rooted in the history of Tiger Bay in Cardiff, one of the UK’s oldest Black communities, Of Us translates lived stories into movement, honouring inherited memory, African heritage and traditions carried across the ocean.

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Across every project, Kouoh remained consistent in her message: African art is central to the global story. Whether as the General Commissioner for the 2026 Venice Biennale or creating platforms for artists across Africa and its diaspora, she redefined institutions from within, demanded new frames of reference, and opened doors for generations to come.

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Curated creative opportunities for Welsh artists and creatives in film, music, performance, photography, mentorships, visual art and more!

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The Young Black Filmmakers Fund

The Young Black Filmmakers Fund is now accepting submissions from Black filmmakers ready to take their career to the next level.
Open to UK-based Black Writers, Directors/Producers aged 18–30

Find out more here

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Welsh Art on the World Stage: Venice Biennale 2026

Arts Council of Wales is seeking proposals to represent Wales at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
Open to Wales-based visual arts organisations

Find out more here

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Sinema Cymru: Welsh Language Film Funding

Funding available to support Welsh-language feature films with international and big-screen potential.
Open to experienced filmmakers across Wales

Find out more here

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Heritage Lottery Funded Commissions – Ffotogallery

Commissions for new photographic works inspired by archival materials, with a focus on inclusion and community.
Open to disabled and LGBTQ+ artists working in photography or lens-based media

Find out more here

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Mentoring Matters 2025

A mentoring scheme offering digital one-to-ones, workshops, and long-term industry support for underrepresented creatives.

Open to individuals aged 18–30 from global majority backgrounds

Find out more here

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Stanley Picker Fellowships in Design & Fine Art 2025

Two fellowships supporting contemporary creative practice with a £16,000 award and exhibition opportunity.
Open to UK-based design and fine art practitioners

Find out more here

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Underscore Cinema 2025

Grassroots film festival spotlighting working-class filmmakers through screenings and events.
Open to UK-based working-class filmmakers

Find out more here

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Help Musicians Fast Track Grants

Grants up to £5,000 to support career development for UK-based musicians.
Open to professional musicians in the UK – rolling monthly deadlines

Find out more here

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Bloedd: Reach Cymru – Creative Producer

Join a Pride-themed co-production project at the National Museum Cardiff.
Open to Welsh or Wales-based individuals aged 16–25

Find out more here

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European Year of the Normans 2027: Open Call for Projects

Funding for arts and cultural projects celebrating Norman heritage across Europe.
Open to UK-based arts organisations partnered with Normandy-based counterparts

Find out more here

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Big Splash Festival 2025: Community Callout

Wales’ largest free outdoor arts festival invites community groups and creatives to get involved.
Open to family-friendly performance groups and artists across Wales

Find out more here

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We know looking for creative opportunities can be long! Subscribe to our newsletter to get this curated monthly round-up delivered to your inbox eepurl.com/dNIjpQ

Need support with an opportunity?

Cover images: Anya Paintsil

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This St David’s Day 2025, we launched our very first online merch shop , a celebration of contemporary Welsh heritage.

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The collection is a continuation of our ffasiwn project, a creative collaboration with Bleak Fabulous that presents a reimagination of traditional Welsh costume as envisioned through the lens of Jukebox Academy.

Read more about our ffasiwn project here

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The merch collection builds on the original ffasiwn project, which first launched in 2021. For this special drop, we curated a limited-edition range featuring illustrated t-shirts, postcard packs, poster artwork, and a printed zine — each piece inspired by the original photography and creative work from the project.

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We worked with Cardiff-based Ice Cream Embroidery to produce four t-shirt designs, all featuring hand-drawn illustrations by Jukebox Academy students. Each drawing was created in direct response to imagery from the project, offering a further interpretation of Welsh identity through the eyes of young people.

Dydd Gwyl Dewi postcard packs were also released to mark this special day in Welsh tradition

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To bring the merch to life, we worked with photographer Siria Ferrer Sainz-Pardo and textile artist Ophelia Dos Santos, capturing the merch in a photoshoot at local creative studio, Teddy’s Place.

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Alongside the online shop, we partnered with St Fagans National Museum of History to launch a month-long pop-up exhibition on St David’s Day. Showcasing the imagery and merch from the project, the pop-up welcomed over 17,000 visitors throughout March.

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This project was made possible through the generous support of Amgueddfa Cymru / Museum Wales, Arts Council Wales, and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Visit the online shop here

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St Davids Day outdoor campaign reimagining Welsh traditions in partnership with buildhollywood

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This Dydd Gwyl Dewi / St David’s Day 2025, we launched an outdoor campaign reimagining Welsh traditions. The campaign was delivered in partnership with BUILDHOLLYWOOD, creative street advertising specialists that place creativity in the heart of our cities.

In collaboration with Bleak Fabulous, we launched the large-scale billboard campaign across Cardiff and Swansea, taking over 51 sites showcasing a series of editorial images created alongside the young people of Jukebox Academy.

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The collaboration, inspired by the iconic Welsh hat, saw the students rework this traditional piece with guidance from Welsh costume designer Ffian Jones.

The work was photographed by Clémentine Schneidermann and creatively directed by Charlotte James. Presenting a reimagining of traditional Welsh costume, weaving personal heritage into designs. With elements like the red woollen cloak, paisley shawl, and Pais a Betgwn creatively reworked, reflecting connections between the past and present. The result was a series of culturally resonant interpretations brought to life on BUILDHOLLYWOOD billboards.

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“This rendering of Welsh pride and identity is an editorially impressive and emotionally accomplished collaboration, showcasing the power of national identity as it really is; a movement of inclusivity, joy, and heartfelt connection.” wrote Elsa Monteith in her feature for BUILDHOLLYWOOD

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The project also ties closely to our wider body of work around identity and belonging. As explored in our latest feature with Buildhollywood “This is Wales”, the campaign builds on years of creative development with young people through our community and Academy programmes. From our base in Butetown, a historic neighbourhood once known as Tiger Bay, the same neighbourhood that inspired our short film Of Us for the British Library’s Beyond the Bassline exhibition, and where so many of our stories begin.

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These images are part of that same work. As Jukebox Collective’s Strategic Director Lauren Patterson put it,

“These visuals shouldn’t be seen as a challenge — they’re a creative interpretation of tradition. This is Wales.”

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We’re proud that we were able to showcase the work in the public sphere, on bus stops, corner walls, and across the fabric of two cities.

Huge thanks to BUILDHOLLYWOOD for sharing that vision and to all the creatives who helped bring it to life.

Find out more about our collaboration with Bleak Fabulous here

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Callout freelance project coordinator to join Jamii project team

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Call out – Freelance project coordinator

We’re looking for a freelance project coordinator to join our Jamii project team

Jamii is a series of creative workshops for African & Caribbean communities in Cardiff. Exploring wellness through music, poetry, movement & our relationship with nature and each other. Curated by Jukebox Collective and delivered in partnership with SSAP Wales

Info:

FREELANCE

2 month contract

10 days work

Immediate start

Fees based on experience

Send CV & expression of interest to lauren@jukeboxcollective.com

Application deadline: 7/5/2025

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Beyond The Bassline wins Museums + Heritage and Cultural Enterprise Awards

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Beyond the Bassline: 500 years of Black British Music has won the Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year (budget more than £80k) Award at the Museums + Heritage Awards.

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Launched in 2002, the awards are a major recognition in the museum world, celebrating projects that push the boundaries of how history and culture are shared with the public.

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The exhibition has also won Best Publication for their accompanying book Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music at the Cultural Enterprise Awards for this year. The book is edited by Paul Bradshaw and features an introduction by exhibition curators Dr. Aleema Gray and Mykaell Riley.

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This award highlights excellence in publications created by cultural organisations, and is a testament to the team’s ability to capture the spirit of the exhibition onto the written page, translating centuries of history, creativity, and resilience for audiences everywhere to experience.

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This time last year, the exhibition opened at the British Library, a historic moment as the first major exhibition to document 500 years of the rich musical journey of African and Caribbean people in Britain. Amongst the sound archives, artefacts, and performances on display, is our short film Of Us, directed by Liara Barussi.

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As the Welsh partner in the exhibition, our film shared an untold perspective into one of the UK’s oldest Black communities, based in Tiger Bay in Cardiff, and gave audiences a glimpse into an often forgotten part of Black British history.

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Thank you to Dr Aleema Grey and the British Library team for opening up this collaboration and curating an exhibition that shares the rich musical journey of African and Caribbean people in Britain. And congratulations to everyone involved, the artists, curators, researchers, and storytellers who brought it all to life.

Photos by Jim Stephenson