Museu do Reggae do Maranhão, Music museum in Historic Center, São Luís, Brazil
The Reggae Museum of Maranhão displays records, photographs, instruments, and memorabilia tied to the local music movement across five exhibition spaces. The collections document Caribbean musical influences and their development throughout the region.
This facility opened in January 2018 as the first reggae museum outside Jamaica. It documents how Caribbean music influences arrived and took root in the region starting in the 1970s.
São Luís residents embraced reggae through Caribbean radio signals that arrived in the 1970s via shortwave receivers, creating a strong local connection to the music. This passion led to the creation of over 200 radiola sound systems that became woven into daily life.
The venue is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 AM to 8 PM and weekends from 10 AM to 3 PM. It is located at Rua da Estrela 124 in the Historic Center, making it easy to combine with nearby attractions.
The collection holds a guitar from the band Tribo de Jah and an original radiola sound system built by Edmilson Tomé da Costa, a reggae pioneer. These pieces reveal how homemade sound systems became central to the local music scene.
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