Mystic Revelations of Rastafari performs at Materialising Slavery art exhibit at the National Gallery on Sunday. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

The Musgrave Awards 2007, which commemorates the bicentenary of the abolition of the transatlantic trade in Africans, will, through the Institute of Jamaica, present a special Musgrave gold medal to the Mystic Revelations of Rastafari for its role in the development of indigenous Jamaican music.

The others to be awarded include distinguished scientific researcher and Nobel prize-nominated Jamaican scientist, Professor Bertram Fraser-Reid, and Captain Barrington Irving Jr., who recently became the youngest and first black pilot to fly solo around the world.

Michael Anthony Lord, Kingsley 'Ibo' Cooper, O.D.; Phillip Supersad, Donna Scott-Mottley, Winston 'Sparrow' Martin and George Huggins are also among the awardees.

The presentation ceremony will be held at the Institute of Jamaica, 10-16 East Street, Kingston, on Wednesday, October 3, at 3:00 p.m.

Eight awards, two gold, four silver and two bronze, will be presented to individuals who have achieved excellence in their respective fields.

Musgrave Gold medal

The 2007 Musgrave Gold medal will be awarded to Fraser-Reid for his work in chemistry. Fraser- Reid is a leading research scientist, whose findings on sugar chemistry have led to several ground-breaking discoveries.

Bert Fraser-Reid is president and director of Natural Products and Glycotechnology Research Institute Inc. (NPG), a non-profit organisation located on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University.

The 2007 silver awardees are Lord for his work in architecture and theatre art, 'Ibo' Cooper for his work in music and arts management, Supersad for his work in art ceramic and Scott-Mottley for contribution to the development of culture through the use of legal skills.

Bronze awards will be presented to Martin and Huggins for their work in the development and culture of youth and music, respectively.

Captain Irving Jr., 23, is the Youth Musgrave Awardee. Captain Irving Jr. was presented the medal for distinguished eminence in the field of aviation on Friday, August 3, during a civic reception staged in his honour by the Government of Jamaica at Emancipation Park.

Inaugurated in 2001, the Youth Award is intended to recognise outstanding scholarship and creativity to persons under age 30 in a variety of disciplines. Captain Irving Jr. joins this category of accomplished achievers such as Dr. Parris Anthony Lyew-Ayee, the 2005 awardee, and Makonnen Blake Hannah, the recipient of the first Youth Musgrave Award in 2001 for excellence in the field of information technology.

The year 2007 also marks the 110th anniversary of the Musgrave Medals. The medals were first awarded in 1897 as a lasting tribute to founder of the institute and then Governor of Jamaica, Sir Anthony Musgrave, who founded the Institute of Jamaica in 1879. Past Musgrave awardees include the Honourable Mrs. Louise Bennett-Coverley, Professor the Honourable Rex Nettleford, O.M., FIJ, and the Honourable Edna Manley, O.M.

Cooper