When Bob Marley came to Aotearoa, New Zealand

44 years after Bob Marley and The Wailers came to Aotearoa, New Zealand (April 1979), a documentary in six parts is made about the visit and the enormous impact it had.

At times Marley seemed like an Old Testament prophet and at others a playful musician with a message of unity under a “Rastaman vibration”.

But he also spoke to, and for, the dispossessed, marginalised and disenfranchised in songs like the timely Get Up Stand Up “stand up for your rights”.

Over six half-hour programmes "When Bob Came" looks at the socio-political context of the time, how reggae was adopted in New Zealand as a political vehicle, Rastafarian culture in Aotearoa, marihuana (herb) (used as a sacrament in the Rastafarian faith) and the emergence of cultural pride in subsequent years.

In this video you’ll see rare clips and a rare interview from this docucumentary. Including a few words from Junior Marvin.