Mas Legend Irvin McWillams has died at the age of 87.
He was a legend in mas who's presentations were often based on themes of Trinidad and Tobago, its history and its culture.
Irvin McWilliams, 1920-2007
"Irvin “Mac” McWilliams entered the Carnival scene in 1957 with the band Cleopatra and the Kings of Europe. He continued in this vein until 1961 when he presented the band Hail La Trinity, the first Carnival band with an entirely local theme. McWilliams returned to historical and fantasy themes and for the next nine years the band of the year title eluded him. Finally, in 1971 he won with his groundbreaking Wonders of Buccoo Reef. He repeated the feat the following year with Anancy Story and again in 1978 with Know Your Country. At last, local themes were being highlighted and appreciated in the carnival arena. His presentations taught people about their culture and he was loved by masqueraders and spectators for creating mas that reflected Caribbean life.
Band of the Year Titles
1971 Wonders of Buccoo Reef
1972 Anancy Story
1978 Know Your Country"
IVAN MC WILLAMS 1920-2007
Thank you for Mas.
learn more
Guardian
Newsday
Posts
1 comment:
Fantastic memorial tribute. Respect. True artists enable us to see the complex wonders of ourselves. I really feel Trinidad and Tobago has the potential to show the world that this relatively recent melding of a cultural mesh of Carnival can move people to treat their lives as living art, with all our hopes, pain, and joy to be more humane than we were yesterday, everyday. And we renew the joyous baptism every year at Carnival. Irwin McWilliams held up such a mirror on lofty heights. Trinbagonian must always look deep in that mirror and lead, though in our epoch today, very few are really looking. Young artists must find a way to peer in the mirror again and really see the cosmopolitan people of T&T in the mas again.
Post a Comment