'The next Minshall'

NAZMA MULLER Sunday, March 1st 2009

don't let the mas die: Brian McFarlane Q: How do you feel about being called an imitation Minshall? Just this morning, Rachel Price was on the radio talking about you. She said, "Ah not ponging Mac Farlane, eh, but we've seen all this before " and she talked about Minshall's "Tiger Tiger Burning Bright" and A: Well, you can't escape that. I didn't think the lion looked anything like "Tiger Tiger". However, everybody has their own view on a topic. Yes, we may have had Africa in 1967 from George Bailey. But a lot of people haven't seen it. I was only three or four years old myself. The time was right for it again, what with Obama becoming the first black president. And it was right for me because while all the other bands were suffering with low sales, we had no problems. This was our biggest year ever. So you made some money then? Making money off of this band is extremely difficult, and I haven't really made money. A lot of people think, "How could that be true, and you continue doing it?" My brother and I argue about this all the time-he's the financial person in the ongoing business of MacFarlane Designs. In 2007, we lost a lot of money with India-it cost more than $4 million to produce that band. This year's band took about $2.8 million to produce. The market that wants to play full-costume theatrical mas is a very limited one-maybe 1,000 to 1,400 people.... Last year was the first year we kind of broke even with Earth. I'm hoping we make a little money this year. Maybe, as a people, we're dying for some theatre in our lives I think we are. There're so many people who are playing with the other bands who come through here prior to Carnival, and they will say, I not playing in this, you know. I like my skimpy costume. But I have to come and see what you doing. I'll never forget last year when we came out from behind Piccadilly, I think it was either Tribe or Island People, and we had to wait for them to pass. And as they were passing, they kept stopping and congregating in front of us, and out of their bikini bottoms or wherever they were pulling out their cameras and taking pictures of us, and their security had to keep pushing them to get them to go. Just to go back to Rachel Price, who is my good friend: You say you've seen the mas with Minshall. You've seen theatre with Minshall . I don't think anybody could have looked at the band and said they saw Minshall's costumes. The band was not repetitious of Minshall at all. And they were very true to form and authentic of Africa. [He relates the story of meeting a contingent from the South Africa 2010 World Cup committee, who were here to do research on making mas for the opening ceremony. They had heard about his band and came to the mas camp ] One of the men wouldn't let go of my hand. He kept saying, "You have honoured Africa so much." I met some African women on the road, and they had tears in their eyes. They said, "You have done Africa so proud. Everything is so authentic, so correct." I think the criticism of you as a Minshall rip-off may be just ignorance, in a sense, because what Minshall was doing was theatre, and now you're doing theatre, and people just put the both of you in a category. If he was still bringing out mas, they wouldn't call you a Minshall wannabe; they would be seeing the both of you side by side, and that would just be fantastic. Correct. And I often say it would be wonderful if one year Minshall and I did do something together. I think it would be incredible for the art and culture of Trinidad and Tobago, and I think the people would respect it so much. Has Minshall ever said anything to you about carrying on the theatre tradition, doing his kind of mas? No. actually, no. However, I continue to always give him the greatest honour and respect. He has put so much into the mas, and injected so much into the culture. I haven't heard from him for quite a while, actually. But Wayne Berkeley came to visit my camp just before Carnival and congratulated me. And then I met him backstage at the Kings and Queens (competition), and he complimented me on the king and queen. And I felt very humbled and honoured by that. But really, there's no competition in your category Well, it starts to look like there's no competition at this rate. I was told last night by a very good friend to stop knocking the beads and the bikinis. I'm not against people having a fun time-that's wonderful. Sometimes, in school you have somebody to make jokes off their head. I find that while we're doing that, we're having fun at our own expense. Because our culture is dying. [He describes Barbados' different festivals, and suggests we should follow their example of separating "bikini mas" from their traditional carnival.] So it's not that I'm against the people with the beads-and-bikini mas-I have a lot of friends who play in beads and bikinis. But I just feel, maybe, it should be at another time. Or, maybe, there should be more incentives put in by the Government for the people who really project the mas, so there will be more incentives for those who want to put out more. Maybe more money, a couple million dollars as the first prize What's your background in design and art? Nil. I went to St Anthony's College. I left in Form 3, just totally frustrated. I was quite sickly as a child. I suffered with serious allergy attacks which would keep me at least a week, a month away from school, with extremely high fever. They couldn't find out what was wrong with me, and my parents took me away. I never had any formal training. When I came out of school-I left at the age of 15-I immediately applied through some friends to Miami Dade College to do design. I sent a few pieces of art that I had done. I was accepted, but unfortunately, my parents couldn't afford to send me. So that was out. I just tried on my own. I got involved working voluntarily with Raoul Garib's mas camp, and after two weeks, the designer, Chris Santos, who is a good friend of mine, said, "You know, you have such a great talent for colours and fabric and a good eye for design," and they put me to work with the kings and queens and bigger costumes. I met someone at the mas camp who used to do wedding cakes. I used to lime by them after hours, and after three months-he never showed me how to ice a cake, but I picked it up and I did my sister's wedding cake which was fabulous. And then I started a whole career doing wedding cakes and that also took off in a great way. I hosted an exhibition in 1993, in West Mall, of wedding cakes. Everybody was overwhelmed by the whole setting, and the management asked me to put in a proposal for Christmas the following year, and since then, I've never stopped. Every year I've been doing malls. Not only in Trinidad but in Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Lucia. I just went from one thing to the other, so it was all self-taught, from books But I keep saying it is a God-given talent, and I'm aware of that. There's no doubt about it. What's happened to your past kings and queens? They've all been dismantled. There's nowhere to store them. It is a tragedy. By now, Trinidad and Tobago should be hosting a huge warehouse/museum-type thing that holds these things. Well, there are a lot of things that are sad about our culture. I am longing to have a meeting with Mr Chin Lee and the minister of Culture-she seemed very enthused by a lot of my ideas when we met before Carnival. And we need to come off the street. Actually, you will be the first person to hear this, but I have no intention of going back around the Savannah like we did this year. I've done it, I've made the hat-trick, I'm not doing it again because I think it is deplorable. I think it is an insult to the art and culture. When I came off the stage, I was so angry, so irate. All the media from all over the world and the local media were all around me, and I just let loose about how ridiculous this facility is, and what an insult it is-not only to me but to everybody. The man in the street can't see properly, only a select few get the seats to see it. All this media and they had nowhere to go. We're told we're not allowed to go back in the Savannah. But I'm saying now, we want the Savannah back. The Savannah was given to the people by the Pasche family. It was not given to the Government-it was given to the people of Trinidad and Tobago. And this is our art form, and we want to go back in the Savannah . And if they don't give us it back, I will find somewhere else to project my mas. What are you coming up with to wow Obama? We're doing the cultural opening and closing ceremony at the Summit of the Americas. The cultural part speaks of us as a people and a nation, and it all speaks of the Caribbean as a unit. So I'm hoping to involve artistes from the Caribbean as well, once the budget permits. You've had an inspiration for next year's band? Oh yes, yes, yes. I'm not going to tell you [he laughs] but it's coming back home. It's going to be local. I always try to do a very unique and different launch. This year, our launch was at 5.30 in the morning in Chaguaramas, and people came out. We had 120-something media from all over the world-it was excellent, fabulous. I'm thinking of doing it next year in Tobago. Not as early as 5.30 .[he smiles] We did it on San Fernando Hill last year for global warming because I wanted to bring recognition to what had happened to that hill since the 1800s when it was being destroyed. And taking it to South, I think it's only fitting that I should take it to Tobago. You are so different in the sense that you take on this culture, and you pushing it and you fighting for it... [He laughs] That's funny. It's a bit unusual in that sense. Same thing with Minshall. Which is why I think people also compare you. Coming back to the Minshall thing people compare, and you asked me if it bothers me to be dubbed another Minshall. There are two ways to look at that. It's a great honour to be called another Minshall. But at the same time, it's always nice to know that you are your own person. And people are beginning to recognise me for who I am. Yes, you may say I'm another Minshall because there's nobody else doing what Minshall did. And who else do you compare me with? You can't compare me with Tribe or Island People and Harts. So who else you compare me with? I'm not saying I'm the only person doing the theatre. Frank Reid is still doing the Red Indians and Jab Molassies. I remember seeing five Indians coming off the stage and I went and shook their hands. I told them, "Don't ever let it die." We need that to continue. That is what Carnival is. express

MAC FARLANE'S AFRICA IS BAND OF THE YEAR 2009

HAS MAC FARLANE DONE IT AGAIN?

Praise for ‘Out of Africa’

By Gary Darmanie Wednesday, February 25 2009

Defending Large Band of the Year leader Brian Mac Farlane appears set to make it three victories in a row with his historical presentation Out Of Africa.

In stark contrast to the feathers, bikinis and bright colours of other popular large bands, Mac Farlane used more subtle tones of browns and reds, black and white with a dash of stronger hues in his costumes which provided spectators with a visual

 relief from the wining frenzy. They showed their appreciation at South Quay, Queen’s Park Savannah and other judging points in Port-of-Spain with loud applause for the portrayal which looked at the ancient tribes of Africa. 

His masquerade featured huge masks, painted faces, huge skirts and spears as he captured the spirit of the Zulus, Masai warriors and desert dwellers of North Africa. Sections included the “JuJu Priestess”, the “Elephant Masked Dancers” (with their personalised African dance to cross the stage), “the Corbeaux”, the “Marriage of the Rashida Bride and Groom” and the “Black and White Zulu”.                                                                

Mac Farlane however saved the best for last, as the final sections showcased large khaki-coloured costumes with black paintings displaying “Africa, her people, her glory, her tears.” The masqueraders in this section were only women. The faces painted on the costumes were those of orphans whose parents died from Aids, reflecting Mac Farlane’s message about the high rate of HIV/Aids in sub-Saharan Africa. These portraits were painted by children from the St Michael’s Home, the Cyril Ross Nursery and the St Jude’s Home for Girls.

Mac Farlane told Newsday at South Quay yesterday that his inspiration for the band came from God and from the fact that “we are living in an empty society and need values and discipline as a nation.” 

He added that Out of Africa was also perfectly timed since South Africa will host the football World Cup 2010 in South Africa and given that the United States now has its first African- American president, Barack Obama. The slowdown in the economy did not affect Mac Farlane as he was able to attract 1,200 masqueraders the largest his band has ever been. Mac Farlane won the Band of the Year title in 2007 and last year with the presentations’ “Earth” and “India” and expressed confidence that he can make three in a row this year.

NEWSDAY

AFRICA HER PEOPLE HER GLORY HER TEARS. MacFarlane 2009

It was inevitable the creative juggernaut that is Brian McFarlane, would have turned his attention to the black continent and mother of all civilisation that is Africa.

From his first band, the medium band of the year ‘The washing by Fire by water’ in 05, all Mc Farlane’s presentations (06, Treads of Joy, 07India, and 2008’s Earth), have established, McFarlane, as the latest master of the art form (mas).

Many critics of MacFarlane have accused him of bringing nothing new to mas, they say that he is only, ‘following the footsteps’ of Peter Minshall, I can’t deny, that I too have looked at MacFarlane’s past works and found many similarities between his, and that of Minshalls.

Whatever the similarities are, between Minshall and MacFarlane, it is with his 2009 presentation of ‘Africa, her people her Glory, her Tears’, that MacFarlane has stepped out of the shadow that Peter Minshall’s style and celebrated contribution to Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival has cast over the Carnival, since the late 1970’s.

Not since the genius of the legendary late George Bailey has a band leader taken on the challenge of portraying Africa, or at least aspects of Africa on the streets of Port of Spain, in the detail that McFarlane is undertaking.

It was in fact Bailey in 1957 at the age of 21 who designed and presented ‘Back to Africa’, “...perhaps the most celebrated band in the history of modern Carnival, winning the 1957 band of the year award. With this single presentation, Bailey changed popular perceptions of Africa, history, and Carnival itself.”

With one presentation Bailey forced Trinidadians to see Africa not as the dark, mysterious, cannibalistic land that colonialism and plantation racism lead them to believe, but a continent history and culture that contained royalty and splendour that equalled that of Europe.

Take a look at the record books yourself, after George Bailey won band of the year awards with African themes in 1957 and then 1969 with ‘Brightest Africa’ not one other designer or bandleader has been able to win the coveted title with an African theme.

Even the big names of big bands that dominated the last quarter of the 20^th century, a period that was, it can be argued, the pinnacle of Trinidad Carnival’s creativity, did not even accept the challenge of presenting African themed mas directly.

Why?

Africa is a challenge, it is the second biggest continent on the planet, and made up of about 53 countries, and almost countless tribes, languages, histories, religions, and art forms, for any bandleader to, take on the challenge of Africa to any dept could take a trilogy.

And while medium and small bands may have taken on Africa over the years, it is the big presentations that grasp the attention of the Carnival world.

So it is at this junction that McFarlane has chosen the road less travelled. Minshall has never gone deep into the subject but has used African themes and concepts in his presentations, so Macfarlane is now in Bailey territory.

The band seems to be structured around a story of a woman that travels through time (or the spirit world) in search of a tale for her children, it is during this journey she meets a King and Queen (the first ancestors?) who offer her stories in exchange for a look at the future of their descendants, a future eventually destroyed by disease and death.

The story is a modified version of ‘where stories come from’ a traditional South African story about the origins of tales, MacFarlane’s version readapted for the presentation seems to examine Africa’s past, sad present, and dismal future, with characters i.e. the bird ‘manzandaba’ the King and Queen possible main characters or individuals for the road.

The sections of the band seem to be recreations of actual traditional African costumes, from all over the continent. According to a mas man friend of mine, “...is like he open a book on Africa...”In doing this Macfarlane, can be said to be paying tribute to the old school, and their traditions of the near perfect portrayal, like the Master George Bailey did in the 50’s and 60’s “… George thoroughly researched his portrayals and came as close to the original living thing as was possible.”

Africa her people her glory her tears, in 19 sections can only skim the surface of Africa, Macfarlane attempts by presenting tribes from as far north as Morocco to South Africa, in the south to give us a peek of Africa’s people, the story line will no doubt tell of just some of her many, many tears, and hopefully, the visual magnificence of the entire band will give us a tiny glimpse of her glory.

MacFarlane is without a doubt the high priest of 21^st Century Mas. Every one of his presentations to date have been a visual spectacular, from the drawing board to the streets, his band launches alone make his Mas an almost religious experience. But I can’t help feeling that he is two decades too late, had Macfarlane been on the streets when names like Minshall, Berkley, Lee Hueng, Harts, and Garib, filled the streets, I feel his contributions would make more of an impact on the society.

Today MacFarlane is more or less in a league of his own, the only heavyweight in the heavyweight division, the only Mas band in a Carnival of blind fantasy. It is this absence of a main rival, a ‘Frazer to his Ali’, that makes, Africa is an impressive band but not an explosive band, I believe, that if Macfarlane did have a great rival to contend with, his 2009 presentation of Africa could be as legendary as Bailey’s.

All said and done MacFarlane’s Africa is a sure bet for another band of the year title in 09 in fact the first decade of the 21^st century may come to be known to future generations as the MacFarlane era.

Take a look at the original story.

MacFarlane launches ‘Africa’ 2009

Well Saucy and Afrochic beat the rest of the world to the punch with their preliminary coverage on Mac Farlane's AFRICA launch the Trinidad Newsday gives us some more insight to the theme.

Band Leader and designer Brian Mac Farlane launched the costume collection for his Carnival 2009 presentation “Africa, Her People, Her Glory, Her Tears”, at the stroke of dawn yesterday morning against the forested backdrop of Edith Falls Trail in Chaguaramas.

It’s the story of one African woman named Manzandaba who set off on the back of a great bird and travelled across to the spirit world in search of stories to bring back to her children. The stories are about the ceremonies, traditions and family life from the age when First Man and First Woman walked the Earth. In return for those stories from the King and Queen of the Spirit People, they asked her for a picture of the future. 

What she saw was a morbid glimpse of the disease and destruction yet to come and umillo (a fire) that devoured the people and the villages. 

Her husband Zenzele creates a painting of an Africa rich with traditions and bleak future with a generation of lost children. The terrifying picture causes the King and Queen of the Spirit People to fall silent and become sombre. But they reward Manzandaba with a shell that whispers stories and a necklace of lion’s teeth to thank Zenzele. 

The sections of “Africa, Her People, Her Glory, Her Tears” were revealed at a location that was kept secret until yesterday morning, where persons adorned in body paint, patterned clothing and headpieces made from dried palm leaves paraded with paintings of the costumes. 

There are 19 sections to the band. 

The costumes are created from natural materials that echo the African theme with masks, feather headdresses, leather, talismans, cotton tunics, woven and wrapped skirts and pants. The costumes move and flow with the masqueraders’ motions and balloon and come alive in the wind.