INSIGHT: The Brian Wong Won Interview.

I first met Brian Wong Won on line  in 2007 just before the  Mas Jumbies début of 'Diable'. When the photos of the band were released on line  the costumes spoke volumes, Wong Won managed to harness the ancestral spirit of mas and convert it into a modern if not futuristic medium for Jouvert.

Brian Wong Won.

 Since then Wong Won's Mas Jumbies have produced Jouvert presentations that all draw from periods and characters of carnival's early past, giving the band a most unique look on the road for carnival Monday mornings. Come Carnival 2013 Mas Jumbies  present 'The Posey and Bedsheet Brigade', drawing influence from probably the most volatile period period in carnival history.

 But what influenced the artist to choose Jouvert as his canvas for expression in carnival?

Will Mas Jumbies  ever become a pretty mas band?

Lets find out as INSIGHT interviews Artist, Designer, and  Jouvert Band leader, Brian Wong Won.

Interview continues here.

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MAS JUMBIES PRESENT: De Posey & Bedsheet Brigade

Brian Wong Won's Mas Jumbies  is back come J'Ouvert 2013 with "De Posey & Bedsheet Brigade".
Mas Jumbies will be drawing inspiration from the post emancipation carnivals known as the 'Jamet carnivals', where characters such as the Dame Lorine, Jab Molassie, and the Jamet, ruled the road in a Mas that was both performance and protest.

The Mas Jumbies website is now open, go see the costumes find out about the histories behind them and 'book yuh mas' with 'De Posey & Bedsheet Brigade' ! 

                                                                              http://www.masjumbies.com

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When Darkness Falls is LIVE

The Mas Jumbies  website is live !

This year the bandpays tribute to the 6 main types of Devil mas that ruled the streets of Port Of Spain in Trinidad's early carnival.

 Check it out, play ah devil mas in 2012.

http://www.masjumbies.com/

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When Darkness Falls: Mas Jumbies 2012

One word...AWESOME !

MAS JUMBIES 2012: "When Darkness Falls"

Mas Jumbies have released a sneak peek of their 'Red Devi'l section in the J'Ouvert 2012 presentation 'When Darkness Falls.' According to their blog an internet band launch is set for the 12th of November 2011.

Mas Jumbies J'Ouvert 2012: WHEN DARKNESS FALLS

Mas Jumbies  will be bringing a Devil mas for J'Ouvert 2012  with the band 'When Darkness Falls' band leader/designer Brian Wong Won released this photo of a hand crafted mask as a little preview of whats to come.

Mas Jumbies : Bourgeois: J'Ouvert 2011

Trinidad Carnival  will see Brian Wong Won's MAS JUMBIES  presentation of  'Bourgeois' hit the streets in fine style  for J'Ouvert 2011. For the past four years Mas Jumbies have been entertaining masquerades and spectators alike with some of the most creative original, historic inspired presentations seen in the 21st century to date. 

 J'Ouvert 2011's Bourgeois will follow in this modern tradition. Bourgeois is inspired by the pre-emancipation carnivals of the French plantation owners of the period (1783-1805). These pre-lentern  celebrations were exclusive to the upper and middle class French and did not include that of the African slave population, except for the privy talented few who entertained the Bourgeois at their exclusive events...

The band is made up of 7stylish sections, take a look and take your pick.

Les Dames de Bordeaux

Les Dames Vertes

Negue Jardin. Avaiable in both Male & Female versions. Crocus Bag included.

Negue Jardin (Male)

The Gentlemen of Bourbon

Les gentilshommes d'Orange (The gentlemen of Orange)

Since 2007 Mas Jumbies have dropped these jewels on the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.

2007 DIABLE.

2008 JAB.

2009 DIABOLUS IMPERIUM.

2010 L'ECHO.  

Will you be a Jewel of the Bourgeois in 2011?

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L'echo is Up

http://www.masjumbies.com/

The Mas Jumbies website is up and running .



This year they are looking back at some of the"traditional Juve Masque " of the 17th Century and creating  fashionable stylised versions of masquerade that died out by the start of the 20th Century.


This is one J'Ouvert band that I can see crossing the line from J'Ouvert to Monday & Tuesday in the future, check them out!

L'Echo des Marchandes: MAS JUMBIES J' Ouvert 2010

They were once a familiar sight in Port-of-Spain in the late 19th and early 20th century. These vendors who exclusively were women would be seen and heard peddling their various array of goods from door to door. They dressed in the fashion of a la Martiniquaise and carried trays above their heads with the different array of goods, usually sweets and sweet meats.

L'Echo des Marchandes is priced at TT$400.00 and is a women only section. It is available in 3 colours.

MAS JUMBIES J'OUVERT 2010: L'ECHO

It seems that another  theme for Carnival 2010 is the Revival of the traditions of old as  Brian Wong Won's Mas Jumbies are going to start the Carnival with their 2010 J'ouvert  presentation  L'ECHO.
A concept conceived by the designer  on ash Wednesday, L'echo  draws its inspiration from  the Carnivals before the great Canbolay Riots of 1881.

MAS JUMBIES 2009 DIABLOUS IMPERIUM

’Ouvert 2009, the streets are once again going to be populated by drunken revellers covered in mud, oil, paint, powder, and chocolate , celebrating the dawn of another carnival. Dragons, Imps, Bats, and other creatures and characters of the traditional carnivals descend from the surrounding hills, turning back the hands of time , transporting the streets of Trinidad and Tobago, if only aesthetically to the very birth of Carnival. Then out of the darkness, enters a horde of devils in an untraditional form, but in a traditional sprit, turning the streets into a Devils Realm.

The award winning band, Mas Jumbies presentation for J’Ouvert 2009, is ‘Diablous Imperium’, Latin for the Devils Realm. Designer Brian Wong Won has drawn inspiration from the Devil and Dragon bands of the early 20^th Century. To bring to streets of Port of Spain a mas they have never seen before. 

“Diablous Imperium also takes its inspiration from the paintings of the Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516). He is famous for his highly complex, imaginative and iconographic paintings of demons, half-human animals and machines. His paintings are often described as “a world of dreams and nightmares”, both profound and fantastical.”

Wong Won also draws reference to the tradition of Latin the Language of the Church in the early 20thCentury. He uses Latin names for the sections, which depict the 7 deadly sins of mankind, the theme of J’Ouvert 2009 presentation.

To date three of the seven sections have been launched.

Check them out 

Accedia Diabolus. Sloth

Invidia Diabolus. Envy:

Ira Diabolus. Anger: