TIME MACHINE: Trinidad Carnival 1995

Controversy is a tradition of Carnival in Trinidad, every year you can bet there is going to be a tune, a mas band, or a government policy, that will upset the masses and result in a rise in public opinion.

One of  the biggest controversies  of Carnival 1995 was  the Minshall vs Church  saga  when various Christian  denominations  including the Catholic Church opposed his use of the word Hallelujah  in his carnival presentation , little did we know  that some 16 years later  the Catholic Church itself will bring a mas band on the road.

Goes to show, Minshall was simply ahead of the game, and the society.

Ricardo Harewood was 'Spirit of Light' in 1995.

In 1995 Minshall’s Hallelujah won the N.C.C’s Band of the Year title. Minshall was followed by the Legend Wayne Berkley’s band Origami in 2^nd place with Richard Afong’s Barbarossa presentation ‘East of Sumatra’ coming in third.

The medium band of the year was won by Stephen Derek and D Midas Associates with Ebony and Ivory.  Jason Griffith’s ‘Shipwreck’ gained second place and ‘Total Delights’ by showcase coming in third.

The small band category was lead by Henry Ramdin and Anthony Jackman’s ‘Dakota Dog Dancers’.Neville Aming’s ‘Festival in Ethiopia’ was second , with yet another legendary name in carnival Glendon Morris’s band was third with ‘Original Stylish Sailors’

Roland St George1995 'Fury of Djarkata'

The 1995 King of Carnival title was won by Hilton Cox who portrayed ‘Mystic Dawn’ from the Stephen Lee Hung ‘Oceania’. It was the fourth title of his career.

Second place was won by Roland St George  in his portrayal ‘Fury of Djarkata.

Third place was won by the late great Tedder Eustace , who portrayed  ‘Star of wonder, Star of Light’.

The Queen of Carnival title was won by Alyson Brown who portrayed ‘Joy to the World’ from Minshall’s band Hallelujah. Anra Bobb was second with ‘Peace and Love’ she was followed up by Ira Patterson in ‘Goddess of Wisdom and Light’.

Shane Correia: King 'Carnivore'.

The Dimamanche Gras Calypso Monarch final was won by Leroy Calliste (Black Stalin). The 1995’title the fourth in his career was won with two tunes, “Tribute to Sundar Popo’ and ‘In Time’. Second place was won by Cro Cro with the Mighty Sparrow coming in third.

The Road March title OF 1995 was won by Super Blue with the soca tune ‘Signal to Lara’.

The Rest is Carnival History.

Mas Assassin out!

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Catholics to bring out mas band

Roman Catholic priest Fr Joe Harris takes a chip with Katrina Laydoo, left, Sophie Walcott, right, and Daniella Walcott as they model costumes from the Carnival band, Genesis 1—Creation. Photo: Karla Ramoo

The first mas band produced by the Roman Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago will hit the streets of Port-of-Spain come Carnival Monday and Tuesday. Genesis 1—Creation is being presented by The Word and Associates, a new mas entity made up primarily of parishioners from St Anthony’s RC Church in Petit Valley. Committee members include Derek Walcott, Felix Edinborough, veteran masman Raoul Garib and Carnival bandleader Rosalind Gabriel. The band’s designer is Lisa Bhajan and veteran mas designer Wayne Berkeley is giving guidance on design quality and production.


The band was officially launched yesterday at the Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC) Banquet Hall at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain, with Roman Catholic priests Fr Jason Gordon and Fr Joe Harris among those expressing support for the project. Organisers said the band would provide an opportunity for masqueraders to enjoy Carnival without the vulgarity. It is aimed at people who have “matured beyond the need to be high on alcohol to enjoy Carnival and life.” The band will feature 12 sections with a maximum of 100 masqueraders per section.

There will also be a King and Queen. Costumes will range between $1,200 and $2,500. On the road music will be provided by DJ Rene, Simple Sounds and Valley Harps. There are two mas camps for the band—one located at Stevens Road, Long Circular, obliquely opposite the Church of the Assumption in Maraval for payment and distribution of costumes, and at the production site in Belmont. Registration will take place at the mas camp as well as online.
Source

Humanity Cycle of Life : Is this, Mac Farlane's tribute to Christianity?

The washing, MacFarlane 2005.

When I first saw Mac Farlane’s ‘Humanity Cycle of Life’, my first reaction was that Mac Farlane had either completed a creative cycle or simply ran out of ideas. Looking at the band its shapes etc I could not fight the feeling of déjà vu because of amount of echoes of carnivals past that resonated within this presentation.

To me this had to be deliberate, the end cycle of a journey that started with the washing in 2005 in white ends in 2011 in black and white....

The unclenching fist resurrection 2010

The first element of the launch that caught my attention was the hand with the eye in the middle, this symbol was present on the road for Mac Farlane’s Resurrection for C2010, I wondered what the reason for its presence was then and I did again when I saw it for the HCL launch this year.

The eye in the palm of the hand is used in some cultures to ward of the evil eye, (bad eye) the open palm drawing in positive energy in the process Gibran also painted  such an image after he saw it in a vision  he called the painting ‘the divine world’.

the open hand 

The symbol is made up of 2 parts, an eye, that observers, and the hand, that does or performs actions, together they represent sight and knowledge, i.e.: seeing, omniscience, or unlimited knowledge and the hand, action, or power , i.e.  omnipotence , or unlimited power and authority.

That is to say the power of God.

What is Macfarlane saying by using this Icon I wonder, maybe that he is powered and protected by God?

This band goes deep.

In the book ‘The Prophet’, a man of wisdom Al Mustafa about to start a journey home after a long absence is surrounded by people and questioned on the virtues of life and humanity. Gibran’s protagonist the prophet Al Mustafa seems almost Christ like in his replies to the questions he faces on life and the human condition.  After sharing his knowledge and wisdom the prophet returns to his boat and leaving the people of Orphalese behind.

While Gibran’s verses provide a philosophical structure to Mac Farlan’s   observation on the cycle of life from birth to death, Mac Farlane  has constructed through the medium of mas a  visual, tangible,body to Gibran’s narrative, not in the in the celebratory colour of  carnival  but in black and white as Mac Farlane himself states,

 “... the band is black and white , our life stories are told constantly in black and white. Our births are printed in the press, our schooling, our education, our socializing, our achievements, our accidents, our marriages and even our obituaries are in the press, everything is printed in black and white...” 

(Trinidad Carnival Diary)

However If one was to eliminate the poetic music of Gibran’s verses, from the band a second transcript is revealed within the mas.

ICONOGRAPHY OF CHRISTIANITY.

In 1995 Peter Minshall walked into a quagmire of controversy with his presentation Hallelujah. The term Hallelujah meaning praise the Lord is used by Pentecostals, Evangelicals, and Catholic’s alike, and to these Christian groups the use of the word in the realm of Carnival was nothing but vile and blasphemous.

The presentation s title caused national debate in Trinidad and Tobago, but in the end Minshall triumphed, he kept the title Hallelujah, won band of the year, and his queen costume the queen of carnival title, but there is no doubt that mixing religious themes with the traditional creativity, revelry, and sexual atmosphere of carnival could prove to be a volatile undertaking.

Regardless of this Mac Farlane has in the 14 section band, at least 6 sections that make use of Christian or Christian related Icons or symbols, (possibly 10 or more) and in my opinion the use of these icons and symbols, transform the band to much more than a philosophical observation on life...

Baptisum

Baptism:  In this section the descending dove and the clam or scallop shell dripping water are both Christian symbols of baptism, the shell is also said to be a symbol of pilgrimage.

Good and Evil

Good and Evil:  while this section makes use of black and white representing good and evil and  the ying yang symbol representing the relationship between  the two, the devils tail and the angel’s wings are clear icons of traditional carnival. However, the devil or angels are not described in the bible , the devil with the tail horn and pitch fork can be traced to the middle ages, angel wings go back even further but there is no doubt that this iconography came to the Trinidad Carnival via Christianity.

Prayer: this section even at a glance has an acolyte vibe to it.  In this section Mac Farlane make use of two Christian symbols, one is the cross with the four crosses in it is known as the Jerusalem Cross, according to wikapedia,

Prayer.

 “it was on the papal banner given to the Crusaders by Pope Urban II for the First Crusade, and was a symbol of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. The four smaller crosses are said to symbolize either the four books of the Gospel or the four directions in which the Word of Christ spread from Jerusalem.” 

An interesting choice of cross if I don’t say so myself.

The second symbol used in this section is the fish known as Ichthys or the Jesus fish. This symbol was used by early Christians when they were being persecuted by the Romans,

 “when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company.”

There is a third symbol that of a halo, while this icon is multi cultural it became part of Christian art around the fourth century and is used to indicate a holy or scared figure...

A fourth symbol is the caduceus the 2 snakes that form a double helix around the pole; it is the symbol of Hermes the divine messenger of the gods in Greek mythology.

Marriage.

MARRIAGE: While the institution of marriage is another multi cultural and multi religious institution, once again MacFarlane uses the dove an halo motif, and crowns it all with what looks like a scale “the Scales as a Christian Symbol is a symbol of justice and corresponds as a metaphor of matters being "held in the balance" and may be used to represent the final judgment.” The joined rings also represent the union of two people under Christ in the sacrament of holy matrimony".

Joy and Sorrow.

JOY AND SORROW: the symbol that can be linked to Christian iconography in this section is the trumpet, throughout the bible the trumpet is used as a signal of gods coming or celebrating god’s presence.

Knowledge.

KNOWLEDGE: this costume, can be clearly linked to two images we can identify with, the gown and headpiece (called the mortar board worn by graduates) and the Pierrot Grenade a descendant of the Pierrot who poked fun of the scholar through satire. However the hat of the scholar is said to be developed from a hat worn by the Roman Catholic clergy called the bierreta. The hat was called the mortar board because it resembled a board used by masons to hold mortar.

While Mac Farlane’s mortar board is exaggerated and the costume still has a link to Christianity or the church, it can also be linked to other institutions and societies.

WORK: this is a minimalist section indeed the hard hat with what looks like a chain  is the only symbols of work  with a massive flag  im 50/50  on this section its simple and modern yet a little too simple I get the impression Macfarlane  literally drew a blank on this one.

WORK

REPEATS, PLAYBACKS AND REMIXES.     

Birth.

In the section ‘Birth’ the costume features a spiral motif, this Spiral is Celtic in origin and represents not only life itself but people and humanity.  The costume itself echoes Mac Farlane’s past designs with that caged dress concept he is known for the standard and fabric back piece.

2011 Baptism:
right 06 Treads of joy.

In BAPTISM the male costume features the staggered leg piece that Mac Farlane has done before, to be honest and if memory is right 2006, India.

LOVE: while I  do like the Love section any time I see it i get that Alice in wonderland feeling, between the hart standard,  collar and crown I can almost hear her shout ‘of with his head’!

Love.

Time.

TIME: time in this costume is reflected in not only the clock face motif of the head piece but in the repetitions of the rings that the costume is made up of , cycles of life, cycles of time, this circular design has been heavily relied on in his mas this year.

Passion female

PASSION: this section represents sexual passion between a man and a woman, Mac Farlane makes use of the male and female symbols we are used to on each costume highlighting the male sexual organ with the phallic symbol of an arrow and the female’s organs with a spiralled wire bra and symbol of the sacred yoni to the front dress. The head piece is designed with a curve that for me recalls the style of the Phrygian hat of ancient Rome that was symbols of freedom and were also known as liberty caps.  If this was Mac Farlane’s intention it would reflect sexual liberty in passion, a concept that fits perfectly with the theme.

Passion.

“The Phrygian cap is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, associated in antiquity with the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia. In the western provinces of the Roman Empire it came to signify freedom and the pursuit of liberty, perhaps through confusion with the pileus, the manumitted slave's felt cap of ancient Rome. Accordingly, the Phrygian cap is sometimes called a liberty cap; in artistic representations it signifies freedom and the pursuit of liberty.”
FREEDOM: this circular costume for me is the weakest in the band, with broken chains around the wrist of the masquerader that without a doubt represent freedom and the Liberty like crown of a headpiece   a section of swirling costumes can make a visual impact but for me it’s the weakest link. It also echo’s past works of Mac Farlane.
  

Farewell.

FAREWELL: I wonder why the mas man MacFarlane called this section farewell and not death after all birth was called birth, and not hello, but seriously if death is not the end of life’s cycle then farewell is a just name. The design is another classic Mac Farlane, the caged skirt and conical head piece is reminiscent of the hennins of Europe’s middle Ages can be found in the 2005 band the washing, once again completing a circle in black that started in white...

In this band MacFarlane makes constant use of the circle while this use does fit with the theme (a cycle of life) the circle also has Christian connotations,

“The circle represents eternity and the everlastingness of God Who has no beginning and no end.”

For me this band is a tribute to Christianity, that religious institution that shaped and dominated the socio/cultural and even economic standing of the people of Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean, and if not most of the known world.

Passion male.

Looking at Mac Farlane’s past presentations he has called on man to return to his humanity in ‘the washing’, in ‘treads of joy’ he used treads and colour as a metaphor to humanity uniting to form a tapestry (or society) of love. He has looked to and paid homage to India and Africa the origins of the islands two biggest ethnic groups and cultural contributors. And he has paid homage to the carnival traditions through resurrection.  Now Mac Farlane returns to the theme of humanity via virtues and symbols of Christianity.


Visually, Humanity Circle of Life is not the strongest band MacFarlane has produced in the past 6 years. In my opinion aesthetically it is his weakest, yet there is no doubt that if he competes; H.C.L will be another Band of the year title for him. As to date there is no other band out there to seriously challenge him for the crown, and the weakness in this band means that carnival 2011 is the best time for another band to make that challenge.

“I know everybody has a time limit period, this is my time, this is my moment in the sun, if you want to call it that, but it is quickly gone. Minshall had his moment, Berkley had his, George Bailey, all of them had their moments, mine would be gone and we have to hope that people can hold on to it, understand it and continue it. Because if it dies, the culture is dead and people who do not have culture are an empty people, they have nothing.” Brian Mac Farlane (Trinidad Carnival Diary)

Band Launch  photos via: Carnival Jumbie

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TIME MACHINE: TRINIDAD CARNIVAL 1995 : Christianity,Carnival, and Controversy.

MAS, always has controversy , as a matter of fact CARNIVAL always has some kind of controversy around it, these days, controversy in Carnival compromises mostly of foreign made costumes small size bias, and if your online who copy the style of who (the re-mix syndrome).

20th Century Carnival however, was a different story, if Blue Boy was not getting banned in the early eighties for upsetting the Baptist Movement with Soca Baptist, Iwer was upsetting the East Indian population with “Bottom in the road” in the nineties, but there is one name in Trinidad and Tobago Carnival that is synonymous with controversy, PETER MINSHALL.

Now I don’t want you think I have a bias to this man but you have to understand that in the late 20th Century no other Mas Man without maybe the exception of George Bailey could disturb the very social fabric of this twin Island State every Carnival like Minshall, just google his name, no other designer in mas has been talked about, written about, or imitated, globally like Minshall.

On the 9th of November 1994 Minshall launched his 1995 band Hallelujah at Chaguramas of course their was some advertising and speculation on what kind of band it would be, but this band would become a Callaloo of confusion bacchanal and high drama that put Church vs. State, Preacher vs. Artist, and Priest vs. Priest.

Meanwhile the opinion of the population split down the middle, watched the debates on the television, listened to the arguments on the radio, followed the story on the daily papers and watched the drama of Carnival 1995 unfold into another classic carnival..


Opposition to Minshall’s Hallelujah was lead by the evangelical Pastor Winston Cuiffie, he called it a “brazen mockery of religion” and a “deliberate calculated attack on Pentecostals and Evangelicals”. Minshall replied that the band was a “celebration of (the best part of) the human spirit…to pay homage to the Gods, the spirits, who cause /permit/guide mankind’s existence”. This battle between religion and culture went on for weeks on end until carnival came, and if you don’t know what happened next, join me on the Massassination Time Machine, HALLELUJAH!!

So the great debate intensified, Minshall and his camp sticking to his theme and name of choice, for the band, Cuffie and his church demanding that the artist change the name, to them this was gross disrespect to Christians and some hard core blasphemy.

The Catholic Church seemed to be silent about the matter, then Fr Clyde Harvey wrote a letter to the press "let Minshall play his Mas" he said, Fr Harvey thought the nation should wait and see what he did before we condemned him Fr Harvey said "The fact that someone will take something and use it badly is not enough reason to ban it, especially when it is an expression of love". This opinion however was opposed by another Priest Fr Ian Taylor.


Fr Taylor sided with the Evangelical Pastors, stating that all Christians should be incensed by such a desecration of the name of the loving and almighty God, Fr Taylor argued "God is above art and culture...How under Gods heaven can any Christian participate or accept the chants of Hallelujah (Praise the Lord) by revelers during a festivity of considerable bacchanal, indecent exposure and drunkenness, dancing to wine and jam tunes?"
Dean Knolly Clarke of the Anglican church tried to remain neutral on the matter, but his personal opinion was that of cautious favour of the use of the word he said “If Carnival is a an expression of Joy and Minshall is attempting to salute the things that are joyful or that bring joy the there is nothing wrong with it…But if the entire Carnival has undoubtedly degenerated into pure bacchanal and he were part of that, then he would be wrong to include hallelujah in it.”

TV6 even took a Phone poll at the time and 78% of their callers were against the Idea of Minshall calling the band Hallelujah and thought he should change it.
In Minshall’s corner was also the National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA) Richard Afong the Chairman of the association said that he went to the band launch and saw nothing wrong with it, he stated to the Express newspaper, “This work sets out to praise God for the mountains, rivers and streams, the birds and the fish and the flowers. Surely if there is any blasphemy out of this it is by no means deliberate.”

With the war of words escalating a second controversial issue erupted for Minshall, the section ‘Dance the Dance Hallelujah’ portrayed the image of , if not the likeness of the Hindu God Lord Shiva , it seemed like Minshall was stepping on everyone’s toes this year. A Hindu committee that investigated the costume stated “…We call for the removal of Bhavan Shiva from the Carnival band Hallelujah ... Shivaraatri a sacred festival during which Hindus fast, keep all night vigil and conduct puja in Shiva’s name” This festival fell on Carnival Monday so they wanted the figure removed from the band.

Minshall complied.

Pastor Cuffie took Minshalls action as a direct insult to his church, he said by Minshall removing Shiva from the Mas Minshall showed that he understood that mixing Mas and Religion caused offence, and his very act of appeasing the Hindus by removing the figure, was proof that Minshall knew exactly how to solve such a problem, however Minshall’s failure to to do the same for the Christians was in effect “A DELIBERATE CALCULATED ATTACK ON PENTECOSTALS AND EVANGELICALS AND THE GOD WHOM WE SERVE..”.

Legends like the late great Cito Velasquez came out in support of Minshall, Velasquez said that in 1963 he did Splendour of the East and depicted gods like Hanooman, Shiva, Buddha, and religious symbols then again in the 70’s he did something similar with
Geraldo Veira, “people memory short…If you know how much mas man play already, you wonder why all the fuss? Is between Peter and God if he do something wrong.”

As the weeks ensued and argument and opinion went too and fro across the Carnival nation, the evangelicals tried to gain support from the Prime Minister who refused to get tie up in that confusion, he said “It is not the kind of issue on which any Prime Minister should speak out. The bandleader Peter Minshall has a point of view. Some pastors, and I stress some pastors have a different point of views, there is a divergence of views, therefore, and there is a process in this country in which divergences of views can be reconciled.”

Mean while Minshall began to slowly win over if not win back the harts and minds of the nation when his King and Queen entered the King and Queen of Carnival competition the King portrayed Spirit of Light a powerful costume and contender for the title. The Queen was called Joy to the world and was without a doubt the favourite for the title. Surely, if the King and Queen, was that beautiful, the band would be just as impressive if not more so.
It was.

By Ash Wednesday Minshall’s Hallelujah had won the band of the year title 1995, it was truly a triumph, once again his Queen won the title Queen of Carnival title. With, JOY TO THE WORLD. Minshall got all eyes on him self and his band for Carnival 1995 and took the concept of high mas to a higher level.

SEE YOU LATER.......

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