In the first of what I hope to be a series of interviews,
Massassination will interview some of the movers and shakers in the modern Mas
fraternity to gain some insight on the background of the designers, their creative thought processes and , what
influences their themes, and concepts.
Aaron Schneider, setting up the Greed prototype.
For the first interview, Massassination went to the Maracas
St Joseph Studio (The SEVEN Workshop) of Aaron Schneider the designer of the new
band Generations Carnival that held their media launch on the 6:10:2012 at the
little Carib theatre of their 2013 presentation ‘Lifting of the 7 veils, which
has so far attracted a lot of positive attention and reviews from those who
love mas, both in Trinidad and abroad.
It’s ironic that Aaron in 2007 got a Massassination’s first
‘5 star rating’ for the 2008 band know thyself , while the band did not make it
too the streets of Port of Spain I still say on paper it was a winner and a
classic. Fast forward to 2012 and Aaron Schneider is again producing Mas that
can easily change the balance of whatever category ‘lifting of the 7 veils’ is
entered in.
Mas Assassin: ‘So Aaron, tell me a little about your past’:
Aaron Schneider: “I come from Paramin so I have been bending
wire since I was 6 or 7, so that’s where my carnival involvement began, but my
first real involvement was actually in London in 1997-98 when I worked in the
Oval house theatre (South connections) with Ali Pretty and Ray Mahabir, it was
a lot of batik work, I worked with them for 3 years then I returned home... I
worked with Poison, Wayne Berkley, Trevor Wallace, a little work with Minshall
so I've been in the industry a long time.
Sketches of the Wrath Section.
As a designer the last band I designed was ‘ROME’ the last
Band of the year title that Trini Revellers won, then they made the decision to
go bikini after that me and Wayne Berkley, but that was after his stroke so I
mostly designed Rome...The Drawings are sitting in the National Library with my
signature and I can't even get to see them. After that was Oracle as you know
that did not work out but I remained in the industry doing bead and bikini
stuff, and at the start of this year I
decided this year come poverty or whatever I was not doing it any more ...I was
unfulfilled ...and the universe gave me a chance and the good people at
Veltronics (Veltronics limited authorised
dealer forBOSE) said we like your designs let’s try it out...and that’s
how the lifting of the 7 veils came about.”
M.A: What’s your theme for Carnival 2013?
A.S: "The theme is the
lifting of the 7 veils, an exploration of the 7 deadly sins, I wanted a theme
that reminded you of carnival then, we used to have these basic themes and then
they used to explore it that’s what I wanted to do. I did not want to go to
heavy because I believe people need to be
slowly re introduced to Mas, it has to be a process and this is step one of
that process, using materials that they know, then juxtapose with elements they
may not like wire etc and hopefully they will come. So you find your sin buy the costume wear it
for 2 days and hopefully a cleansing would take place."
Geraldo Vieira Sr : Carnival Monday 2012 with K2K.
In the pantheon of Trinidad and Tobago’s carnival,
there are hundreds of heroes whose names are emblazed under the disciplines of
Mas, Calypso, Pan and Soca. This post is dedicated to the memory of one hero of
mas, and his contributions to the greatest show on earth that span a phenomenal six decades.
His name is Geraldo Andrew Vieira.
I refer to Geraldo Vieira as the 'Lord of Time' not
only because of the length of his career but because he managed to remain
relevant and contemporary throughout the decades while other talents of
his generation faded with that period called the golden age of carnival.
1959: 'The Flowers; designed by Geraldo Vieira .
His name may not be widely known among the younger
generations of masqueraders or the ‘newbie’s ‘who through an introduction by
friend or family found themselves partaking in the Trinidad and Tobago
carnival.
To those actively involved in Carnival or are fans
of the King and Queen of the Bands Competition, the name Geraldo Vieira
Senior can conjure images of golden age
presentations of the 50’s and 60’s where
the name Vieira, was called in the same breath as Saldenha, Braithwaite, and
Bailey.
With a career that spanned just over six decades (1959-2012)
Geraldo Vera Sr. was more than a veteran of Trinidad carnival he was an
institution. During his career he has designed 10 Kings of Carnival and was
involved in the design and or construction of countless other award winning
costumes.
In 1996 his son Geraldo Vieira jnr became the youngest king of carnival in
history in a costume called “ rain fest” ten years later in 2006 the King maker
himself became a King of Carnival (the oldest ever)
Born in Barataria Trinidad in 1938, by the age of 14
Vieira was already “in love” with the creativity of mas but it was not until
1959 that the then 21 year old Geraldo
Andrew Vieira started wire bending work
with the legendary Cito Valesquez,
'The Flowers';1959 was one of the last costumes to be designed as a float and won Best float that year. (Making mas Milla C Riggio)
“...I started
bending wire in the yard of Cito Valesquez one of the great wire benders ten
years my senior. We brought fruits and Flowers, Cito was in charge of the fruit
section and I did the flower section.”
(Making mas Milla C Riggio)
As a master technician and structural engineer
Vieira worked with the likes of not only Cito Valesquez, but also Harold
Saldenah, Stephen Lee Heung, Wayne Berkley, Peter Minshall and Hilton Cox. As an engineer he pioneered many developments
in the construction of large costumes and how they were carried by the
masqueraders. He developed both the
shoulder harness and the body harness, an improvement he first made for Sherry
Ann Guy in the Peter Minshall designed costume ‘Splash’ in 1979 that made her
a queen of carnival in that year.
Vieira’s background and speciality in industrial
plastics and moulding played an important part in his career in mas and the increasing
role plastics had in 20th century carnival.
What separates Geraldo Veiria Sr. from his
contemporaries is the longevity of his career and his technological advancements
and introductions to mas that always made him a significant factor as the
decades went by. This may be because he did not see himself as an artist with a
particular style, but as an engineer and an artisan, “...I’m not moody or temperamental enough to be an artist...I am an
engineer, an artisan ...I think of the geometrics and the logistics of the idea" (Geraldo Veiria Sr.: Mask Makers and their craft. D Bell)
Being a craftsman, scientist and mas man
Vieira applied his powers of observation, his technical skills, and his
knowledge of local mythology and humour to produce memorable costumes such as
Albert Moore’s ‘Bro Nancy’ in 1971 and” Bachac Pushing Ganja” for Hilton Cox
,his work clearly reflected his
philosophy and approach towards his craft .
“I like being
able to fantasize things and then bring
them to life,...To study a crayfish or an ant or an insect and then give it life and movement in three
dimensions, that is what I love. Using a creature as a model, I recreate its
life in wire. I try to conquer its movement in the three dimensional form.”(Making Mas. Milla C Riggio).
The 1980’s into the
mid 1990’s saw names such as Berkley, Minshall, Eustace, Derek, and Correira
dominating the King and Queen finals at the Queens Park Savannah. The
generation that dominated the headlines of the 60’s and 70’s were by the 90’s
either retired to the annals of carnival history, or playing diminishing roles
in a cultural festival that saw their techniques and style as out dated and
traditional.
The Crystal Crayfish :1980; designed by, Geraldo Vieira. Photo (Making Mas; Milla C Riggio)
After failing to make the finals of the king
competition in 1992 for the first time in his career, Vieira took note and made
changes to his style, so in1993 he produced a winner.
“...we started
to build. We were going for a new creation which had a conical shape. Barry
came up with the name ‘Splendora, Glory of the Sun’.... the front section being
a sunburst, on one side the sun rising and on the reverse the sun setting,
Splendora won: the semi final; King of Carnival; Individual of the year; Best
Designed costume. It won almost every category....That was when I began to
change. We had gotten stuck on insects, animals, birds. I realized it was time
to go ten steps farther...”.
(Making Mas. Milla C Riggio)
It is at this
juncture that we see Geraldo Vieira’s genius foresight and love for technological
advancements update his approach to contemporary mas. By 1996 he produced
another King of carnival, this time for his son Geraldo Vieira Jr.
portraying “Rain Fest” for their band ‘Hunli, The Wedding’, at 16 he was the
youngest King of Carnival in the History of the competition.
The costume itself was reported to be 22 feet tall
and 300 pounds and comprised of many bulbs and switches, it even had its own
power supply and pyrotechnics that went off on stage, it was the first fully
self illuminated costume to win the competition.
King of Carnival 1996: Geraldo Vieira Jr, Portraing 'Rain Fest'. Designed by Geraldo Vieira Sr.
“I also
incorporated special explosive effects which I procured from the Grucci company
in New York, whose fireworks I had seen on the Discovery Channel.” (Making
Mas. Milla C Riggio).
This technological advance in mas did cause some
controversy as some of the other designers and kings voiced the opinion that
this costume broke the rules of the competition. The revised and updated
formula to the mas of Vieira made his name and mas once again a consistent
contender for, and winner off the title King of carnival.
The Vieira style of
‘big mas’ now transformed on stage through the use of electronics and pneumatics, disks turned into
giant frilled necked lizards like’ a
Childs dream abracadabra’ in 97 massive snakes seemed to move on their own ‘ in
the Balisier’ in 98.
Left: 1997: A childs dream Abracadabra: Right: "In the Balisier" 1998. Back; 2003 "Trouble in the Bamboo"
In 1999 his
son won yet again with’ let there be light’, and ‘Winds an element of change’in 2001. His presence in the 21st
century was just as powerful and relevant as it was in the late 50’s early 1960’s long after his contemporaries of the of that
period, became conscious memories of
carnivals past. (see more Geraldo Vieira King costumes here.)
1999, King of Carnival; Geraldo Vieira Jr. portraying "Let there be Light"
A prediction he made in an interview with Debora
Bell he declared “Next year I will be the
oldest masquerader in the history of carnival to win the King costume. I’m sure
of this” Vieira did indeed win the King Costume in2006”.
In 2006, 35 years after Albert Moore won the title in
a Geraldo Vieira design in 1971 and ten years after producing Rain fest for Geraldo
Jr. to become King of carnival in 1996, Geraldo Vieira Sr. himself became the
King of Carnival in the epic tribute to the military machine of the old Roman
Empire called “The Might of Rome”, in the process he became the oldest winner
of the King of Carnival title.
2006: Geraldo Vieira Sr, wins the King of Carnival title portraying, "The Might of Rome" Photo Source: Mark Lyndersay.
Geraldo Vieira Sr. The mas man that started his
career in the middle of the 20th Century was successfully leading
the technological
2007: Geraldo Vieira Sr; "Vision of the snow warriors; Photo,Trinidad Express
advancements in mas in the first decade of the twenty first Century.
After 2006 he did not win another official crown,
(in my opinion he should have in 2007) but his mas continued to place in the
top 3 or finals, and even if they did not place, his legacy of amalgamating the
art of mas with modern technology and engineering, expanding the boundaries of
what mas can be, will still be seen in King and Queen finals in years to come
with flashing lights pyrotechnics, plastic forms, and costumes that transform
before our eyes.
On the 22nd of September 2012, it was
announced that Geraldo Vieira, Sr. had passed away. A chapter in Trinidad and Tobago carnival of
almost limitless ingenious contributions of creativity, engineering, and
technological expansion, and awesome memories, has come to an end, leaving a
legacy of longevity and creativity than can only inspire new minds and expand
young imaginations for generations to come.
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