Rapture 2019: ADDICTED Theme pictures and Synopsis

In 2019,  Addicted Mas will be celebrating 10 years of existence at Notting Hill Carnival, whilst tapping into the energies that have fueled the ADDICTED journey.

From its inception in 2010 with the presentation 'CHAOS' ADDICTED was formed out

of the love and passion for our carnival culture, and driven by the love, energy, and passion of our masqueraders, whom for ten consecutive summers have supported and represented the brand its growth and philosophy of originality.

Our themes of the past have explored the strength and tenacity of human nature and the triumph of the Caribbean presence in the world and the possible futures we may face.

Our style has been influenced not just by the mas around us, but by histories, science, architecture, Soca, Rap, world events, and social commentary. Yet we have explored in our ten years the tip of the metaphorical iceberg that is ADDICTED.

In celebration of 10 years of Addicted and our relationship with the legendary mas band Cocoyea, we look back at the energy, creativity, love, and elation that we experience on the road….

the intense pleasure….

the intense joy….

RAPTURE.

The Colour Purple: According to the website the 'bourne creative',”the colour purple is associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, power, creativity, wisdom, peace, pride and independence.”  In Hinduism, the purple or violet chakra is known as the Crown Chakra and represents the transformation of spiritual awareness and creativity. And, in the Yoruba traditions, purple is a colour of the Orisha Oya, protector of women she is the Orisha of change and the four winds.

Starburst: The image of a star, sun or starburst is familiar to us all, from the scientific theory of the big bang to God the creator saying “let there be light”.  All life and creation are imagined to come from an explosion of energy. This explosion is depicted through the gold motif of a starburst throughout the female costume, sending beams of light and creative energy through a universe of light, one rapturous event after another. It is this energy that transforms to the spirit of Carnival, from the masquerade traditions of Africa to the celebrations of freedom in the Caribbean and its global expansions. We pay tribute to that energy in 2019.

This is RAPTURE!

Addicted Mas 2019

Designer: Stephen A. Armstrong

For more information go to : https://specialist-events.com/addictedmas/

ADDICTED MAS 2019 launch "RAPTURE" for NHC 2019

On Monday the 6th of May 2019 Addicted Launched with the band Cocoyea marking not only the sections tenth year of existence but also the relationship shared between the two carnival entities that started in 2010.
held at the Yaa centre cocoyea launched its 2019 theme of SANKOFA. The event was well received and RAPTURE  had a great response, check out this video that summarises the event. 

NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL 2018 ADDICTED MAS ZENITH

Monday August 27th 2018. Addicted Mas took to the streets of Notting hill with 'Zenith'. A great time was had by all, here's a summery of that day' I hope you enjoy it.

Addicted Mas - Zenith Promo for Notting Hill Carnival 2018

ADDICTED MAS 2018: ZENITH : Synopsis and costumes.

Zenith: The time in which something is at its most powerful or successful. It is also a point of time when the sun is at its highest point in the sky.  A culmination; a climax; a peak.

Mountains too have their summits the highest of them have snow covered crowns identifying them as lords of both landscape and skylines. To surmount these mountains and reach their peaks is a perilous journey, reserved only for the brave and the bold, who are prepared to look death in the face in the pursuit of reaching that Zenith. Many have died trying to achieve while others turn away from the challenge and perils of such a journey.  But warriors full of daring and desire face the greatest risk for the highest thrills.

Like the sun above and the mountains below it, we spend our lives climbing from the valleys of our existence aspiring to reach our Highest Self.

History is flooded with the names of individuals who reached their Zenith illuminating our hearts and minds with their abilities; from Usain Bolt to Floyd Mayweather, Michael Jackson to Beyonce, The Mighty Sparrow to Bob Marley; Marcus Garvey to Martin Luther King.  Those super-humans who rise to plateaus above us all, with seemingly effortless ease as if they were gifted with talents from the Gods, beyond mere mortals.

Ancient history also echoes with the names of those whom while in their Zenith transformed the world, Alexander the Great the Macedonian KING, considered one of the greatest military leaders of all time  conquered the known world by the age of 32 .Sundiata Keita founder of the Mali Empire overcame adversity and physical disability as a child to become a great leader before he died at 37.

Civilisations and societies too can rise to a cultural and economic Zenith, they supersede their predecessors or contemporaries be it Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Mongolia, England the United States or China, Civilizations and Empires have risen levels of accomplishment that are without equal and almost unimaginable if not for the evidence of their presence.

Zenith is the realisation of ones highest self, the understanding that you have the power to change your environment, the awareness that you can influence positive growth in others, and doing so. Zenith is you determining your own future; creating your own destiny; implementing and achieving your own goals.  Zenith is knowing your limits and surpassing them, facing down your fears and conquering them, examining your strengths and improving them.

Either you are looking back at it, rapidly approaching it, or currently existing in it.  The Zenith is that point in our lives when we are at our most energised, the strongest we have ever been, the fastest, the most radiant, the healthiest and ultimately the most successful versions of ourselves.

Being in your Zenith is being at your highest.

Like the ice capped mountains of the world or a mid-day sun in the sky we are at the height of our existence right now.

This year Addicted looks at the Zenith as an analogy for our lives.  A celebration of the life force within us all, as we ascend to the peak of life's experience.

This is ZENITH, this is where your powerful now is!

The costumes

This year Addicted has chosen white to depict the theme of Zenith.

White does not just symbolise the ice and snow found on the tallest mountains around the world, but combined with the iridescence of AR stones and holographic foils, it reflects the radiance found in the spectrum of light that emanates from these snow capped mountains and the sun when bright and high in the sky.

White is also the colour of the Crown Chakra SAHASRARA) which is said to be our connection to the divine.

Among the Orishas White is the traditional colour of Obatala, this father of all Orishas,  Obatala holds influence over leadership, fatherhood, justice and geology, and is often symbolised by mountains.

RADIANT PRIME: This year addicted has produced a limited production individual costume radiant prime, this costume depicts light bursting from its source, an entity in her zenith

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Join ADDICTED MAS on the streets of Notting Hill 2018 and celebrate the Zenith of your life,

S.A. Armstrong

Addicted Designer

For more details go to: http://specialist-events.com/addicted-mas/

ADDICTED MAS LAUNCH 'ZENITH' TODAY!

Pretty mas killing ancestral mas in Carnival

What traditions are we losing in our Carnival, how can we bring them back and what have we not yet explored? This was the main theme of mas band Vulgar Fraction’s Carnival post-mortem session, Independent Mas Speaks, held at Granderson Lab, Belmont. The panelists were political and social critic Rhoda Bharath, cultural researcher Arielle John and cultural activist Amanda T. McIntyre, and the panel moderated by Robert Young of the Cloth.

Bharath, who views Carnival through the lens of ancestor veneration, said she was shaken when two regional visitors said T&T’s Carnival was very commercialised and had no cultural elements, based on their observations. She said the ancestral mas and cultural mas felt like they were being subsumed by pretty mas, although these were all valid ways in which to experience mas, depending on the personality of the masquerader.

Bharath said Carnival comes out of yards, and it is essential for yards to take themselves to another level in educating people about mas. She said they should be continuing the work outside of the season and there is now no excuse for not recording, storing, archiving, representing and re-presenting themselves.

Bharath called on the National Carnival Commission (NCC) to put more effort into having a separate route for ancestral mas and traditional mas because there was an audience for them. She said she was not advocating for handouts but better organisation. Bharath said she didn’t believe that Carnival is dead or dying, but it can be floundering and directionless, and this could be remedied by thinking about the underpinning of the Festival.

John said in her research on the divine impulses that we celebrate within the mas, she has begun the establishment of a counter-Trinity in Carnival of the Mother, Maiden and Crone as evidenced by the Virgin Mary, the Orisha deity Oshun and the Hindu goddess Kali. She said the Virgin Mary represented the oppression wrought by European Christianity and the history of subjection and subjugation which came with it.

John said Oshun, who embodies sensuality and love, is the easiest entity to find in the Carnival. She is represented by women in their costumes, the flag women and the jammettes who were some of the earliest originators of the Carnival rebellion. She said Kali is the great destroyer, the goddess of death and rebirth, and she is evident in the stick-fighting rituals and the warring factions of the steel bands as they fought for recognition. John said while there is violence in Carnival, it is part of ritual and can be viewed in a positive light. She said we need to interrogate who the onlooker is who denounces it as barbaric.

Bharath said there are traditions in dance to be explored, especially as they relate to the various deities. She said more research and discussion need to take place on the traditions which both enslaved and bonded Africans would have brought to T&T.

McIntyre spoke about the Culture of Consent campaign and the uproar about the police warning against assault, linking it to Vulgar Fraction’s presentation Playing White in We Sh##hole Country. She said there was a sense of entitlement, or ‘playing white’, in how those with more power related to those with less, for example between rich people and poor people, men and women, and adults and children.

Bharath said we have lost sight of our culture, which has always had non-verbal cues for asking and giving consent. She said we are failing to teach young people the codes which used to exist in households, like the look which brought instant obedience. John questioned why men only respected women’s agency and right to say no when the law was watching them.

Source: Trinidad Guardian

Paula Lindo