Voices from the street IV

" Who is going to save our kids from 2020"

Abigail Hadeed returns to Adam Smith's Square

Abigail Hadeed is back at Adam Smith's Square in Port of Spain documenting carnival individuals. This is the tail end of a day of the Traditional Mas characters who began their parade much earlier than expected. By 12 noon, the venue had ended. Yet, in the park, a paparazzi of photographers seized every opportunity to capture the perfect shot with the aid of her cloth backdrop and by the participant's enthusiasm in the frenzy.

Above: Both photographer and masquerader discussing the best approach to be photographed among a sea of pushy photographers and onlookers.

The young masqueraders

It looked like carnival Tuesday with the streets filled with people, music trucks and masqueraders lining up to be judged. From a distance, young kings and queens danced while combating the cool breeze at the Queen's Part Savannah, Trinidad, West Indies. This is what Mas is, said someone, Big people play carnival.

Boissiere House 1904 - 2008

Gingerbread house is in the fate of its buyer



Behind a galvanize fence, is one of the great homes located at Queen's Park West, Trinidad, West Indies. Built in 1904 by the architect Eward Bowen, part of the ceiling is covered with a fresco designed by an Italian artisan according to Voices in the street, a handbook detailing the history of architecture in Trinidad and Tobago. But recently, a For Sale sign has been posted on the fence instigating rumors of what the building is worth in historic terms. So far, the asking price has been rumored to be six to sixty million dollars. Some architects think it is worth more.



The danger preservationists insists is that saving such a structure will be a battle, and the public uproar may only occur after, like many historic buildings in Port of Spain when bulldozers have come in the dead of the night to clear it off the ground.

Above: The detail of the fret as part of the roof and the wrought iron gate damaged by a car crashing into the wall.

Traditional Mas concludes

" Love Chinaman will be putting milk in your coffee.. sooner rather than later Chinee children will be calling you daddy ..."




This video clip gives a summary of the Traditional Mas held in St. James, Trinidad, West Indies. It begins with the Pierrot Grenade who test the audience with a mix of polysyllables to form words. Then to the Black Indians with their antics and untranslatable rant. A Carnival performer who has been portraying the Bookman devil for over sixty years, and two Midnight Robbers churning out their speech.

Ashraph's Mas

An exhibition explores the state of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago



It all came together after months of preparation, Whe de asse..whe de mas, the Band, turned up at the Annex of Trinidad and Tobago's National Museum in Port of Spain, and at the most appropriate time. A week from now, masqueraders will be prancing on the streets for carnival 2008.

Mr. Ramsaran's (Ashraph) approach begins with the very state of Carnival. By this, his sculptural pieces played their own mas by puns and by literal representation. Ashraph's strongest works are the striking Papier-mâché Red Devils against the white walls and metal sculptures. The Midnight Robbers shows his potential as a conceptualist, with its use of ready-made objects fused together to translate a national figurehead. More amusing is the rituals of Carnival for which Mr. Ramsaran had been forewarned regarding the use of an alcohol motif. One of his Fancy Sailor suffered its fate, the golden glittered Rum bottle broke.

Visitors to the museum may be puzzled by what these forms mean, in any sense they come from a place of tradition. They are nuances to the very fabric from which Trinidad's carnival is derive from. The Midnight Robber, the Fancy Sailor, Bats, Red Devils and Fancy Indians, Kings and Queens and to its current transitional state of feathers and beads, all inclusive, as a brown paper bag.

A Carnival Exhibition, National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, January 29th till February 10th, 2008

Badjohns at Panorama

" All Stars getting buried tonight.....Ah putting All Stars in Tunapuna cemetery tonight…..Ah not putting dem in a poorfoot dat too good for dem, and if ah cyar get one, Ah put dem in de San Juan when I go down south........."



Towards the track at the Queen's Park Savannah, and to the North Stand and its stage, Steelbands are in a fierce competition to get into the panorama finals. The mood in the Savannah is thick and less festive as factions of supporters hail insults at each other. The video begins with Renegades and ends with All Stars as the steelband passes Desperadoes parked to their right towards the long pull to the stage.

Above: The percussion section of Renegades steelband at the entrance to the Queen's Park Savannah, Trinidad West Indies.

A day of Art

On the 26th of January, there were a number of shows to go to in Port-of-Spain. At Y Gallery, a group show on the theme of Mas, at In2Art, Edward Bowen's recent works and at Horizon's Art Gallery the work of Brian Wong Won.

With so much art to look at, it was a very good day. In Belmont the artists, Marlon Griffith, Jamie Lee Loi and Nicholai Noel created an installation in an empty lot that deals with their personal concerns about crime in Trinidad and Tobago.

With so much to see, I felt quite filled and fulfilled by a day spent looking at and socializing around art. On the one hand, the carnival shows attempt to create a nostalgia about what is mas imagery, and Peter Sheppard was able to capture the whimsical side of that question, as did Brian Wong Won. Edward Bowen's show on the other hand had nothing to do with carnival, but a lot to do with colour and collage technique.

Mr. Bowen's show has taken a slightly different bend from his shows of the past. Here at In2Art, Mr. Bowen's work takes on a very light, almost mellow intention. Usually, his technical skill is such that he embroiders his paintings with personal hieroglyphics that give the pieces an air of dark magic. One wonders what is the motivation to fill every open space with loose scrawls that lie on the surface in dramatic ways. In this show, that is still apparent, but the colour is the main attraction, as it speaks from canvas to canvas.

The huge contrast between those shows and the three artist installation is worth a look, as they grapple with a very emotional issue, creating a sort of CSI crime scene across from a PNM constituency office and an actual high crime area. - Adele

LA FANTASIE - 44 Norfolk street Belmont

A public art installation attempts at a social underclass



A make-shift dwelling at 44 Norfolk street, Belmont, Trinidad and Tobago raises the question of the demographic and accuracy of crime. How it is portrayed questions the very illusion, fiction and reality of the problem. The artists involved with the project are commented for their efforts.



Three artists recently did an installation in Belmont, Trinidad and Tobago. They received funding from the Netherlands foundation, Prince Claus to build a makeshift structure on a plot of land. The work centered around crime in the country. You enter a picket fenced yard and open a door. Once inside, the interior is black and you use the UV light given at the door to comb the crime scene. Revealed are drawings on a derelict sofa and on the floor and refrigerator. There is a small area where you can see through to the ground and a video is looped over that space and looks eerily like a scene from Predator.
















The artists, Nicholai Noel, Marlon Griffith and Jamie Lee Loy have endeavored to recreate a scene of violent crime, on a main street in the city. The reaction for such an event is mixed. So many questions remain to be asked, and in a way, that proves the success of the work.

choosing that location for example is a stickler, as opposed to an area untouched by real violent crime? Are they somehow glamorizing the theme by posing the objects in the house? Are they accomplishing what they have set out to prove or show? I understand their dilemmas. I too have done a great deal of work on crime, and I am very concerned about aping the reality by drawing from images in the newspapers and in all other media.

While doing my embroideries on the subject, I was very wary of sending a sanitized message, of not reaching the mark of what I really want to say. It isn’t an easy choice to do work on contemporary subject manner. You do come from a place of (that dreaded word to some) privilege. But so be it. Artists are impacted by society and vice versa, and so we create because we have to, and it is in the creating that we can look at ourselves even when we more often than not, miss the mark. Adele

Jab Jab - Diable Diable

Jab Jabs are considered as the pretty devil mas dressed up as a medieval colorful jester, but devils they are. At the Traditional Old Mas competition in St. James,Trinidad, West Indies spectators had the chance to the see these masqueraders master their whips in a choreographed dance and something more.... that strength may not be related to size. Paid close attention to the video.