Creative Mas outside PoS

By LAUREL V WILLIAMS

MASQUERADERS took to the streets of Barrackpore, on Saturday, portraying traditional characters in true Trini style — wining and chipping to the sounds of music — at the launch of Regional Carnival 2015.

The event, hosted by the National Carnival Commission (NCC), transformed the southern community into a sea of revellers in a parade which ended at Cumuto Recreation Ground on Rochard Douglas Road.

Arts and Multiculturalism Minister Dr Lincoln Douglas, addressing the gathering, noted Regional Carnival represents the “birthplace of creativity” that ushers in the season of revelry before the period of Lent.

On the lament Carnival lacks creativity and no longer attracts spectators, Douglas said there is to much focus on portrayals in Port-of-Spain and mas in communities outside of the capital is now a top draw.

“So when people in Port-of-Spain complain that they do not have an audience, I asked them to go to the regional carnivals, like in Toco, in Paramin to see the blue devils, in Gasparillo or even Cedros. That is where a lot of the action is happening,” Douglas said.

He added there are 52 regional celebrations and which are growing and getting better, and referred to Carnival as a significant force for unifying people, creating an industry to support the economy and the development of Trinidad and Tobago.

“We are working very hard on our Carnival development projects to make the transitions, not only from being one of the greatest festivals in the world, but also an industry to support all the artistes who participate in this industry,” Douglas said.

The launch featured several groups among them the Whip Masters of Couva, Blue Devils of Paramin, the Tamboo Bamboo of Gasparillo, Chatham Old Boys Rhythm Section and the Siparia Rhythm Posses. There were also several Carnival characters among them the pierrot grenades, dame lorraines, fancy Indians and sailors.

NCC deputy chairman Don Sylvester noted each year regional Carnival is launched in a different community, and the residents of Barrackpore and environs were “very excited” as it was the first time they had seen such an event.

He shared some plans to promote Carnival. “I was recently at Nottinghill’s Carnival ( London) and persons approached me for Carnival traditions from Trinidad like moko jumbies. I am also organising that. That is what people want, they want the traditions of their culture. There is a TV station in the US that is interested in visiting the island to sponsor and support stick fighting as the news sports.”

Source: Newsday

BAHAMAS Telecommunications Company’s community support in youth, sports and culture is continuing with its $1m title sponsorship of Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival as it becomes the first corporate partner to join the new tourism initiative.

#CEO Leon Williams said last week BTC had been in discussions with the Carnival and a split between cash and in-kind services for a mutually beneficial $1m sponsorship had been agreed.

#“$750,000 will be in cash and $250,000 will be in-kind services to consist of joint marketing and branding opportunities,” Mr Williams said.

#“The Junkanoo Carnival will feature on the cover of the BTC’s 2015 telephone directories, which include white and yellow pages for Nassau, Grand Bahama and Abaco. The Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival will also have articles within the directories. Furthermore, Carnival will feature on BTC pre-paid phone cards and buildings.”

#Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival Chairman Paul Major emphasised that the event is strategic to the development of Bahamian cultural tourism.

#“For BTC to step up to the plate to the extent that they have speaks volume about the company’s belief in our culture and in the Bahamas,” he said.

#“The Prime Minister made it clear that he wanted this to be a primer for a more culture-driven economy.

#“Most other tourist destinations are using culture to catapult them ahead in a very competitive environment.

#“Sun, sand and sea has become old. We need something that sets us apart and I think we are well on the way to making that happen.”

#Mr Major also said that the festival presents opportunities for local artisans.

#“We hope to bring some economic relief to those who have laboured long and hard in Junkanoo and other forms of culture and yet have little to show for it materially.

#“In Trinidad, there are multiple millionaires from Carnival. I do not know of millionaires from Junkanoo, but with this festival there will be thousands of people buying thousands of costumes and putting thousands of Bahamians to work.”

#The Carnival will be a series of events starting on Easter Monday in Nassau and ending on May 7 with the “Road Fever” parade. Anchor events include “Junkamania,” a concert of Bahamian orchestras featuring Junkanoo musicians in collaboration with philharmonic musicians; and “Music Masters,” a major concert featuring a Grammy-award winning artist and ten finalists from 172 entries in a related song competition.

#Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival CEO Roscoe Dames said that in the proposed Carnival Cultural Village – an enclosed festival space at the Western Esplanade featuring food stalls and three entertainment stages – each Family Island will be allotted a pavilion to represent its local culture.

#Many of the island regattas will become involved and Grand Bahama will have its own celebratory weekend in April, including a concert featuring the song competition semi-finalists, a Junkanoo Carnival beach party and a midnight rush.

#Mr Williams said BTC is no stranger to supporting Bahamian culture, citing a long relationship with youth, sports and culture and high prioritisation of corporate citizenship.

#“We have been primary sponsors for the CAC games, CARIFTA track and swimming – the events and the travelling teams – the Golden Knights, several individual track stars, championship winning swimmer Arianna Vanderpool Wallace, volleyball and basketball tournaments throughout the Bahamas, and the IAAF World Relays, which we will partner with again for 2015,” he said.

#“We are large proponents of Bahamian cultural activities and continue with annual sponsorship of Junkanoo at Christmas and New Year to the tune of $850,000 through 2016.”

SOURCE:http://www.tribune242.com/news

Moving Carnival forward EXPRESS EDITORIAL

T marks an advance of some historic importance when the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce recognises in the field of Carnival an achievement worthy of its Emerging Entrepreneur Award.
At the Chamber’s inaugural “Champions of Business” presentation last month Dean Ackin, the emerging entrepreneur, has earned acclaim as bandleader of Tribe, but more so as innovator over such a range of management capacity and improved arrangements as to transform the “Carnival experience”.
More than just a mas maker and provider of costumes, sections, and music, Mr Ackin made it easier for masqueraders to register online, and more comfortable and enjoyable to play.
Introducing the all-inclusive facilities, he made possible the real-time supply of mas players’ wants and needs, right there, on the road, including cool-down air to beat the heat. 
The original Tribe itself has now begotten a second Carnival band, Bliss, and created support business in Ultimate Events.
Mr Ackin’s pathway, including gaining a BSc management degree, has not been exactly typical of bandleaders. But at least T&T’s primary business group has acknowledged his contribution, and that of other nominees, as the entrepreneurial way forward for Carnival, and other areas of culture, not traditionally considered as jump-off points for business development.
As the Chamber’s citation put it: “By expanding its horizons of experience and earnings, and deepening its linkages with the rest of the economy, Dean Ackin’s Ultimate Group is the industry’s first conglomerate.”
Congratulations are in order for the Ackin approach, even as other aspects of Carnival await similar vision, and relevant management and entrepreneurial inputs.
For the thousands of masqueraders who play with Tribe and Bliss continue to endorse the product produced by Mr Ackin and his support team, being repeat customers because they are getting good service and value for their money.
Ultimate Events also puts on pre-Carnival fetes that are well-organised, backed up by tight security that leaves partygoers in a good frame of mind.
So with the Tribe and Bliss supporters being mostly young, upwardly mobile citizens—joined in those bands by the many visitors from abroad who are also so inclined—there is hope the innovative attractions introduced by Mr Ackin and company will continue to make a mark on the national festival.
And this generation of masqueraders, and those to come, will insist on higher standards, so ensuring that Trinidad and Tobago Carnival can continue to boast of being the “Greatest Show On Earth”, at least in this part of the world.
We can only trust that the government of the day, through the National Carnival Commission, will nominate like-minded forward thinkers who—in conjunction with T&T’s youthful entrepreneurs—will attempt to make it better and better in the years ahead.

Story Created: Nov 8, 2014 at 3:01 AM EC

MASSASSINATION.: WE STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS NOTTING HILL ...

MASSASSINATION.: WE STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS NOTTING HILL ...: 5th Biannual Steelpan Conference University of East London Cass School of Education Stratford Campus  11 th - 12th October 2014 ...

Stephen Lee Heung laid to rest

Five-time Carnival Band of the Year winner Stephen Lee Heung was cremated on Wednesday following a funeral service at St Theresa’s RC Church in Woodbrook.

There was a surprisingly small turnout at the church for the bandleader who had devoted most of his life to producing mas.

Among the few fellow mas makers that did come out to pay their respects to Lee Heung were Brian MacFarlane, Rosalind Gabriel and David Cameron, leader of the band Trini Revellers.

Also present was National Carnival Bands Association president David Lopez and NCBA secretary Renwick Brown.

Officiating was Fr Gervais Girod, who said Lee Heung was as dedicated to his faith as he was to the mas.

The eulogy was presented by Lynn Tang, who also spoke of Lee Heung’s passion for mas and for people.

Lee Heung spent his childhood at Piccadilly Street, Port of Spain then moved to Duncan and then Nelson streets.

Lee Heung got involved in mas in 1942, having been encouraged by his uncle to do so. Together with his wife, Elsie, who passed away some years ago, Lee Heung, who was not a designer, produced bands working with designers such as Harold Saldenah, Carlisle Chang, Peter Minshall, Wayne Berkley, Follette Eustace and Brian MacFarlane.

Lee Heung, who was 93 years old, succumbed to pneumonia on Monday at St Clair Medical Centre.

He died only days after the launch of a book celebrating his work in mas. The book, which is titled, We Kind ah People, was written by cultural researcher Ray Funk from the United States and features the photography of George Tang.

The book was launched on October 7 at the National Library.

By Wayne Bowman

 wayne.bowman@trinidadexpress.com

‘His first duty was making mas, not money’

   Death of Stephen Lee Heung

    By Michelle Loubon

Retired accountant Shane Lee Heung, son of the late veteran mas man Stephen Lee Heung, 93, said his fondest memories were accompanying his father to carnivals in New York, USA. He also said Lee Heung performed “ wonderfully” during Carnival celebrations and boasted a healthy dose of creativity. Both Lee Heung and his late wife, Elsie, shot to national and international renown with their spectacular Carnival presentations. 
On Monday night, Lee Heung succumbed to a chest infection and a bout of pneumonia at St Clair Medical Centre.
He is also mourned by his daughter, Maureen, a mother of three. Lee Heung went to God’s acre a few days after his book, We Kindah People, was launched at Nalis, Port of Spain.
Yesterday, family and friends gathered for a prayer session at his home at 4 Alberto Street, Woodbro­ok.

Veteran masman Peter Minshall comments:
Via a telephone interview yesterday, Minshall said: “There are bandleaders and there are masmen

Stephen Lee Hueng

artists. The bandleader is a producer. The artist in the case of mas is the conjuror, the magician, the person who makes art out of apparel which is showcased by huge numbers of people gathered to celebrate life. As a producer/bandleader, he never forgot his first duty was the making of mas, not the making of money.”
Reflecting on his collaboration with Lee Heung, Minshall said Lee Heung and Carlisle Chang had a “fall out”. 
He said: “I was in London, when I got the call from Stephen at 5 a.m. He said: Peter Minshall (1975), yuh want to do my band for next year? It was such an awkward place to be. It was strange and bizarre. It’s like tear-jerking. One of the most powerful presence in the mas was Chang. In the years after, my greatest encouragement came from Chang. I did mas as art. Chang once said of Jungle Fever. The Savannah looks like the grasses of Serengeti in technicolour. I owe a great debt to Stephen Lee Heung, masman par excellence.”

Edmund Hart comments:
Via a telephone interview, Hart, 91, said: “He produced the best costumes. One of his best bands was China: The Forbidden City. They won their first Band of the Year title in 1967 with China. We both did a show and we were roommates in Minneapolis. He was a nice friend even though we were rivals. We both belonged to Port of Spain Central Lions’ Club.” 
Lee Heung’s trek to the top started in 1964 with Kabuki, which placed third in the Band of Year competition to Silver Stars. In 1975, he was bestowed with the Hummingbird Medal (Gold). China was the first band sent abroad by the government to the Montreal Expo in 1967.

SOURCE

When polio stopped Carnival in 1972 | The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper

When polio stopped Carnival in 1972 | The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper:



'via Blog this'

Stephen Lee Heung

Stephen Lee Heung:



'via Blog this'

A kinda legacy

 A review of 

We Kind ah People byGeorge Tang and Ray Funk 

by Mark Lyndersay

​
It’s hard to fault George Tang and Ray Funk for their ambitions here. We Kind ah People, a new book documenting ten of the bands of Stephen and Elsie Lee Heung is a first bold effort at placing the veteran masmaker in the pantheon of Carnival’s master bandleaders of the last century.

Celebrated band leader/designer Peter Minshall, left, with veteran
 photographer George Tang and historian Ray Funk
at the launch of the book titled We Kind Ah People which
 chronicles the legendary exploits of mas-man
Stephen Lee Hueng.
Venue for the event was the AV Room of the National Library and Information Systems
Limited (NALIS) on Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain. PHOTO: SEAN NERO

Of the 36 bands placed on the roads of Port-of-Spain by the Lee Heungs over 50 years between 1946 and 1996, this book offers less than a third.

But the ten bands documented in the book offer a rich look at the craft of the Lee Heungs that we haven’t had before. 

The bands, Terra Firma (1974), We Kind ah People (1975), Paradise Lost (1976), Cosmic Aura (1977), Love Is (1978), Hocus Pocus (1979), Cocoyea Village (1987), Columbus (1992), Safari (1993) and Festivals (1994) offer up designs by Carlisle Chang, Peter Minshall, Norris Eustace and Wayne Berkeley all engineered by the Lee Heung’s remarkably consistent production style. 

Despite widely differing designs, there is a surprising unity among the bands, sound craftsmanship interpreting the sketches of the designers in an era that predated costume prototypes at band launches. 

That process crafted bands from quite diverse designers that were stylish and precise as well as sensibly and economically executed.

The book doesn’t explain the gaps in coverage, noting only that “George was not able to take photographs every year,” but also acknowledging that they were largely taken “for his family and friends in the band.”

Fortunately, Tang was a craftsman who understood the limits of his medium and worked effectively within them.

What isn’t written into the book’s record is the monumental effort that has been invested in this work or the very different photographic circumstances under which the images were captured. 

Most of these images, if not all, were shot on colour transparency film, a medium that dramatises the contrasty extremes of bright Caribbean sun.

In many of the images, the faces and expressions of the masqueraders disappear beneath their costumes, identities swallowed in the shadows cast by grand flourishes of their designers.

George Tang’s camera records no other photographers, since in the Carnival he photographed, far fewer photographers roamed the streets and all respected the asphalt stage on which masqueraders performed.

In this era, each photograph was metered, every frame had to be bought and processed. A photographer operating on his own capturing the festival did so not only with his own dollar, but often with a budget.

There must have been wining, but Tang’s record of the time shows masqueraders chipping along, surging as they hit the stage and doing that curious thing once called playing their mas.

The photographs, like the man, are direct but unassuming. They confront the spectacle before them with casual ease, recording with clarity a collection of costumes that have largely disappeared from the public consciousness.

From the brilliant, often abstract fancies of Carlisle Chang to Minshall’s diaphanous Grand Guignol to the burlesque design abandon of Wayne Berkeley, the book offers for consideration a Carnival that will be undeniably alien to today’s masqueraders.

In the 18 years since Stephen Lee Heung last brought a band to the streets of Port-of-Spain, so much has changed in both the public record of the festival and in the costuming of Carnival that it’s almost impossible to recognise any evolutionary link between the festival of today and the event that the photographer recorded between 1974 and 1994. 

It’s possible to look at the glistening, angular brilliance of Carlisle Chang’s Terra Firma and the rococo styling and shiny piping of Folette Eustace’s Festivals and not be surprised, but anyone who looks at this record after being indoctrinated by the modern record of Carnival is going to be stunned.

Twenty years separate those bands, but they are clearly kin. In the 18 years since, everything seems to have changed about the costumes, the masqueraders and the very idea of a band when compared with this record of Carnival.

As a photographer, Tang’s work takes a qualitative jump forward between 1977 and 1978. The earlier images have the casual flow of snapshots but then the documentarian seems to decide that his work is a record of something special and his attentiveness to the specifics of the work intensify accordingly.

His shooting positions are more compellingly aligned with the position of the sun and his interactions with the band’s masqueraders are more deliberate and considered.

In one remarkable photograph, designer Stephen Sheppard, playing Alladin in Hocus Pocus, appears to glide along the roadway on his magic carpet, the roadside onlookers subtly blurred as he appears to speed by.

In another, a sexy showgirl in a tuxedo top with glorious legs in black stockings leads her section down Ariapita Avenue.

In this book, George Tang has captured a remarkable era of Carnival, the last era of massive costumes, capes, standards and headgear and yes, even cocoyea as the principal decoration of a band.

Writer Ray Funk works hard to craft a context for the work, writing informative chapter openers for each of the band and contributing an extensive history of both the photographer and the bandleader at the end of the book.

It’s a exhaustive effort to offer a context for the other 26 Lee Heung Carnival productions, but it’s also a reminder of just how much has been lost over the years through institutional disinterest in the visual history of the festival.

Funk writes well and engagingly, but the text could have done with some professional oversight and a copyeditor’s pruning, the occasional error a disturbing hiccup and the writer’s love fest with the sheer enormity of the Lee Heung legacy called for more grit and less helium.

The restoration work on the images is also somewhat, um, spotty, with several images in need of professional toning adjustment and crud on the originals needing removal.

Still, there’s no denying that where there was nothing, there is now something. Mr Funk and Mr Tang have sacrificed a great deal to produce this document and as a self-published Blurb book, it is likely to be both costly to reproduce and rare in number.

source

New book features mas of Stephen Lee Heung

A new book of unseen historic photos of Carnival is being celebrated at a book launch that will offer amazing unseen film footage of Stephen Lee Heung’s bands including the only known footage of Paradise Lost, the first carnival band designed by Peter

A masquerader from Stephen Lee Heung’s 1976 band Paradise Lost
 which was designed by Peter Minshall. PHOTO: GEORGE TANG

Minshall.

The book We Kind ah People, The Trinidad Carnival Masquerade Bands of Stephen Lee Heung with photography by George Tang and text by Ray Funk will be launched at the AV Room at Nalis at 6 pm on October 7, a release said. 

Stephen Lee Heung is one of the great mas bandleaders whose legacy is unparalleled. He briefly led small bands in the 40s but it was 1964 that he formed a major band, hiring Carlisle Chang as his first designer and immediately leaped to the top ranks of bands like those of George Bailey, Harold Saldenah, and Edmund Hart. 

From 1964 to 1996, Stephen Lee Heung was always considered a leading bandleader. He won band of the year six times, was awarded the Humming Bird prize and often had king of the band or queen of the band. His late wife Elsie was an integral part of the band every year and the book is dedicated to her. With hundreds of photos this book is part of the needed legacy on documenting great masquerade bandleaders of the past. 

The stunning photos are by Stephen’s cousin George Tang and have remained unseen for these many decades. “Discovered” by Ray Funk who met Tang through his son in law Mark Loquan, the composer of music for the steelpan and founder of the Music Literacy Trust. They worked together to produce this first book of his photos with Funk contributing a detailed history on Stephen Lee Heung’s bands. 

Tang photographed 20 years of the band’s history from 1974 to 1994. These photos represent key years from the bands designed by Carlisle Chang to those of Follette Eustace including Band of the Year We Kind ah People to several Wayne Berkeley designed bands like Cocoyea Village and Follette Eustace’s bands like Columbus and Festival. 

The organisers of the book launch said it will be a bit unusual because it will be as much a film show as it is a book launch. For the first time, the public will have a chance to see a part of the film that Tang took. The plan for the book launch is to show the silent film footage and have Tang and others talk about the bands. It is hoped that many people who were part of the band will come to the launch.

For the legions of Minshall fans the book will have special interest because of Tang’s documentation of Paradise Lost. The book includes a number of amazing photos from that year and the book launch will feature this footage of Paradise Lost that is the only known footage that has survived for that year.

Ray Funk is a retired Alaska judge who has been coming to Trinidad for Carnival for almost two decades. He started with a love of calypso that has grown into a passion for pan and an obsession with traditional carnival characters and classic mas bands. He writes articles for the Trinidad newspapers, co-curated an exhibit on the globalisation of calypso, and gives annual presentations at Nalis during Carnival and now presents rare historic film clips each Carnival for the T&T Film Festival. 

He also co-wrote and produced a major study on the Calypso Craze of 1957 that has just been released by Bear Family Records in Germany as a box set with a large coffee table book, six CDs and a DVD. It will soon be available in Trinidad with a launch planned for next Carnival. 

MORE INFO

Because of limited seating and expected high demand, reservations should be made. 

E-mail rfunk99707@gmail.com with a name and the number of seats requested. 

We Kind ah People will be available from Paperbased at the Normandie Hotel in Trinidad and later this year on Amazon. For further information or to arrange interviews, contact Ray Funk at rfunk99707@gmail.com or call 868-714-8555.

Source:Trinidad Guardian

ZERO FIVE FIFTY: ADDICTED MAS 2014

ZERO FIVE FIFTY: Synopsis

As we approach the 5oth year of this landmark on the British cultural landscape called the Notting hill carnival, and 5 years of the Addicted section partaking in this socio/ cultural titan of a celebration with Cocoyea, Addicted celebrates the past and present through the metallic lens of the future, in ZERO FIVE FIFTY.

 ‘Five years of Addicted Fifty years of Notting hill Carnival’

Zero Five Fifty the theme and Storyline is inspired by the Afro futurism movement.

 “literary and cultural aesthetic that combines elements ofscience fiction,historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magic realismwith non-Westerncosmologies in order to critique not only the present-daydilemmas of people of color, but also to revise, interrogate, and re-examinethe historical events of the past”

The year is 2114 AD and a group of time travellers in search of the perfect multicultural society travel back through time to experience first-hand what Notting Hill Carnival was like in its historic 50^th year of existence.

The Afrotek time machine transports the group to the heart of the festival in the legendary ADDICTED MAS section whose energy and symbolic golden lotus costume epitomised all achievement and enlightenment, the utopian existence the travellers were in search of... 

The future starts now.

ZERO FIVE FIFTY: The Golden Lotus.

 Design and inspiration

Because the lotus flower grows in murky muddy water, surfaces to bloom during the day, only to return to the murky depths of mud at night, cultures across the globe have identified the lotus with many aspects of life.

 In ancient Egypt it was associated with the sun, beauty, resurrection, and rebirth. In Buddhism it is a symbol of purity in mind speech and body, in Hinduism, beauty and spiritual awakening. It is on this premise that the designer S.A Armstrong saw inspiration in not only the petals of the lotus flower but also its life cycle.

It was 50 years ago out of the dark racially explosive period of the late 1950’s the Trinidad and Tobago's carnival culture made its first appearance in London.  By 1965 Mrs Rhaune Laslett O’Brian (1919 2002) a community activist and Trinidadian musician Mr Russ Henderson MBE started a street parade that became known as the Notting Hill Carnival.

Like the lotus the carnival grew out of the impoverished streets of post WW2 West London and the social murk of racism and social ostracising to blossom like the lotus flower into London’s most popular social symbol of creativity, beauty and multiculturalism. 

 The costumes are made up of three colours.

Gold: the 50^th anniversary is called the golden anniversary or golden jubilee and in recognition and of this milestone year the costumes main colour is gold.

Silver: the hints of silver in the costumes symbolise not only the 5 years of the Addicted presence in Notting hill but also the chrome of the steel pan the instrument that literally paved the way with music for Europe's biggest Caribbean carnival to take place.

Purple/Violet: is thought to be the highest chakra in the human body and symbolises creativity beauty and inspiration, the very building blocks of our carnival, it is also considered to be the colour of  royalty, nobility and power.

S.A. Armstrong

Addicted Designer.

Zero Five Fifty will be on the road with the band Cocoyea on bank holiday Monday August 25^th 2014.

For more information contact: Melmia Innis, Juniour Innis