Times change, and Carnival changes with it — for better or for worse? Mark Lyndersay, Laura Dowrich, and Tracy Assing talk to eight Carnival insiders about the state of the mas and the state of the music, where the festival is heading, and how it will get there
Look at photographs from the Carnival parade fifty years ago, and there are things that don’t seem to have changed much: the layout of the main stage at the Queen’s Park Savannah, the joy and abandon of the masqueraders in their spotlight moment, the advertising hoardings in the background.
But there’s much that’s obviously different in those archival images: the design of the costumes, the scale and organisation of the bands, even the gender of the masqueraders — women nowadays dominate most mas bands, by a wide margin. And there are more profound differences that photos can’t capture, in the logistics and economics of the festival.
Carnival is a season of creativity and commercialism that dominates the first two months of every year in T&T. But it’s also — and always has been — a kind of battleground for certain social ideas, for notions of cultural identity. Over the two centuries in which the twin islands have evolved from colonies into a postcolonial nation, Carnival has evolved too.
Purists believe today’s Carnival retains the DNA of social resistance that shaped its nineteenth-century incarnation. Entrepreneurs see the festival as an opportunity for investment. The state subsidises the Carnival season to the tune of many millions, arguing that it stimulates tourism. And ordinary revellers, for the most part, just want to have fun, which increasingly means spending big bucks for an “all-inclusive” experience. Somehow, Carnival still manages to accommodate all these agendas — but not without an annual upwelling of heated debate.
Read the original article here: http://caribbean-beat.com/issue-137/not-your-parents-carnival#ixzz3wILlQP00
Replies
What it all means is that, forget about culture , the entrepreneurs , soca people , bandleaders and others have figured out ways of exploiting the Carnival for financial profit , with no push back from the steelbands , who have ignored the Carnival parade almost completely ( with the notable exception of Trinidad All Stars ) in hopes of profiting from a possible panorama placing,
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I don't think that dismissing entrepreneurship in Carnival is any kind of solution to the issues that are at stake here.
The state of steelband was discussed in the planning sessions for the project, but there was little consensus on any pivotal movement forward that could be identified as one that acknowledged current realities and sought to forge new approaches. I am keen to be disabused of that conclusion with a single specific example.
Culture cannot be disassociated from business. All of Carnival was a business , from the roadside vendors to the bandleaders. It's possible to love something and to be adequately recompensed by it too.
Not once was there any mention of the steelband, these people will laugh at you if you ask about the steelband,they hijack carnival all for themselves.
Anyone that want to find out the state of the steelband and carnival in T&T should have a read.
Actually, Cecil, I think that it is a VERY TRITE article!!!
"... as we change, Carnival changes with us, and nostalgia just can’t keep up."
True , Claude , but accepting that philosophy of not being able to influence change is defeatist.
Change doesn't always happen naturally
People create change , influence events that change the course of history.
That is what makes some people special.
Part of our problem as pan people is we're waiting for something to happen , some magic that will make our beloved artform loved and appreciated by the masses.
If this is to happen ,such change will not happen naturally
We will have to MAKE it happen.
And I try to proceed with an intelligent discussion , Claude .
I'm 70 years old and I'm tired about the BS about nostalgia.
Instead about talking about nostalgia from us old folks , I wish you'd come up with some new ideas.
Glenroy: Just for the record, since this is a continuing discussion, I cut and paste "that line" from the topic article. I am just making sure that you are aware of that.
I love it - the idea of making it happen!! that's the only way!