Vulgar Fraction launches Mas Mourning band

Independent small mas band Vulgar Fraction’s launch of its 2020 presentation Mas Mourning–Becoming Wreaths on Thursday featured an all-star panel as well as a small presentation of finished costumes.

The panel was comprised of 3Canal’s Wendell Manwarren, UWI lecturer Dr Marsha Pearce, art therapist Celeste Walters, and Orisha priest and Young Kings Calypso Monarch 2020 Addelon Braveboy.

Vulgar Fraction designer Robert Young said the purpose of the mas was to allow people to explore and express the grief they were feeling during the covid19 pandemic. He said while there would be no procession in the normal manner, as this was currently illegal, participants would be able to wear the costume in their yards, in the spaces once occupied by the people they are mourning, or in other safe areas.

He said materials would be provided to people at their homes or they could make appointments to come to the studio to work on their costumes. He said masqueraders could make contributions to masks. The materials being used are banana leaves and other natural leaves.

“We’re bringing banana leaves from Toco and can deliver them if needs be. The middle of the branch can be woven into fabric. It’s a concept band so each masquerader can figure out what works for them. They come with a sense of their own story.”

Pearce said the band was conceived with her students during classes where covid19 was the topic of the day.

“I could see that they had not had time to process the loss of their loved ones. There are two ways to become wreaths – impulsively or by design. The difference is that one might lead us to closing in as a people while the other might lead us to being more open. If you look at the history of the word writhe, it means to twist up, to curl up in response to physical pain. Since the pandemic started, people have begun sleeping in the fetal position.

“If we look at intentionality, to see ourselves as wreaths is to connect us to ourselves and each other, in a circle of movement and motion. We decided to collaborate with The Cloth as a deliberate action, to ask the student to consider what it means to become a wreath.”

Walters said she utilises the creative process to engage people where they are. She said she sees it as expression rather than skill. She made the distinction between grief and mourning, a distinction which made a great impression on the panellists.

“Grief is the internal process, while mourning is the external process, how we externalise what we are feeling. Carnival is a place for us to be in community with each other and also to process and express how we are feeling.”

Manwarren said 3 Canal was celebrating its 25th year of existence. He said there was a period where there was a monumental loss to the creative community every week, including that of Tony Hall.

“Knowing that we’ve been around for 25 years, and then knowing there was no Carnival, was a tremendous blow. We are finding a new way to keep doing what we’ve been doing, and that’s important, because we’d fallen into the spectacle trap. Tony said to us once that the effort being put into ensuring that this thing happens is the greatest obstacle to it happening.

“I feel great contempt when I hear those in authority say if we don’t do something for Carnival we will lose our spot. Carnival is all of us, our Carnival is all over the world. The people is what makes the Carnival. I think we lost an opportunity over the last two years to see what Carnival is and what it could be. We are not doing enough to pass on the legacy of Carnival. We need to ring-fence the pockets of real tradition, like Paramin and the Alfreds.”

Manwarren said the hardest part of not having Carnival last year was not being able to commune with others.

Braveboy said the Orisha religion recognised that life is a cycle, where spirits exist, come into the physical world, and then leave it. He said there are three practices which were celebrated.

“There’s the blessing at birth, the commemoration of the physical return to earth of an ancestral spirit. Then there are the sacrifices during life, where significant occasions are celebrated. Finally there is the celebration of death, where the spirit of the departed has rejoined the ancestors. The cornerstone of the belief is that death is not the end of the cycle of the spirit.”

He said mas combines the three events in addition to the Trinidadian and Tobagonian culture.

Those who are interested in being part of the band can message The Cloth or Vulgar Fraction on Facebook and Instagram, call Young on 774-9368 or email vulgarfraction@thecloth.com.

The video of the panel can be found at https://www.facebook.com/theclothcaribbean/videos/1362320210867463