PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
During our symposiums, we have discussed carnivals and festivals many times. Carnival, in particular, faces many questions regarding its direction and future, as well as other varying perspectives on it. As a response to concerns about carnival's direction, we are taking some initiative and offering our platform for people to comment with the intention of creating a 'carnival standards manifesto'. This is a way of moving discourse into positive action. Our initiative aligns with our mission statement, "to create a platform for collaboration and ideas exchange."
During our symposiums, we discuss carnival extensively, and other discussions can be found on various social media platforms, Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon's "gone too far" speech, and general concerns expressed by those involved in carnival, such as practitioners, carnival judges, enthusiasts, stakeholders, and organisers. There seems to be no doubt among all of them that carnival is taking a different direction from its humble beginnings to its current trajectory. Looking back at a video of Trinidad's carnival in 1957, it seems to portray creativity, jollity, warmth, and people enjoying the atmosphere.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Original video can be found here.
In contrast, some argue that the modern carnival seems to have shifted towards even more commercialisation, exploiting spectacle and perhaps overstimulation due to its worldwide expansion and popularity of the Caribbean carnivals (for some this includes Notting Hill and many other carnivals and events such as Labour Day, Miami, Caribana and those in the Caribbean like Cropover, Spice Mas, Vincy Mas, Dominica and St Lucia etc.). Some fear that this process brings with it the loss of some of its cultural and artistic resonance and community-driven essence. Sparking debates around preserving its cultural roots while adapting to contemporary expectations and international influence on its evolution. A common theme that attendees have voiced in our symposiums circulated around the issues in culture, mas', music in particular, kaiso/soca tents. There are also concerns about judging, presentation on the road, children and young people in carnival culture, and what their young minds and bodies are absorbing, learning, and what is being left behind for them.
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Trinidad's carnival is a 'Caribbean carnival' that produces tangible and intangible 'Caribbean Carnival Arts' music,mas, pan kaiso/soca. The art and competitions differentiates the Caribbean carnival from those ancient carnivals in Europe linked to the Catholic Church.
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With this in mind the aim is to produce a bold robust 'carnival standards manifesto' for the tangible and intangible arts, culture, mas', dance, pan, music (kaiso/soca), J'Ouvert and performance in carnival. This will be based on the feedback from carnival lovers, which means you.
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Carnival's strength can also be attributed to bottom-up organising. It is the people who can decide what kind of carnival they want to see, participate in, and leave behind. No one person, practitioner, band organiser or leader, not even our network etc. dictates the carnival.
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This project is essential for the future and artistic development of the carnival. Many have shared their view that the carnival has gradually descended into a 'sex show' with the proliferation of a 'commercial bikini mas', and "porn on the road". Mas' with no themes or objectives other than to attract and make money through sexual attraction, which can be exemplified in carnival brochures.
FCRE Public Engagement
We offer our networking platform only as an avenue for collaboration and ideas exchange. To facilitate this exchange, we are using our resources (website, newsletter, etc.), as well as the help of our volunteer admin to create a 'carnival standards manifesto'.
There will be a few stages to the process of creating useful standards. The first step will be a questionnaire, which will run until a reasonable number of responses are received. Following this, the responses will be collected and placed for anyone to vote on their top choices. As a result of the voting, a list of the top choices will be created to form the carnival standards manifesto. ​The results of the poll will be saved and can be viewed by anyone after they have been chosen by the people. The process and the results will be shared on our website. Individuals and organisations can share the link to this page or download a PDF copy.​​
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It is our pleasure to offer our administration's assistance in this endeavour. This is all we can do; the rest is up to the people. We look forward to hearing from you and continuing our discussion at our annual symposium.
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Data will be handled with the utmost care and will not be passed on to third parties or organisations.
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