La la land

And not like the Hollywood film of the same name that just broke records for winning Golden Globe awards.

As I stared at the photos of the ‘Jouvert’ costumes, I experienced the familiar unpleasant sensation that when it comes to our Carnival, some of us operate in a clear historical space while others function in a world of their own creation.

The outfits, revealing, skin tight and in need of imagination, featured black and white stripes remarkably similar to the T&T flag. Expectedly, debate exploded regarding the legality of the ‘designs’, even as the people who came up with the clothes protested they had broken no laws.

However, for me, isn’t the crucial issue the fact that the costumes have absolutely nothing at all to do with our early morning Carnival ritual? Jouvert is not ‘a celebration of the darker side of life’ as one website contends. It is also not about the ‘start of the bacchanal of Carnival’ or about how dirty you get. Rather, this practice of greeting the start of Carnival at 4am is about ancestral reverence, that is, paying homage to the memory of the former enslaved and those who fought for the Carnival, sometimes with their lives, by engaging in a ritual of remembrance.

Historically, the covering of the body with mud and other substances such as roucou, a natural red dye used by First Peoples, is also associated with warriorhood and preparation for battle.

Practitioners of indigenous belief systems choose early in the morning to communicate with the gods, the forces of the earth and the universe because they trust that this is the most potent time to offer prayers and realign ourselves and our space.

Our Jouvert ritual, our way of calling on positive energies, is the process by which we cover ourselves in mud — just mud, not paint or chocolate or any such invention. Mud is created by the mixing of earth and water, two substances vital to our survival.

The covering of the body is reminiscent of the ancient rituals of the Orishas as practised and preserved by the Yoruba and the other peoples of Africa who came here.

Professor Hollis Liverpool has noted the emergence of the Jouvert from around 1900. Subsequently, various elements entered the celebration, such as ‘ole mask’ or ‘ole mas’, where ordinary people parodied or laughed at the elite. In time, the practice of wearing ‘anything from a towel, torn pyjamas, crocus bag suits’ also infiltrated.

Soon all classes participated in this ‘ritual of rebellion’ where they used the culture to demonstrate against inequalities in society. Later, our pan, forged through the same spirituality, joined the ritual.

Cultural advocates are of the conviction that Carnival can be one of the key vehicles of transformation in our society.

I stared at the clothes some more and thought of Senior Gomez, Kitch, George Bailey, Winston ‘Spree’ Simon, Jit Samaroo, Beryl Mc Burnie and others throughout time who consciously used their craft to carve out a creative and intellectual space through the Carnival and Folk Arts.

But it appears that it was not enough.

Jouvert is a very serious, spiritual activity that signals the start of our Carnival. Our Festival was born out of struggle, sacrifice and rebellion, notably the 1881 riots which ensured that we have our celebration today.

We continue to ignore and trivialise these cultural traditions, losing opportunities to enrich and empower our society.

We need to get out of ‘la la land’ before the illusion completely replaces what is real.

D a r a Healy is a perform a n c e artist and founder of the NGO, the Indigenous Creative Arts Network – ICAN.