THE NCF SHOULD be congratulated on another successful and relatively incident-free festival which in many ways serves as an indicator of the overall direction that the festival is going. As is often the case, in the days following the main event there has been a chorus of complaint about the declining standards of the parade.
On this occasion, veteran bandleaders have been vocal about the “skimpiness” of costumes and the lack of creativity, with one appearing to cross a line of sanity by suggesting that people who parade “half-naked” should be incarcerated for this offence. This comment was obviously made in the heat of the moment and need not attract serious comment. However, the general sentiment ought to be considered.
There is a divide within the community of masqueraders which separates those who see the parade as a forum for creative expression from those who welcome the opportunity to expose as much of themselves to the viewing public as the law will permit. In previous commentaries I have discussed the phenomenon of this secondary group which is nestled in a repressed society that frowns on someone applying for a court document in shorts. Our rebellious nature is such that we seize upon the festival to be true to ourselves and “force” members of the public to view us half-naked simulating sexual activities.
As much as these practices speak to who we are, there is also an offence that is created towards the more artistic folk who have a desire to express their creativity. I do not present myself as one of these artistic persons and cannot contemplate their frustrations or sense of violation by this trend towards public nudity. I agree there are some important issues that need to be considered and significant among these is the fact that this trend is part of a global phenomenon in places where such parades are popular.
In Trinidad and Tobago the debate could be summed up as Minshall versus the rest, while in Rio it would appear that there is some level of acceptance that body paint can and should replace traditional clothing.
The other and more important point which has implications for other aspects of our festival is that these activities are market-driven and the festival market has an appetite for nudity. This was reflected in veteran bandleader Chetwin Stewart’s comment that he would issue some masqueraders with a standard consume and they would return with a “T Back” or abandon the halter top altogether and replace it with body paint.
The obvious dilemma that arises here is the logic of someone like Stewart enforcing a dress code against an uncooperative but paying customer to satisfy the concerns of someone who either has no interest in playing mas period, or at least not with his group.
Over time potential masqueraders have moved steadily away from conservative and traditional bands towards those that allow them to strip off as they prefer, and the economics of this trend is compelling. In Trinidad and Tobago Minshall and his successor Brian MacFarlane struggle to gain and hold masqueraders, in much the same way as Squires and West do here in Barbados. They can lay claim to hundreds of members while the other bands can easily command thousands and such will continue to be viable, while the purists seem to be facing extinction.
There is no obvious solution to this challenge although I am inclined to think that that the classic mas band deserves to be protected in much the same way that we protect coral reefs and preserve a place for “Walk Holy”. There, however, needs to be a realisation that the “mas market” is moving in a direction and we need to get onboard or be left behind and this applies as much to mas as it does to calypso, which has also been evolving. The regulatory authority, of course, needs to set a realistic bar in the interest of protecting the vulnerable but the remainder of us need to be more open to change and appreciate the extent to which our festival is evolving and this evolution could save it from extinction.
Peter W. Wickham is a political consultant and a director of Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES). Email: [email protected]
