Antilles: the weblog of the CRB

At the BRIC Rotunda Gallery: Mas: From Process to Procession

Infinite Island isn't the only Caribbean art event happening in Brooklyn this month. Tomorrow a show called Mas: From Process to Procession: Caribbean Carnival as Art Practice, curated by Claire Tancons, opens at the BRIC Rotunda Gallery in downtown Brooklyn.



Moko jumbies in Port of Spain; photo by Stefan Falke

Mas "captures the creation process of the contemporary Caribbean Carnival from initial drawings to final street processions" and "seeks to challenge traditional modes of artistic representation and curatorial presentation, and in doing so, unveil Carnival, with its formal innovations, satirical political appraisals, and inherently public nature, as one of the most complete yet under recognised contemporary art forms". The participating artists include Trinidadians Marlon Griffith and Karyn Olivier, German photographer Stefan Falke (who has been photographing Trinidad Carnival for over a decade), Mexican Laura Anderson Barbata (who has also worked in Trinidad Carnival), and mega-puppeteers Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles (who spent the 2006 Carnival season in Trinidad and produced an event reinterpreting traditional dragon mas).

To accompany the exhibition, there will be a panel discussion on Thursday 20 September in the gallery.