Last Tuesday, Brian Mac Farlane hosted an online Facebook Heritage Talk to respond to detractors of his Carnival 2017 mas presentation Cazabon: The Art of Living and the furore one of its 14 sections has caused on social media. Mac Farlane announced the withdrawal of the offending section—La Belle Madame and Garcon de la Maison (The Pretty Lady and the Houseboy)—from the presentation.
Many of the commentators claim that the depiction, designed by Mac Farlane, is racist. This week, spoken word artiste/actor Muhammad Muwakil said: “If I felt there was great substance behind the concept and portrayal, then I would not have a problem with it. Mas has always been a provocative thing. But it has never been provocation for the sake of provocation.
“There are instruments that we have created, such as double entendre and masking, that we use to get our revolutionary messages across. In my opinion, this in no way embodies any of that.
“This seems to me to be a misrepresentation of the plantation experience of the African enslaved. If not that, then it is a glorification of the skewed relationship that would have developed through centuries of mental conditioning that would have been deployed specifically to bend the African psyche to the will of the oppressor.”
Cazabon: The Art of Living is supposed to be a tribute to 19th century artist Michel-Jean Cazabon and the fashion and architecture of the period, and La Belle Madame and Garcon de la Maison (The Pretty Lady and the Houseboy) portrayed a white woman of the late 1800s and a black house servant.
About the section, Muwakil added: “It is an insult and an affront to the work of such as people as Eintou Springer, Leroi Clarke, Makandal Daaga, Ella Andall, and all of the elders who have laboured to bring our consciousness to the point that we find ourselves now, in which we should be able to properly and thoroughly interrogate our history in a manner designed to move us forward, and not retard us as a people.”
The leading authority on Michel-Jean Cazabon, architect Geoffrey MacLean, said: “Mac Farlane’s costumes are portrayed in the image of the Magnificent Seven, edifices that were constructed after Cazabon died, at least 20 years after his passing. So one looks at the costumes as displays in the context of the early 20th century.” He added: “The whiteness of the band, the use of the colour, is misleading in terms of the reference to Cazabon. His paintings were full of colour.”
MacLean continued: “Cazabon didn’t paint portraits of the social class in the context of that environment that seems to be portrayed by Mac Farlane’s band. He certainly did formal portraits of the estate owners and the everyday working- and middle-class Trinidadians. In his work you can see images of both the creole and East Indian citizenry, whom Cazabon portrayed with tremendous elegance.”
About the artist who died of a heart attack in 1888 as a disillusioned and depressed man, MacLean said: “There is a certain amount of criticism in Cazabon’s work that he didn’t portray Trinidad in perhaps its reality; he romanticised. This is arguable, remembering his whole philosophy came from the French landscape movement which was a romantic movement in the development of art in Europe at the time.
“It is unfortunate that this whole thing has backfired on Cazabon, regardless that he did more to portray Trinidad’s landscape and people of that era than any 19th century artist. Of course there’s going to be an argument where that is concerned, especially in comparison to Richard Bridgens. These two men were complete opposites, in that Bridgens portrayed slavery in a very negative way which may well have been true. Cazabon, on the other hand, portrayed the workers of Trinidad in a very positive light.”
At Tuesday’s online Facebook Heritage Talk, Mac Farlane said: “When I embarked on this production, I made an effort to invite designers of fashion and mas to share in the creative process that has been more than just a career to all of us.
“Similarly, the naming of the presentation, Cazabon: The Art of Living, is based on the amazing architecture of the late 1800s and early 1900s which exists up to this day in communities such as Belmont, East Port-of-Spain, Woodbrook, in the east of Trinidad, across the Central plains and parts of Tobago, in addition to the more recognised spaces such as the Magnificent 7.”
He added: “While I want to always ensure that I accurately reflect our incredibly multidimensional history, I understand that there is still a lot for me to explore, to unearth, to unlearn and to learn. My intention was never to offend anyone, or to come across as ignorant of our truth, or to idealise insensitivity. It was to depict the clothing of the time.
“However, I understand how and why it hurt some of us. And it is with this realisation that I have made the decision to not move forward with this particular section from the 2017 presentation. I am deeply, deeply sorry for the pain that I have caused.
“In my heart, I feel that the production of Cazabon: The Art of Living holds power for us as a nation and as a people free to learn, discuss and prosper.
“I welcome the healthy debate, because it can lead to a deeper understanding of our growth as a connected people. Certainly, I have learned a lot from this experience, for which I am thankful.
“I can only hope these conversations build us up to listen to each other, journey with our fellow citizen, act as messengers of change and educate future generations as to the richness and diverse nature of our identity and heritage.”
Hosted by Wendell Constantine, Friday night’s unveiling of the band’s costumes, held at The Courtyard of Queen’s Royal College in St Clair, was preceded by brief addresses by Citizens for Conservation president Rudylynn Roberts, National Trust of T&T deputy chairman Margaret McDowall and Art Society of T&T president Clayton De Freitas. The trio complimented Mac Farlane for drawing attention to the need for restoring and maintaining heritage buildings and sites nationwide.
Cazabon—The Art of Living at The Courtyard will now comprise 13 sections, designed by several of T&T’s top designers including Heather Jones, Sonia Mack, Diane Hunt, Peter Elias, Claudia Pegus and Dhisha Veenu Moorjani of House of Jaipur. Also on the design team are UTT graduates Adrian Foster, Harvey Robertson and Kaleen Sanois.