Mas Camp Costume Preparation, 2012
SubjectPortrait of
Keimani Delpeche
(Trinidadian)
SubjectPortrait of
Harold Springer
(Trinidadian)
SubjectPortrait of
Alwin Cooper
(Trinidadian)
SubjectPortrait of
Uniqua Jones
Date2012 August 3
Mediumborn digital photography
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.505.1-.14
DescriptionPhotographs of Mas Camp costume preparation on August 3, 2012.
(.1) Image of Keimani "Q" Delpeche creating a mas costume.
(.2) Image of the Junior Queen costume.
(.3) Image of students rehearsing their dance routine. The costumes are visible in the background.
(.4-.6) Images of costume preparation.
(.7) Image of educators Harold Springer (left) and Lerry Cooper (right).
(.8) Image of Mas Camp students with their costumes. Uniqua Jones is in the center.
(.9-.11) Images of a craftsman welding the frame for the Queen costume.
(.12) Image of the Queen costume frame.
(.13) Image of examples of Exotic One's section costumes with the section names labeled: “Red Caution,” “Emerald Goddess,” and “Sugar & Spice.”
(.14) Image of parts of a section costume along with a flyer listing the West Indian Independence Week events.
NotesSubject Note: Hartford’s West Indian Independence Celebration began in 1962 to commemorate Jamaica’s and Trinidad and Tobago’s independence from the United Kingdom. The week-long celebration usually concludes with a parade and festival downtown featuring floats, steel band performances, and groups of local masqueraders displaying brilliant costumes called Mas. Mas represents an important and beloved art form in the West Indian communities that make up a vibrant component of Hartford’s population. The costumes and the traditions behind them serve as central expressions of cultural identity and heritage. The beauty of the costumes displayed by Hartford’s own masqueraders in the parade and festival, along with the excitement of their dance routines, bring a tremendous energy and pride to the city’s West Indian communities.(.1) Image of Keimani "Q" Delpeche creating a mas costume.
(.2) Image of the Junior Queen costume.
(.3) Image of students rehearsing their dance routine. The costumes are visible in the background.
(.4-.6) Images of costume preparation.
(.7) Image of educators Harold Springer (left) and Lerry Cooper (right).
(.8) Image of Mas Camp students with their costumes. Uniqua Jones is in the center.
(.9-.11) Images of a craftsman welding the frame for the Queen costume.
(.12) Image of the Queen costume frame.
(.13) Image of examples of Exotic One's section costumes with the section names labeled: “Red Caution,” “Emerald Goddess,” and “Sugar & Spice.”
(.14) Image of parts of a section costume along with a flyer listing the West Indian Independence Week events.
Subject Note: From 2011-2020, the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program at the Connecticut Historical Society partnered with the Connecticut Caribbean International Carnival Association to offer an annual summer youth employment program that trains Hartford youth in Carnival traditions central to their ethnic background. At the six-week “Mas Camp,” participants learned about the history and role of Carnival and masquerade. They designed and created their own Carnival costumes under the guidance of experienced Mas artists. The teens along with over two dozen volunteers, formed a Carnival Band that participated in several summer events showcasing Mas costumes totally made in Hartford. Mas Camp has helped to ensure that the Carnival tradition continues by training a new generation in the art of Mas making. In 2017, Mas Camp was selected as one of 50 exemplary youth programs nationwide by the National Arts and Heritage Youth Program.
Mas Camp was both a jobs program and an arts learning experience with social impact. The program mentored students in workplace readiness, social engagement, and cultural knowledge, offering alternative creative activities that fostered community involvement while providing fulfilling employment. Participants learned new skills including Caribbean cultural history, costume design, garment sewing and construction, creative movement, and teamwork. The teens experienced first-hand how to follow an artistic idea from background to completion and presentation, working both individually and collaboratively. Through the program, youth discovered that giving back to their community is an essential part of becoming a productive citizen. They experienced the joy of being part of a larger cultural group, and contributed their new skills to community activities.
During Mas Camp, the teens created their own costumes following themes and color schemes that they chose. The students and staff, along with volunteers from the community, formed a Carnival band they named Exotic One’s. Hartford costume maker Keimani “Q” Delpeche, who grew up in the Mas tradition in Trinidad and Boston, taught design and building of all the types of costumes. Choreographers including Clerona Cain and Coryse Villarouel developed dance routines with the students to train them in “displaying” their costumes in a parade. Some former students became peer educators helping to supervise Mas Camp activities in later years. The mentorship of several committed community educators and cultural leaders supported the teens and provided positive role models. The beauty of the costumes displayed by Hartford’s own masqueraders in the West Indian Parade and other festivals, along with the excitement of their dance routines, bring a tremendous energy and pride to the city’s West Indian communities.
During the summer of 2012, twenty students and over fifty volunteer students, children, and adults participated. Costume maker Keimani “Q” Delpeche created the designs along with experienced assistant Lerry Cooper and volunteer parents. Artistic director Harold Springer, dance teacher Coryse Villarouel, and dance assistant Uniqua Jones trained the students in “displaying” their costumes in a parade. They formed a Carnival “Band” called the Exotic One’s Part II, with seven sections of masqueraders in different color schemes. This year the group created a Queen and two Junior Queen costumes. The Band performed with their costumes in the Taste of the Caribbean Festival at the Riverfront on August 4, and in the West Indian 50th Anniversary Independence Parade and festival on August 11, winning the trophy for Best Costume.
Biographical Note: A Trinidad native and now a Hartford resident Keimani “Q” Delpeche was a member of the world renowned D’Midas and Associates Mas Band for 25 years. He started at age 11 hanging around the Mas camp like many Trinidadian kids do and took a liking to making carnival costumes. He learned from the teaching of master artist Stephen Derek and other workers around the camp. Q has mastered all aspects of the art of making costumes: designing to the theme, wire bending, braiding, gluing, covering, etc. At age 21 he became a traveling instructor, teaching in New York City, San Francisco, Miami, and most Caribbean Islands including St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Jamaica, and St. Croix. He did what he liked most: teaching and passing on the art of making costumes to kids and young adults alike. In 2002, he, along with other members of D’Midas and Associates from Boston, participated in the Hartford Carnival Parade. Q was the main designer and builder for the Queen costume made in the 2011 Mas Camp and since then designed and constructed the large and flamboyant multi-part wire-framed Queen, Junior Queen, Section Leader, and Frontline costumes, with input and assistance from the students who help to position and attach trim, beads, and feathers. Q also curated the Mas costume exhibits each year. His ultimate goal is to pass the art on to young Caribbean people and to educate other ethnic groups so they may aid in spreading the cultural heritage of Trinidad and Tobago.
Biographical Note: Harold Springer was involved in all aspects of Carnival in his native Trinidad, including calypso and steel pan music as well as masquerade costume-making and display. When he moved to Hartford in the early 1990s, he became Treasurer and then Vice President of the Trinidad and Tobago American Society here. He was a co-Founder of the Hartford Carnival Association in 2000 and has also served as Treasurer and now Director of Operations for CICCA. Among his responsibilities in that position, he organizes sections and bands to perform at West Indian events all over the Northeast. He specializes in the coordination of costume “playing” with music and dance, as the complete Carnival presentation. For many years Harold organized bands that performed at the West Indian Parade and the Taste of the Caribbean. He worked with the Mas Camp project from 2011-2014 as Artistic Director/Performance Consultant.
Biographical Note: Alwin “Lerry” Cooper, a part-time project educator in 2011, took on a wider role in 2012, and has been a key educator in 2013-2015 and 2020, teaching the teens how to work with the fabric, glue, decorative materials, etc. to bring their designs and the master artist’s designs into being. He is a record producer and event promoter, as well as an advisor on the West Indian Celebration Committee and President of The Mad Man Crew Mas Band that performs in the West Indian Parade every year. Mr. Cooper is a founding member of Connecticut International Cultural Carnival Association (CICCA), serving as its Director of Administration and Planning for several years. From Trinidad, he has produced costumes for carnivals in Hartford; Toronto; New York; Jamaica; Boston; Orlando; Washington, DC; Atlanta; and Trinidad.
Biographical Note: Uniqua Jones was an alumna of Mas Camp 2011, where her maturity and ability really stood out. Uniqua attended the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts half day program in Theater, and took ballet classes at the University of Hartford Hartt Community Division. In 2012, she came to Mas Camp to volunteer, and ended up becoming a role model for the teens in costume making and Assistant Dance Instructor in 2012 and 2013, encouraging the girls to develop and follow dance routines. Uniqua helped to choreograph the dance production that won first place at the West Indian Parade in 2013.
Additional audio, video, and/or photographic materials exist in the archive relating to this community and these events.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
