Mas Camp Performers at West Indian Independence Day Festival, 2016
SubjectPortrait of
Ashely Plummer
SubjectPortrait of
Keimani Delpeche
(Trinidadian)
Date2016
Mediumborn digital photography
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.530.1-.17
DescriptionPhotographs of Mas Camp performers in the West Indian Independence Day Festival parade in 2016. The Mas Camp Exotic One's Band is getting ready and perfoming at the West Indian Independence Day Festival at Bushnell Park.
(.1-.2) Mas Camp peer educator and costume assistant Ashely Plummer in her costume.
(.3-.5) Mas Camp masqueraders in their section costumes.
(.6) Mas Camp peer educator and costume assistant Ashely Plummer adjusting the costume on the youngest masquerader, TT Baker, daughter of costume designer Q Delpeche.
(.7) Mas Camp section leader headdress.
(.8) Mas Camp section leader costume showing backpack.
(.9) Mas Camp masquerader TT Baker showing the back of her costume.
(.10-.11) Mas Camp masqueraders in their section costumes.
(.12) Mas Camp costume designer Q Delpeche adjusting a masquerader's costume.
(.13) Mas Camp costumes close-up.
(.14) Mas Camp masqueraders section getting ready to perform.
(.15) Mas Camp Exotic One's Band banner.
(.16) Mas Camp Exotic One's performing their routine onstage at the festival.
(.17) Mas Camp Exotic One's adult section performing their routine onstage at the festival.
NotesSubject Note: A significant wave of West Indian immigration to the United States began in the 1940s. Many settled in the Hartford area because the labor shortage of World War II meant there were available jobs in the tobacco fields along the Connecticut River Valley. Men worked in the fields while women often found work as housekeepers, teachers, nurses, and aides. Local organizations helped transition new immigrants to Connecticut culture and offered friendship, housing, economic opportunities, and community connections. Today, Connecticut’s West Indian community includes immigrants from all the islands in the Caribbean. They have established significant sports, cultural, and social clubs. The community has created vibrant dance and music groups, and produces an annual week-long festival that attracts audiences from all over the Northeast. With Greater Hartford now being home to the third largest West Indian community in the nation, beloved traditions like Carnival have been transplanted and sustained here.(.1-.2) Mas Camp peer educator and costume assistant Ashely Plummer in her costume.
(.3-.5) Mas Camp masqueraders in their section costumes.
(.6) Mas Camp peer educator and costume assistant Ashely Plummer adjusting the costume on the youngest masquerader, TT Baker, daughter of costume designer Q Delpeche.
(.7) Mas Camp section leader headdress.
(.8) Mas Camp section leader costume showing backpack.
(.9) Mas Camp masquerader TT Baker showing the back of her costume.
(.10-.11) Mas Camp masqueraders in their section costumes.
(.12) Mas Camp costume designer Q Delpeche adjusting a masquerader's costume.
(.13) Mas Camp costumes close-up.
(.14) Mas Camp masqueraders section getting ready to perform.
(.15) Mas Camp Exotic One's Band banner.
(.16) Mas Camp Exotic One's performing their routine onstage at the festival.
(.17) Mas Camp Exotic One's adult section performing their routine onstage at the festival.
In 1962, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago claimed their Independence from Great Britain. Since then, the West Indian Parade and Independence Celebration has been a highlight of Hartford’s summer activities. The Hartford celebration, held for a full week in August, is based on Carnival, a pre-Lenten celebration of spring and renewal in the islands, especially Trinidad. Masquerading, or playing Mas is an essential part of Carnival. Mas represents a theatrical adoption and presentation of roles and characters that originally expressed mockery of upper classes. Colorful, often spectacular costumes designed by traditional Mas artists depict fanciful themes or current issues. Gossamer fabrics, plumes and feathers, braiding, sequins and gems used in previous years are recycled to express the new year’s themes. Mas and Carnival serve as central expressions of Caribbean cultural identity and heritage.
During Carnival parades, groups of masqueraders form bands and dance to calypso or soca music. The bands have sections each led by a “frontliner” wearing a costume with a “backpack” frame that supports a headpiece. “Individual” character costumes are bigger still, with wings created from fabric stretched over a wire frame. The most elaborate costumes, the King and Queen, require bent steel frames on wheels so the person carrying the heavy costume can lead the band through the parade.
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 2016, sixteen students and thrity-eight adult and student volunteers participated. Costume maker Keimani “Q” Delpeche created the Mas outfits along with several experienced assistants and many volunteer parents. Dance teacher Clerona Cain, and dance assistant Ashely Plummer trained the students in “displaying” their costumes in a parade. They formed a Carnival “Band” called the Exotic One’s, with six sections of masqueraders in different color schemes portraying the theme of “Around The World.” The Band performed with their costumes in the Taste of the Caribbean Festival at the Riverfront, and the West Indian 54th Anniversary Independence Parade and Festival, as well as at an outdoor concert to mark the opening of the Mas Camp exhibition and student graduation at the Connecticut Historical Society.
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: Ashely Plummer was an alumna of Mas Camp 2011 and 2012, where her maturity and dedication really stood out. She attended the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. In 2012, Ashely not only made her own costume and displayed it in parades as a section leader, but she served as a role model for the other teens because of her work ethic. In 2014 and 2015, she served as Assistant Dance Instructor, encouraging the girls to develop, practice, and perform dance routines wearing their costumes. In 2015 and 2016, she was a peer educator at Mas Camp, helping students design and create their costumes.
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.
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