Caribbean Carnival Arts Workshop in Music and Movement of Trinidad with Cashiboo Folk Performer Selwyn Coppin, 2002
PerformerPerformed by
Selwyn Coppin
Date2002 July 11
Mediumreformatted digital file from audio cassette
DimensionsDuration: 46 Minutes, 19 Seconds
ClassificationsInformation Artifacts
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.714a-c
DescriptionAudio cassette tape recording of a workshop on the music and movement of Trinidad Carnival taught by Selwyn Coppin of Cashiboo Folk Performers. The workshop was held at the Institute for Community Research in Hartford, Connecticut on July 11, 2002.
NotesSubject Note: Traditional Arts Workshops for Adults and Older Teens at the Institute for Community Research in Hartford. The Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program (CCHAP) presented four traditional arts workshops during 2002: African American quilting led by Laura Hudson; Caribbean dance, drumming, hair braiding, and carnival headdresses led by Leon Phillip, Rachel Hall, and Selwyn Coppin of Cashiboo Folk Performers (in collaboration with Sankofa Kuumba); Puerto Rican painting on silk with Ilka Robles; and Lithuanian straw ornaments with Aldona Saimininkas. The workshop series was supported by the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute for Community Research.Building on the success of the 1999 workshops featuring master traditional artists from Puerto Rico, CCHAP produced four more workshops from a broad variety of cultures important to the Greater Hartford area. Artist/Teachers were prominent traditional artists from the area who are well-respected in their communities and skilled in demonstrating and teaching their ethnic art forms. The artists were located, trained, and presented through ICR’s Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program, a statewide folk and traditional arts initiative. This new workshop project was developed in response to requests from previous participants and many other older teens and adults wanting to learn new artistic skills especially in traditional forms. CCHAP collaborated with the Cashiboo Folk Performers from Trinidad who were visiting Hartford through the Sankofa Kuumba dance group.
The goal of the workshops was to provide artistic training in and appreciation for traditional arts which are sometimes considered to be easy or unimportant as art forms. For many members of ethnic communities, their artistic traditions have deep roots in history and culture, and are an important source of cultural identity and knowledge. These art forms are usually learned under the tutelage of a mentor artist, and are rigorous in quality. The workshops, which were open to all Greater Hartford residents, featured information, stories, and experiences from each of the groups represented, led by the artist/teachers in addition to the artistic training. The workshops culminated in a First Thursday open house at ICR’s Gallery on March 7, 2003, with artists and students showcasing the results of their learning in an exhibition with demonstrations, sales of art works, and ethnic foods.
From July 8-July 11, 2002, visiting artists Selwyn Coppin, Rachel Hall, and Leon Phillip of the Cashiboo Folk Performers from Trinidad and Tobago provided instruction in Caribbean Carnival traditions such as dance movement and drumming, Carnival costume making, and hair braiding. Participants created headdresses and learned dances that they could use in the upcoming West Indian Parade and Festival. The Cashiboo Folk Performers were in residence in Hartford under the auspices of Sankofa Kuumba Cultural Arts Consortium. Cashiboo Folk Performers were skilled performers and visual artists steeped in the traditions of Trinidad’s annual Carnival, such as mas-making and dancing, costume designing, drumming and drum making, stiltwalking, sculpture, painting, body art, and stories and songs. They spend the months from December to February organizing and producing the extensive preparations necessary for Jouvé and Carnival each year. CCHAP’s workshop with Cashiboo was developed in collaboration with Sankofa Kuumba which organized a long residency in Hartford for this group.
Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archive for these artists and activities.
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
