Bridging the gap in awareness and knowledge for those not familiar with the Carnival experience

BY PAUL JUNOR

The captivating and inspiring Carnival Arts costume showcase was held on Friday, April 12^th, 2024, at the Student Learning Centre located at the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). It featured many student designers who were enrolled in the Fashion Arts program at TMU. The promotional material describes it as a showcase of creativity, storytelling, and student-curated costumes taking center stage with SugaCayne’s Innovation in Mas collection.

This is made possible through SugaCayne, which is one of the newest bands in the Toronto Caribbean Carnival launched in 2010. “We are honoured to fulfill our mission to create educational spaces and exhibitions for the carnival curious in collaboration with the TMU School of Fashion’s flagship event Mass Exodus.”

I spoke with bandleader Dwayne Harris of SugaCayne prior to the showcase. He was quite excited to be involved in this launch in partnership with TMU. He told me that he has previously worked with the Toronto Revellers prior to launching his own band with his wife. He is excited about this unique partnership as it serves “To bridge the gap in awareness and knowledge for those who may not be as familiar with the Carnival experience by creating educational spaces and exhibitions.”

The costumes designed by SugaCayne have been featured at different locations in the Greater Toronto Area. They include places such as: Toronto Carnival, Nike, Artwork TO, The Design Exchange, Holt Renfrew, The Bob Marley Experience, and the Royal Ontario Museum as well as other venues in the Greater Toronto Area.

Caron Phinney (Course Instructor) describes details about the Carnival Arts course at the Creative School at TMU. “It brings an innovative and critical learning experience like no other in North America. The course offers a contextual history of carnival and challenges students to upcycle materials and explore digital fabrication.” She describes the significance of the showcase as the catalyst of explorations and discoveries in the future. She notes, “The show is a space for students to express complex human stories through colourful and intricate design work that celebrates not just Caribbean tales, but also encourages students to learn from, explore, and embrace their own cultural background.”

The narrator of the showcase was Henry Gomez (aka King Cosmos). He is well known as a calypsonian in the Greater Toronto Area and regularly performs across Canada. He was introduced as a “Trinidadian and Tobagobian Canadian musician, actor, and educator. He is recognized as one of Canada’s best-known performers of Caribbean music and revered elder in the Caribbean Arts community.” He provided a good overview of the history of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival from its start in 1967 to the present. He outlines many of its features, the importance to Canada, and its future potential.

The names of the scenes that were presented in the showcase are:

• Fantasy & Folklore
• Natural Phenomenon
• Flora & Fauna
• Darkside

The showcase of the visually exciting and spectacularly appealing costumes provides a platform to bring the design process in the classroom. Students who were involved in the production of the Carnival Arts Show were enrolled in the transdisciplinary Live Event Supercourse. They participated directly in an environment that duplicated various aspects of the real-world. There is a collaborative approach with respect to different event production. Students participate in areas such as:

• Management roles
• Broadcast
• Curation
• Installation
• Exhibition Design
• Service Design
• Space Design
• Content Creation
• Technical Direction
• Promotion
• Budgeting