BY: KABRENA ROBINSON
The first thing that comes to mind when we think about Caribbean carnival is the vivid and vibrant display of culture through music and of course the creatively designed costumes, kaleidoscopic designs and eye-catching adornments brought to life by the vision, creativity and hard work of various bands and section leaders. We are often captivated by the aesthetics of these carnival costumes but how often do we focus on the various themes involved in the creative process?
Carnival costumes are usually designed around a chosen theme each year. For this year’s Toronto Caribbean Carnival, one section has chosen to add a new purpose to Mas by using their platform to spread awareness on a very sensitive yet highly important topic. Under the popular band Carnival Nationz and their theme of “Spreadin’ Love” for this year, the section titled “Fight the Power” is focused on shedding light on the stigma surrounding mental health in the community.
The section is under the creative influences of Nikole Stephens and Keyauna King who have both been actively involved in the business of Mas production for a number of years alongside their careers in healthcare and education respectively.
Stephens expressed that upon being continuously encouraged by colleagues to “put their creativity to use”, they made the decision to design their own adult section for the annual Toronto carnival.
“We started off with kiddies and that was successful, then we got the opportunity to build costumes for adults”, said Stephens. “Being that we had done it for years and we had the knowledge and we’ve built the skills over the years we said ‘okay, let’s see how far it goes’”.
She added that the support they have received from the community has been shocking and overwhelming, especially following the release of this year’s theme, a theme that Stephens says carries great personal and general significance.
“We previously last year experienced a rough situation where a dear friend of ours experienced someone who died by suicide, so with that we wanted to dedicate our section to her as well as bring awareness”, she said.
“We wanted to show and bring more awareness to mental health issues and mental health illness, especially within our community. We find that it is something that is kind of shun or put on the back burner. A lot of people don’t have these discussions and don’t talk about these things among themselves or in their families”.
The color and design of “Fight the Power” is also very symbolic and specific to its theme. The various designs of costumes in the section are mixed with black, coral and mint. A contrast of dark bold and bright colors that emphasize the message of finding light in times of darkness. As presented, the concept of “shedding light” on mental illness is both literal and metaphorical as the main idea is that “through ‘fight the power’ there is always a brighter side to life and accepting certain things.”
While the focus this year is on mental health awareness, Stephens and King have also been keen on taking on a body positive approach when it comes to costume designs. Stephens shared that creating costumes that cater to all body types and sizes is something that they take full pride in.
“In our culture, we are made up of many shapes and sizes and it becomes a bit discouraging when a woman of a certain size wants to participate in something but their only visual is somebody of a smaller size, you might not think you would look good in that costume or the item” she said.
“With clothes, our whole life is about the image. You want to have a certain image and you have to look a certain way, but we have taken pride in just pushing all that aside and saying ‘you know what, all body types matter’ and that was the kind of market that we wanted to draw into the carnival experience, especially in Toronto. Just to have a visual of different sizes and just show that it is possible for you to feel confident and feel sexy in the same costume.”
This has garnered a lot of support from community members who regard Stephens’ and King’s approach to Mas production as empowering and innovative. Stephens says that going forward the goal is to continue designing costumes under themes that carry important messages and create a positive impact in the community.
“There are so many issues that are happening in the world and in our community that we could touch base on and if we are able to display that through art or through making costumes we would love to continue. This could be a new trend, just spreading awareness for what we want to represent”.
