leela_ramdeen@hotmail.com

www.rcsocialjusticett.org

Sharing our culture

• Pride in our heritage.
• Sharing Carnival culture.
• St Albans Festival.

We should be proud that today our arts and culture are represented in many parts of the world. Culture is not static. I have seen, for example, the way in which the cultural landscape of Britain has changed over the years.

The various cultures that co-exist in Britain have positively influenced arts, literature, music etc across the British Isles. This is what the concept of promoting unity in diversity is all about. We can learn much from the cultural offerings of our world.

I have been discussing with my brother, Anil (Speedy) and Clary Salandy, directors of Mahogany Arts in London, their plans for Mahogany’s involvement in this year’s St Albans Festival on June 23 in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

Mahogany was formed in 1989. It has a collection of over 2,000 of the very best award-winning costumes from events, theatre and carnivals spanning 18 years. As is stated on its Web site :

“Mahogany provides breathtaking largescale costumes, teamed with exciting and expressive dance routines that are guaranteed to mesmerise every audience: from world-class ceremonies, corporate events and parades to individual promotions and parties...

“Mahogany has been involved in some of the world’s most important events, making costumes and sculptures and performing. Events include the Mini-Olympics of Africa and Asia (the first Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad, India), the grand finale to the millennium celebrations in Singapore, and the opening of the Millennium Dome in London.”

Many know the team for its successes each year at the Notting Hill Carnival in London. It has also taken carnival culture across the globe, eg France, Dubai, Qatar, Malaysia, Hong Kong, USA, and various parts of the British Isles—the Lord Mayor’s Show, Divali, Melas, St Patrick’s Day parades.

Mahogany played a major role in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Parade, A1 Grand Prix, European Football Cup final, European Youth Olym-pics, the opening of City Hall, British Fashion Awards, Bollywood Film Awards in London. Major companies continue to secure its services, eg Harrods, Holiday Inns, BBC, Virgin Atlantic, Peugeot, Sotheby’s, Selfridges, Samsonite.

The team also designs and makes costumes for theatre, eg Carnival Messiah, Eden at Riverside Studios, London. It produces static displays and runs workshops for schools in the UK. Since 2005, it has participated in the annual St Albans Festival.

On June 23, Archbishop Desmond Tutu will preach at and lead the festival pilgrimage. Mahogany will once more play a key role in providing costumes and props as the congregation re-enacts the story of St Alban.

According to Venerable Bede, during the third century, Alban, a Roman soldier, lived in the Roman city of Verulamium. He worshipped Roman gods but converted to Christianity after sheltering a Christian priest, Amphilabus, who was fleeing from persecution by the Romans.

Alban exchanged clothes with Amphilabus, allowing him to escape. Alban was brought before the magistrate who was angry at the deception. He ordered him to renounce his new faith but Alban refused. He was sentenced to death, taken out of the town across the river Ver to the top of a hill and beheaded—in spite of the fact that Amphilabus had turned himself in to save Alban. Alban became the first martyr in Britain.

As he walked to his execution, a spring of water miraculously appeared to give him a drink and roses sprouted at his feet. The original executioner refused to cut off his head. The executioner was replaced by another soldier whose eyes “dropped out” after he cut off Alban’s head.

The Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Albans is built on the site of the execution. It overlooks Verulam Park and the Roman remains. It is a popular centre for pilgrimage and tourism.

Mahogany runs workshops with about 150 children and adults before the festival in June. Together they make the costumes required for the re-enactment of the story, eg Roman soldiers, angels, horses and chariots, lions, a 14-foot puppet representing St Alban, and 36 parts of the stained glass windows from the cathedral.

Last year a local silk painters’ guild supported in this latter exercise and Rev Stuart Cradduck, who is in charge of the festival, commissioned Mahogany to produce 13 statues of martyrs: St Alban, Amphibalus, Manche Masemola, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Charles de Foucauld, St Elizabeth of Russia, George Tankerfield, Max Kolbe, Janani Luwum, Sundar Singh, Oscar Romero, and Martin Luther King.

Carnival techniques were used to make the13 statues—using chicken wire, papier mache and fabric. Each statue is over one metre high. They are displayed in 13 niches in the nave of the cathedral. This year Mahogany will make a large replica of the cathedral.

The festival is an all-day event and involves some truly dramatic presentations as hundreds of people proceed from the site of Alban’s trial on a hill to the abbey—with an enactment of the martyrdom, prayers etc along the way. There will also be chariot racing, lion taming, solemn celebration of the Eucharist, Evensong and a procession to the shrine.

Knowledge is power, and some people with knowledge are often reluctant to share it with others. Mahogany is well known for its generosity in sharing its technical and other knowledge and skills, eg with other organisations involved in the Notting Hill Carnival. Indeed, it seeks to empower others so that the art form will live on.

I end with the words of Loyce Arthur who has contracted Mahogany to run a workshop and carnival parade in Prague, as part of its annual theatre exhibition. Last year Loyce worked with Mahogany and is now committed to maintaining her relationship with it:

“Mahogany’s designs are awe-inspiring and highly imaginative! They are bold and striking but also reflect a simple beauty of rhythmic forms. Your costumes don’t overwhelm the performers’ bodies but rather work in concert with their movements. Each costume is a fluid and lyrical use of shapes and forms and your attention to detail is evident. Every piece is a moving sculpture, revealing something new and exciting from every angle.

“It is truly fun and enlightening to see the joy with which you play with forms, colours, and all the artistic elements. Your work reflects a wonderful willingness to experiment with and explore form, pushing the limits of composition and execution. It is obvious that you revel in the order and freedom of the carnival art form.

“I admire the way in which you surround yourself with young people and fully involve community members of all ages and backgrounds in Mahogany’s activities—inspiring, encouraging and nurturing them.”

Let’s continue to share our cultural gifts with the world.

Leela Ramdeen is a lawyer

and education consultant