Masquerading in the Guyana struggles

Image derived from one on Stabroek News

Masquerading 

Woman who sells in the market and is one of my therapists laughs "Eh eh, I see you been in de masquerade thing" and I laugh with her before we start to talk about the horror of Guyana in the last couple of weeks .. horror which is the legacy of past horrors.

Morning after some citizens who also excluded from the prosperity (did they receive cash grant? What else do they need?) went on rampage in Georgetown and elsewhere, lighting fires and so I call to find out if the Masquerade Lives On Symposium was still on. 

And so on the Tuesday when people decided to stay home after the madness of Monday night, we gather not far from where I was protesting with others, including others I had protested against for their own role in the legacy of violence, against the police.

I stand in the room, a bit uncertain of my place and role here because I didn't know anything about masquerade beyond being an observer (and singing George Benson's Masquerade don't count). 

 But Professor Cambridge had assured me it is because of this 'observer' status that I was there.

I tell the MC Russel that I don't want to hear no national pledge because it will trigger rage  (and  a few years ago I had written  my own one ) There was no national pledge fortunately, the music of the national anthem and Russel Lancaster saying that masquerade was about 'identity, protest and healing'. 

Amen, Ashe

We invoked the injustices and those who experienced the State violence, as we communed. 

The opening Christian prayer was too much for me because I am not Christian and I often feel excluded when Christian prayers are dominant in national settings.. and because of the antiHindu sentiments raging with the fires around the place. 

And because I know that some of the traditions around masquerade and other traditions of our ancestors are deemed 'evil' or  'demonic' and that prayers and other means have been used to stop these traditions. 

And later on during the day we had quiet conversations about the opposition to masquerade from religious sources.

A man did Libation , in the traditional way and some of us who said Amen said Ashe as ancestors names were called. And Adrianna Younge was called.

And two men told me that as they dance, they know a spirit comes over them and hearing the music moves them..

Invoking Lord Krishna in the Masquerade

And so all spirits invoked, atmosphere created, my nervousness slowly easing as I gaff with some of the masquerade band members and so before I spoke.   Dillon Goring has the live videos on his Facebook page of some of the discussions.

, explaining that as an observer, that facing some of the challenges would mean 

• shared and collective ownership by all of us; 
• making the spiritual aspects of masquerade a strong part of the national spiritual tradition to get us out of this mess; 
• understanding value beyond masquerade for tourism and other money; 
• recognising masquerade contribution to our healing from the legacies of the many violences, 
• our pride in ourselves and engaging in digital community archiving and storytelling,
  

 

I was curious as to how people of Indian origins were involved in masquerade - learning from a quick oral history with my Ramayana Gole teacher Naresh Persaud about the late basuri player Mukesh who played in mandir and also led masquerade, and as another band member said , also made the Horse image which was used to lasso the mad bull in Essequibo traditions. 

And learning that the late Lionel Blackett from the Golden Arrowhead wore a dhoti to play the mad cow/bull.

And conversations about the Benin traditions of masks and the origins of some masquerade traditions, about the space where the bones lay. And in one conversation, asking about whether there was a space for modern religion in the new masquerade , and one practitioner who is Christian said 'no, no.. I keep God separate from masquerade meaning the religion is separate'.. 

And I think of Lord Krishna and the flute , and the basuri players who played in mandir and in masquerade, that 'God' is everywhere, and is everything. 

Another man said afterwards 'anything spiritual is masquerade' . and I tell the young man who is playing the flute in the masquerade.. "Lord Krishna blessings" because I would like to imagine his ancestors include Mukesh and the other Indigenous, African, Indian and other people who made and picked up flutes in this country people's have to rage constantly against the injustices. 

Learning

 And so as with all things when you don't know something, it is about being open, learning, listening, asking questions. 

Connecting

And on the day when the country stayed out of Georgetown mostly, and the day after when the Ministry of Home Affairs said we 'back to normal' when most of us not feeling normal even though we going about routines.. there was space to learn about things from other Guyanese.

And so learning about the dance moves (and the story behind how this video was nearly lost) , and while Teacher Linda showing the moves, sitting between the men who explaining to me how they expand on the moves.. even as I get lost in the count and realise that I will take a long time to these moves..

 

and we learn about the costumes, watch as the bamboo strips were bent to form frames and how tamarind rod could be bent, and about using sweetie wrapper and deodorant roll tops and other 'scrap' to mix with the satin and new fabric name learned by most of us "charmeuse ",  

watching as a man comfortably put on female wig and skirt and so on (cross dress for an improper purpose back in those days when masquerade might not have been proper?) and hearing that some boys not wanting to flounce now..

watching the young man comfortable on stilts, one stilt.., quiet in the other interactions, like another talented young man who was also quiet in the room.

understanding the origins of shapes in the clothes of Baba Shango and other deities, and to mock the colonial masters, and to be creative, tying to the nation with the national colours and other colours, wearing bright colours to be seen

And I wonder now, about those who feel unseen in Guyana, unheard, and what that means when the outlet is the criminal and destructive activity., or they feel afraid to speak? 

or not connected

And how masquerade apparently has been cut out of Mashramani (this 2018 article gives an idea of the number of bands then.. now it seems much less) , 

my impressions that the all of us in the room have to 'advocate' for the policy and de lil oil money and so on to help sustain masquerade'..
 

Are the oily-garchs in Guyana afraid of masquerade? 

 

Guyana struggles.. 

And so in the time of anguish, rage, terror, the reminder of community and gaffing and laughing and talking and sharing and creating and dancing, not only about the anguish and rage and terror but about ancestors and possibilities across differences.. , part of the healing in the horrors of Guyana.

I had asked in my presentation ,  what if the roads could be blocked with masquerade instead of fires?   And I wonder about the toasts, 'code' as brother Learie from Essequibo said, now that Freedom of Expression on the Internet might be considered terrorism by some.. what if we now have to learn back these toasts to 'commissioner must go' and 'no justice, no peace'/

Would the police shoot tear gas and pellets and bullets at masquerade dancers? Would people be more inclined to join in masquerading against the Guyana struggles?