To say the moko jumbie is not mas is to insult the people who dedicate their lives to the craft.
This was the opinion of eight-time Carnival King Peter Samuel.
Samuel, who played Tan Tan and Saga Boy, Devil Ray and Man Crab, yesterday congratulated this year’s King of Carnival Ted Eustace on his victory.
In an interview, he spoke about the comments by Marcus Eustace, who designed the 2016 Carnival King Psychedelic Nightmares, and other competitors regarding the third place costume, The Dying Swan, Ras Nijinsky in Drag as Pavlova, designed by Peter Minshall.
Eustace had said: “If you call that mas, how would it look if next year everybody play moko jumbie. That is not a mas. That is why the stands are empty.”
“Let us look at moko jumbie. It is an integral part of our mas since I was a child. To say it is not mas is an insult to people who dedicate their lives to that artform,” Samuel said.
He said while the remark regarding the moko jumbie was ludicrous, it was even more absurd to blame Minshall’s design for the stands being empty.
“When I was playing king, both the North and Grand Stand were filled. I have been to Savannah every kings preliminaries before I started playing mas and I have watched the audience get smaller and smaller over the last ten years to the point where we don’t use the North Stand at all anymore.”
He said it was even more strange since no one, including judges at this year’s preliminaries for King and Queen of Carnival, knew the third placed costume was designed by Minshall.
“At the prelims, the only costume out of 98 got any response from the crowd was that one and nobody knew it was Minshall,” he added.
He said it was in poor taste for any designer or masquerader to criticise the costume.
“To blame Mr Minshall and the moko jumbies for having the stands empty was the most ludicrous things I have ever heard.
“From a performance point of view I enjoyed every moment of his (Jha-Whan Thomas) performance of that costume.”
“To see it come alive, to see this 20-foot ballerina on point. It was mind blowing,” Samuel added
Mas designer Rosalind Gabriel said moko jumbies were traditional mas.
She added: “I thought it was classic, simple, different and depressing and it tells the story of our Carnival.
“It brought interest into the competition because when costume after costume is similar and something different comes around it brings interest.”
Gabriel said the criticism was strange considering last year’s Queen of Carnival was a moko jumbie.
“Brian MacFarlane has put his Kings and Queens on moko jumbies before. I don’t understand the criticism,” she added.
She said there was a space for all in Carnival.
“There is a space for those who want to portray mas on wheels and for those who do not and they should be able to play happily together,” she said.
Another mas designer, Brian MacFarlane, said moko jumbies were very much a part of Carnival culture.
“It has been a part of the mas for years. I saw no reason why it couldn’t be part. I think it should be welcome. I thought it was a very beautiful costume. I loved it very much myself,” he added.
