Curatorial Statement
Caribbean music, food, art and culture was in the process of making the world smaller and more inclusive long before "globalization" became a buzzword. Jamaica's Harry Belafonte (whose 1956 album Calypso was the first LP ever to sell over a million copies), Trinidad and Tobago's renowned calypsonian musicians Lord Kitchener and Calypso Rose, and the Deen family's "doubles" street food are just a handful of cultural examples that were consumed around the world at a feverish pace.
These distinct local Caribbean cultures, transmitted through music, food and art, hopped across the pond globally, and, in the process, brought Canada, United States and England closer to the Caribbean. In Canada, Caribbean expatriates and non-Caribbean-descended folk consume the food, art and culture of the Caribbean in similar ways to the way things are done "back home,”" but with various twists and turns.
Island Soul 2010 will aim to bridge these worlds and showcase how these articulations of global Caribbean culture morph, mutate and come back around again to capture the feelings of "home" (local). We will connect the local Canadian articulations of Carnival with the genuine global form in Trinidad and throughout the Caribbean diaspora, in particular, the areas of the "lost arts."
When the Calypso form arrived on our Canadian doorsteps, we interpreted it in our own way. Carnival in Toronto embraces a variety of cultures, art forms and disciplines, some of which are very local and the subject of debate as they carry scant traces of the original intent of Carnival.
Island Soul 2010 will travel to all of these places for a local and global exploration of these art forms.
Dalton Higgins and Mira Coviensky
Artistic Associates, Community and Educational Programmes
