Nigeria Content Online

It is around
10.45am at the back of an eatery on Ekaniwoh road, Port Harcourt. A man
in T-shirt, slacks and Rasta cap is inspecting costumes spread on the
floor with an associate. He is Shabaka Thompson, chief executive of
Carnival Village, London, organisers of the famous Notting Hill
Carnival and the man we came to see.

We have to wait,
however, as Lekan Olujinmi, another of his associates engages us about
Thompson and his crew’s involvement in the 2010 Rivers State Carnival
(CARNIRIV) while he finishes his inspection. Thompson is in town with
four others: Moses Charles and Andrew Baptiste, both art practitioners
from London; Earl Thompson, a carnival masquerader from Trinidad and
Tobago and Verna Edwards, his assistant. The duo got some sponsorship
from the Trinidad and Tobago Tourist Board to participate in the
carnival.

Carnival costumes

Thompson was
initially approached to be a consultant to the carnival but when a
delegation from Rivers State witnessed this year’s Notting Hill
Carnival, they requested costumes from the Carnival Village. It is the
costumes, about 17, that Thomspon is inspecting when we arrive. The
costumes were used by five newly introduced free style bands for their
street parade on Saturday.

Though Thompson has
never participated in the carnival before, he has brought appropriate
archive costumes. “We know the five bands and their theme so somehow,
we’ve matched specific costumes. Each costume tells a story. Liberation
probably is the best example. The three costumes we have are symbolic
of liberation.

“We brought a
crocodile because one of the band’s symbols is a crocodile. There is a
band, I can’t mention the name now, they are very Afrocentric in their
costuming so we have elements of that. Our costumes are very abstract,
some are definitive but because of the abstraction, it will blend in
because they are not just definitive costumes, apart from the
crocodile,” he offers.

It is the first
time the Carnival Village will be sending out its costumes without an
accompanying masquerader, thus necessitating Thompson’s presence. “I
thought it will help those who will be putting this on for the first
time to have an example direct from Trinidad and Tobago on how to move
it because it’s a different type of kinetics.”

Great home coming

Though it’s the
first time Notting Hill Carnival is interacting professionally with
CARNIRIV, Thompson already foresees the prospects. “Artistically, we
could share. We could exchange but more so I think culturally, it is
about who we are as a people and the importance of what we have created
outside of the continent which is the carnival in the Diaspora. We have
shared carnivals with Europeans and the Americans in a way that it has
brought people together. I think now that the continent is moving from,
correct me if I am wrong, to using the word carnival rather than
festivals or durbars, they are incorporating the word that we are
familiar with.

“I think it’s
circular, it’s a return to the beginning. Masquerades, taken out of
here, developed out in the West, in the Caribbean. Bring it back and
blending it with what is here. It could only be better for us; Pan
Africanism and healing the nation and bringing Africans together. It is
a common kind of thread, and if we work through that thread of
carnival, I think we could make Africa strong again. But it has to be
made strong with what we have created here; what we’ve taken over there
and bringing it back home and appreciating it.

“CARNIRIV has given
us our first opportunity. For me, it’s a spiritual thing. It’s a
homecoming but it’s not only a homecoming, it’s a homecoming with
something creative because we are creative people and sharing what has
evolved out of here. There are similarities; that African retention has
remained in the Caribbean. It has just transformed into a different
feel because it has blended with other cultures.

“Where I come from,
Trinidad and Tobago, Yoruba culture has given rise to what we call
Orisa. I understand that’s not a term you use in Nigeria, but Yoruba
culture has given a precedent in Trinidad and Tobago as Orisa; and if
that has arrived in Trinidad and Tobago, it means there has to be a
connection to this. There is a connection spiritually between Nigeria
and Trinidad and Tobago.” Long term relationship Carnival Village,
which Thompson heads, is made up of four groups. The Association of
British Calypsonians (ABC);Ebony Steel BandTrust [it performed at the
Peace Concert which ended CARNIRIV] ; Mangrove Steel Band and Mas Band
and Yaa Asantewaa Arts. The organisation operates at two venues, The
Tabernacle, an iconic building in Notting Hill and the Yaa Centre at
Maida Vale.

“It’s not what you
have physically; it’s an idea to develop the technique, entertainment
and the art of carnival and we want to do that through venue based
facilities. So, we developed a sector which is carnival art in Britain
and developed an industry around it.” Though the artist is happy with
the Carnival Village’s relationship with the Rivers State Government,
he will be happier relating with artists. “Creative people are the ones
who make things happen; government to government don’t really make
things happen. This is for a long term, not only bringing costumes but
offering opportunities for practitioners as well to come to London to
work with us. We bring people here on a long term basis to develop the
costumes and at different levels as we go by. That will bring other
people wanting to see and feel the carnival.”

More than importation

There have been
criticisms in some quarters that Nigerian carnivals are directly
importing Caribbean culture. What’s Thompson’s view on this?

“Why not? The
blessed thing about the continent is that we don’t only exist on the
continent, we are global people and that’s our strength. We have taken
the masquerade and developed it in the West on another level. We went
to the camp where they are making the costumes; we’ve seen the
materials they’ve used. For us that’s the beginning. It’s fine, it’s
brilliant, it’s good for Africa but can you imagine if you bring those
two cultures, those two forms together?

“This is more than
just importing, this is more about uniting and learning from each other
again so we become stronger. The only continent that is yet to rise
again because we were there before, to start it all, is Africa. You see
Japanese rising, you see Chinese rising economically or otherwise, we
are still seen in the continent as needy people. We, as Africans are
the only ones who can correct those wrongs. Yes, it will take a time of
importation; we strongly believe that things have to start somewhere.
And once we start and reconnect, then we can take it on another level.
We may not have to import costumes from London; we can come here and
develop them. It’s cultural exchange, a process, learning ideas. It can
only be positive. It may be costly in the beginning but that’s a
sacrifice you have to make for culture.

“The other thing we do not appreciate as a people although other
people see it because the first thing they will ask a Black man in the
West is are you a musician? Are you a player of some instrument because
they perceive us as that. Our art form is what we gave the world; there
is no excuse for the cost. Apart from our minerals which they have
stolen and raped already, what we have is ourselves, our culture and
our art.”