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Carnival
mojatu.com
Nottingham Carnival Archive by Norma Gregory
Carnival Lingo!
Some of the main words
used in the carnival:
Mas (masquerade):
Masked costume parade
Sound system: The large, black speaker
boxes at the sides of the stage.
Jonkonoo: A street parade with
music. It has West African origins,
as the costumes and conduct of the
masqueraders bear similarities with the
Yoruba Egungun festivals.
Calypso: A style of Afro-Caribbean
music that originates in Trinidad and
Tobago during the early to mid-20th
century. It lays its roots in the West
African Kaiso and the migration of
French planters and their slaves from
Dominica and Martinique. The lyrical
and satirical music plays an important
role in political expression.
Troupe: A dance group.
Pan: Steel drum percussion instrument.
Steel pans are said to have been
invented in Trinidad by Winston ‘Spree’
Simon in the 1940s.
Pan Yard: Place where steel pans are
made, tuned and practised.
Jumbee, jumbie: A type of
mythological spirit or demon in the
folklore of some Caribbean countries.
Nottingham connected
Tuntum Housing Association has successfully won Heritage Lottery funding to
create and develop a Nottingham Carnival Archive and a Carnival Centre.
Canboulay: Enslaved Africans
extinguishing fires on the cane
plantations carried torches, sang and
marched to the fields in what became
known as the burning of the cane or
Cannes Brulées.
Fetes: In Trinidad, fete describes a party
with music, dance and food; from the
French word fête, literally meaning
festival.
Liming: A Trinidadian word, which
describes a social gathering involving
food and drink.
Moco Jumbie: The Caribbean name
for a stilt dancer. The character and the
name are derived from various African
sources.
Ole Mas: A type of Trinidadian
masquerade where performers wear
costumes and perform socially and
politically satire.
Obeah: Widespread medicinal system
in the Caribbean based on traditional
therapeutic practices in West Africa.
Roti: A creole food originating in
Trinidad with East Indian migrants; a
thin delicate, large and round crepe-like
pastry filled with curried vegetables and
meats and then folded into Layers.
Soca: Trinidadian soul-calypso music or
rhythm.
The heritage project will help the younger generation, as well as the local and
wider community, to contribute and engage with the extraordinary story of the
Nottingham carnival, past and present.
The carnival heritage project will comprise of three stages:
1. Collecting, conserving and cataloguing carnival related material, including the
recording of stories in both audio form and moving image;
2. Interpreting material to share in various and creative ways: an virtual physical
exhibition, presentations and an online carnival research library;
3. Educating by using the exhibition and archive material to deliver creative, exciting
workshops and learning activities in community centres, youth hubs, churches and
community groups.
Workshops are free for participating schools and will offer a range of activities such
as mask making, costume design, carnival film and music production as well as
workshops in autobiographical writing and recording.
The successful delivery of this vital community project will be achieved through the
support of the Nottingham Carnival Steering Committee, Stella Vision Films, Tuntum
and facilitating partners.
How you can help!
We are looking for people of all ages,
backgrounds and experiences who
would like to be interviewed about their
memorable carnival experience.
You will have a chance to voice your
memories - funny, unusual or dramatic -
online, in person, or on video which ever
you are most comfortable with.
We are looking for donations by way
of photos, costumes, flyers, short videos
or any Nottingham Carnival memorabilia
from the 1950s to 2012. We may feature
your contribution in the archive and will
add a name credit for your reference.
Remember, your contribution will be part
of Nottingham history so take this chance
and email: [email protected]
with your contributions.
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