Glenn bringing real mas back to the festival

For years he has been calling for Kadooment to be a true expression of Barbadian culture and has made it his personal mission each Crop Over to contribute unique and distinctly Barbadian elements to the mas, the "he" in question is none other than the inimitable Glenn Brathwaite and this year as every year Glenn plans to bring de real 'mas to the street.

by Risée Chaderton

WHEN I ARRIVE at his two story apartment/studio he is on the telephone and pacing, books on African rituals are stacked on every surface, his bookshelves burgeon with sketches and tomes relating to Caribbean history and Orisha, costume and headpieces hang from available surfaces like a crazy cacophony of art and in the centre is Glenn Brathwaite.

He is filled with both nervous energy and frustration as he tries to get the fine details of putting a Kadooment band on the road under control, his long fingered artist's hands idly manipulate a cigarette into tobacco origami-he rarely smoke cigarettes- I suspect this is simply an outlet for his frustration.

He is restless but his voice remains calm as he smoothes ruffled feathers and calms business partners. "I don't understand people" he declares the instant he is disconnected from his caller "I just don't" he throws his hands aloft as if pleading for insight from the heavens then he catches my eye and grins "So" he asks "what are we doing today?" and in an instant the frustration of that moment is past and we are in a new moment, a fresh start as he re-focusses his attention on the job at hand, talking about his stunning array of earthy costumes for the band De Real 'Mas- Green Magic 2010.

De Real Mas was born out of a burning desire to "tell the stories of us as a unique island people" out of a small crew who every year at Kadooment formed a trio and headed to the massive jump up clad in fantastic creations straight out of Glenn's fertile imagination, from hurricanes to bush fires Glenn has designed and executed them all, "We have unique Barbadian stories to tell and what a better way to do it than with a communion of people who understand and feel the same way," he says.

This year the inspiration for De Real Mas comes from Barbadian old stories of a bush bath, "Women buy all kinds of manufactured lotions and potions but most of the natural ingredients in these potions come from our islands, especially in the gullies and in parishes of St George and St Philip and St Thomas. I wanted to honour the bush, the local green we neglect in favour of the manufactured and the imported."

Glenn is insistent that Barbadians return to their roots for Kadooment, "We need to ask who are we as an island people?" his eyes glint with an artist's intensity as he speaks, "islands and the flora and fauna are often unique, not always, but certainly infused with a unique essence and I want to show that."

Glenn also expresses dismay with what he sees as the same thing every year. "Everything is simply imported from Trinidad, Barbadian mas has become a watered down version of Trini mas. Trinidad has a culture that is fabulous and unique to them and when we import it and water it down it becomes empty because nothing relates to Barbados or Barbadian people."

His frustration and distress are evident in his tone as he speaks. "We have so much to offer, so much history, so much culture that is why I do what I do. I believe," he said.

Contact Glenn at: