March 22: I presented a paper titledOur Present Image: The Grenada ShortKnee, Instrument of History at the Negritud Afro-Latin American Studies 3rd International Conference in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, as part of the panel on Collective Memory in Music and the Carnival, chaired by Luanne Frank, of the University of Texas at Arlington. As an independent artist, I was thrilled when my abstract was accepted earlier this year. The Negritud conference (http://negritud.com/) was hosted by the Center for Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, after which, a copy of my presentation was given to the centre’s library to augment their collection on Grenada.
Abstract:Grenada, under French rule from 1651 to 1763, saw pre-Lenten carnival theatre brought to the island by French colonists. Post-Emancipation, Grenada’s creolised population, to reconnect with an ancestral familiar, incorporated French theatre and West African cultural elements to create a new Pierrot, a masked religiocultural relic that has become known as the ShortKnee. Using artworks reinterpreted from Latin painters – Rufino Tamayo (Máscara Roja), David Alfaro Siqueiros (Our Present Image), an untitled lithograph by Cuban artist Santiago Olazábal, and Juan Gris’ Pierrot with Book, which formed part of a 53-piece exhibition titled ICON, ShortKnee As Art, held in Grenada in March 2011 – this paper highlights the ShortKnee character as instrument of history, and its importance as art object in contemporary Grenadian Art.
Elsa Luciano Feal (l) presenting travel grant
March 23: After an hour’s drive from San Juan through hills reminiscent of Grand Etang in the morning mist and rain, and past several towns, I arrived at the University of Puerto Rico in Arecibo, to attend the College English Association, Caribbean Chapter 2012 Conference. The this conference was on exile and its variations. My paper titled The Grenada ShortKnee: Ritual in Exilewas part of the first panel, Exile and Cultural Expressions, moderated by Camille Cortés.
Abstract:The ShortKnee is Grenada’s history in motion. Ritual at every stage is necessary to empower the spirits of the ShortKnee masquerade, and to retain its potential for the future, in the present. Disguised as a traditional character of the annual Grenada carnival, it is cloaked in its most striking feature – an Egungun influenced restyled French Pierrot costume in heavily patterned fabric of blouse with overlong sleeves fastened at the wrists and overlarge trousers worn short at the knees – hence the name – that completely conceals and embodies the power of a spiritual being during a performance that is distilled to communion with ancestral West African griot-chantwell theatre traditions. This paper will discuss, from a contemporary Grenadian art perspective, the costume, use of talismans and retention of same as sacred objects, as it exists in this present point in time and its impact on the creolised descendents of the original people exiled to this island environment.
Just before we broke for lunch, CAE-CC President Dr. Elsa Luciano Feal, presented two travel grants to attend the conference, the main purpose of which is to encourage participation and support CEA members who plan to attend the annual conference. The domestic grant was awarded to René M Rodríguez Astacio (University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez). I received the international award as an Independent Scholar. A copy of my presentation will be made available to the CEA-CC (http://blogs.uprm.edu/ceacc/).
Both conferences provided a diverse international audience with whom to discuss my research on the Grenada ShortKnee masquerade from a visual art point of view, and to present my ShortKnee translations.
1 Comment
Anonymous
on April 4, 2012 at 8:10 pm
Golden!! Keep up the good as it is conserving Grenada’s National Heritage . . . I am sure more great things will be coming your way. Paul Greenhall The Greenhall’s Trust-WI
Golden!! Keep up the good as it is conserving Grenada’s National Heritage . . . I am sure more great things will be coming your way.
Paul Greenhall
The Greenhall’s Trust-WI