Cover photo from a past Mascamp event, image courtesy of Michael Lee Poy.
Sustainability, art and culture collide at a series of upcoming workshops and events at OCAD University!
The Sustainable Mascamp (masquerade camp) Open Studio with Faculty of Design Professor Michael Lee Poy takes place on March 18 and 19 from noon to 4 p.m. on the second floor at 115 McCaul St. OCAD U students and faculty members will utilize materials otherwise destined for waste distribution centers or the landfill, to instead create Mas costumes that will be presented on Friday, March 24 at 5 p.m. in the lobby at 100 McCaul Street, leading up to the DemocracyXChange Summit (#DXC23).
“The Caribbean Carnival Mascamp is an engine room for design innovation in Trinidad and Tobago, but contemporary practices of creating costumes are often unsustainable,” says Lee Poy.
“Through the Sustainable Mascamp workshops, students will create wearable Carnival costumes out of recycled and upcycled materials, using zero-waste strategies to re-imagine the fantastical Mas and costumes that are an important part of Caribbean culture.”
The Caribbean Carnival has been an exciting hub for fantastically-themed bands of mas costumes, theatre, music and dance since the late 17th century in Trinidad and Tobago. However, contemporary practices have brought single-use plastic food and beverage containers, and globally-sourced costume materials destined for landfills and oceans to the event.
“No institution has addressed the imminent catastrophic dangers that Carnivals pose on the health of the environment,” continues Lee Poy. “Sustainable Mascamp directly responds to these issues and takes action on climate change.”
In the workshops, students will re-imagine, repair and design new material systems from OCAD U and personal material resources that would otherwise become waste. Students are invited to design a themed masquerade using sustainability strategies expressed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and share their design in the procession and performance at the end of the month.
This program is supported by the International Programs & Collaboration Office, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Sustainability Initiatives (ODESI) and the Global Centre for Climate Action (GCCA).
The public is invited to attend the final procession and performance on Friday, March 24 at 5 p.m. in the lobby at 100 McCaul St. Get all the details.