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Paul Dash, Errol Lloyd and John Lyons discuss their new exhibition exploring the celebration: its electric atmosphere, cultural significance and complex traditionsClaudia Jones, the founder of London’s Notting Hill carnival, once said: “A people’s art is the genesis of their freedom.” With Jones’s words in mind, it is fitting that three of the most significant British-Caribbean artists – Paul Dash, Errol Lloyd and John Lyons – have each found it necessary in their practice to depict the historical and cultural significance of the event. In a forthcoming exhibition, Paint Like the Swallow Sings Calypso at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, each artist’s work evokes different memories, historical events and colour palettes that work together to summon the spirit of carnival. Alongside a selection of their own etchings, drawings and paintings, Dash, Lloyd and Lyons have picked works from Kettle’s Yard and the Fitzwilliam Museum by artists including David Bomberg, Barbara Hepworth, Goya and Picasso.While some works speak to the bright and colourful aspects of the jubilant event, others explore emancipation and liberation, which are at the heart of carnival’s founding. The Mas tradition dates back to 18th-century Trinidad and Tobago, where enslaved Africans were denied access to the Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) masquerade balls held by the French. They instead established their own tradition of costumes, masks, drumming, singing, dancing and chanting. The exhibition’s title is inspired by calypso musician the Mighty Swallow, whose songs protested against the inequalities inflicted on enslaved Africans and Indigenous populations under colonial rule in the Caribbean. Continue reading...