TheGallery at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) in partnership with BA (Hons) Events Management, part of our new School of Arts, Media, and Creative Industries Management, presents The Art of Carnival Arts, an exhibition of work from Mahogany Carnival Design.
Exhibition overview
The Art of Carnival Arts is an exploration of Carnival’s history through the work of Clary Salandy and Mahogany Carnival Design.
Formed in 1989 by designer Clary Salandy and structural engineer Michael Ramdeen, Mahogany aims to heighten understanding of Carnival and Carnival Arts. The group of multidisciplinary artists have developed techniques of costume design and construction that utilise the human body in the art form of Mas Making.
Over the last 35 years, their large-scale kinetic costumes have made them a powerhouse within the world of Carnival, and they have brought majestic costumes to events both at home, such as the 2012 Olympics, and internationally, like the annual Trinidad Carnival.
Carnival arts have long been underrepresented and this will be one of the first exhibitions in the UK that elevates the art form by capturing Mahogany’s costume-making process from conception, to making, through to the costumes being worn in 2024’s Notting Hill Carnival.
The exhibition also tells the story of Carnival through its social context, presenting the audience with important historical milestones that transformed Carnival into how we see and know it today.
Meet the artist
Clary Salandy
Clary Salandy is a carnival and theatre designer, lecturer and three-dimensional design tutor. She's known for her award-winning...
Curatorial and exhibition design team
The creative team behind the curation, exhibition design and delivery of The Art of Carnival Arts: Mahogany Carnival Design includes:
Violet McClean | Kevin Chambers | Millie Lake | William Hernandez Abreu | Eliza Naden | Alicia Bermudez Garcia | Stephen Ramdeen
From Trinidad to Notting Hill: The History of Carnival
Partnerships and collaborations at Arts University Bournemouth
The Art of Carnival Arts – Formal opening and private view
We invite you and your guests to the formal opening and private view of The Art of Carnival Arts.