Chant Down Babylon

Label

With their painted faces, the Black Indian Masqueraders in these photographs are a central part of carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. They dress in silks to evoke the clothing of the original Spanish colonizers who brought slavery to the Caribbean. From the series titled Warriors of the Huracán, these two images document these members of a masquerade group parading through the streets and posing with props. Dressing up to mock the powerful from the island’s colonial past is a longstanding tradition for the Black and Indigenous citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

How do these images differ from other carnival traditions you have seen?

From the 2024 exhibition An Instant Out of Time: Shaping a Collection, curated by Alisa Swindell, Associate Curator of Photography
 

Exhibition History

An Instant Out of Time: Shaping a Collection, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 20-July 21, 2024.

Provenance

The artist, Abigail Hadeed, SPLICE Studios, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago; sold to present collection, 2022.

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Subjects