Carnival as a Conjuring of History and Memory is a five-day workshop program, developed in collaboration with Alice Yard. With this collaboration and program, we extend Sustaining the Otherwise to the Caribbean.

With the topic of ‘carnival and the carnivalesque’ as a point of entry for critical engagement, we seek to explore the importance of mask-making in relation to artistic practices within the region and in relation to Africa and its many diasporas. More specifically, we will address the notion of ‘a carnival space’, touching on topics of ritual/memory and history/memory in relation to thinking about carnival as a conjuring of history and memory—highlighting the links between these topics and practices within a Caribbean context and as understood in relation to Africa.

Carnival as a Conjuring of History and Memory is fashioned as an experimental research and artistic workshop where we explored the historical and contemporary implications of masking and performativity within the context of carnival as a collective space that is distinctly shaped by histories of solidarity and resistance. With the intent of creating ample breathing space for dialogue and to allow artistic collaboration(s) to unfold organically, we invited each of artist into this gathering with a series of topics/prompts to use as a potential starting point for discussions and collaborations and to help mobilize what the Alice Yard collective refers to as ‘action in the yard’.

In addition to the participation of Christopher Cozier, Shannon Alonzo, Sean Leonard, Nicholas Laughlin, and Kriston Chen from Alice Yard, collaborating artists included 
A k u z u r u, Jelili Atiku, Quinsy Gario, Luanda Carneiro Jacoel, Syowia Kyambi, Amanda T. McIntyre, Shari Petti, and Robert Young, in addition to other local artists and members of the community.


Alice Yard, Port of Spain, Trinidad
February 09-15, 2025