Creative Arts: Literary, Visual, Musical, Performance and Festival Archives | Page 2 of 3

King of Soca and Consent: If Machel Montano was a Feminist

Posted on January 20, 2018April 7, 2026 by amílcar sanatan

This blog is a fictional “interview” Machel Montano. I extracted lyrics from some of his most popular soca songs and woven them into a made- up conversation to illustrate the importance of building consent culture in Carnival. Interviewer: Mr. Montano, this carnival, thiefin’ a wine is an offense under the Summary Offenses Act. Public awareness […]

What Mango Thief and Wine Thief Have in Common: Our Culture, Carnival and Consent

Posted on January 17, 2018April 7, 2026 by amílcar sanatan

First, I am not conflating the theft of a mango with the physical violation of a woman. For reasoning sake, I am offering an example relevant to “our culture” (a term which has been circulating more frequently these days). “Our culture” is fluid, not fixed. Culture is always changing. Sadly, when this phrase is operationalised, […]

Poetic Injustice? A Marxist Critique of Ultimate Rejects’ “Full Extreme”

Posted on February 27, 2017April 6, 2026 by amílcar sanatan

In 2008/9, SALISES hosted “Is Calypso Dying?” forum at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Panelists included Singing Francine, Elizabeth Montano, Brother Resistance and Dr. Louis Regis. Dr. Regis’ contributions stimulated the most responses from attendees. He asserted that soca music did not explicitly express a political consciousness as calypso music had. […]

Film Review+: The “Machel Movie” and Todd Kessler’s Bazodee

Posted on October 7, 2016April 5, 2026 by amílcar sanatan

Machel Montano was the star of Bazodee (directed by Todd Kessler and written by Claire Ince). People went to the cinema to see the “Machel Movie.” The film highlighted the vivid colours of the natural landscape of Trinidad and Tobago. It also portrayed ethnic solidarities/“real unity” between Afro- and Indo-Trinbagonians on screen. This solidarity is […]

Take a Bow, Jean-Claude

Posted on January 31, 2016March 30, 2026 by amílcar sanatan

You ever eat food and talk about the recession? Pick seasoning in your front yard and reason about the economy? Next thing, Jean-Claude tell me this: “Linked to the idea of youth is that someone is there to look after you. I think the nation is entering a general phase of adulthood where children are […]