Brooklyn Arts Council's Folk Arts program, in collaboration with J'Ouvert City International and City Lore, present a behind-the-scenes experience of Brooklyn's steelpan yards and masquerade camps as they prepare for the annual J'Ouvert celebration.

Come on board the City Lore Poem Mobile with BAC Folk Arts Director Christopher Mulé and J'Ouvert City International's President Yvette Rennie as your cultural guides! This exclusive tour takes you through the industrial yards and abandoned spaces of Crown Heights and East New York, visit three mas (masquerade) camps and three steelpan yards including Despers USA and Pagwah Mas.

Witness the art forms and technique of the pan yards, including:

• Steelband orchestra rehearsals
• Tuning and toning of steel pan drum makers and technicians
• Steelband musical arrangement by composers and arrangers
• Wirebending and design craft of J'Ouvert mas camps

PICKUP LOCATION:

In front of the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238

Space is very limited.

All ticket proceeds go towards supporting artists and cultural activists working to keep these traditions thriving in Brooklyn.

About J’Ouvert  

Brooklyn is home to the largest West Indian community outside of the Caribbean; nearly 20% of the borough’s population. Around Labor Day, the West Indian Day Parade attracts more spectators than any other event in the city, drawing close to 2-3 million annually. The evening before the Parade is J’Ouvert, a celebratory procession that runs two miles along Eastern Parkway--traditionally starting at 3 am (now at 6 am) and lasting to daybreak. J’Ouvert, from the French meaning “break of day,” is described as a religious experience; the dance from dark to light before the West Indian Day Parade. Costumed bands and revelers wearing mud, paint, or festive attire doubling as commentary on sociopolitical injustices, dance through the streets until the daytime carnival commences.

Unlike the electric sound systems that are signatures of the West Indian Day Parade, expressions for J’Ouvert revelers are steeped in traditional music (steelpan, Haitian rara), and dance and costuming (masquerade). Unfortunately, this cultural tradition has recently been marred by violence.  The Steelpan Yard Tour--along with BAC’s upcoming Art & History of J’Ouvert event--hopes to help to reclaim and reaffirm that tradition and foster pride of place. 

Brooklyn Arts Council events and programs are made possible, in part, through public funds from: National Endowment for the Arts; New York State Council on the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council. Major corporate support for BAC Folk Arts is provided by TD Bank. The Steelpan Yard Tour is sponsored by a Humanities New York Action Grant.