Friday Dec 27th: Carl & Lyn Gabriel's Carnival Arts Garden at The Tabernacle

Carnival artists Carl & Lyn Gabriel have been resident at Carnival Village in Notting Hill to promote the traditional and unique art of wire-bending.  Over the Summer thier large scale sculptures have been on display in the garden of The Tabernacle, completed with a workshop to share the skill at The YAA Centre.  Gabriel who is a photographer, taught himself this incredible 3D shaping when he became involved in creating pieces for his mas band at Carnival.  His photography has formed an archive following the history of the festivities since the very beginning of playing pan.  Now focusing on the engineering of these large scale artworks his photography has become still-life, capturing the wire construction as if they are pictures in CGI.  

The blue face piece here is named "J'ouvert" as a dedication to Arthur Peters who worked with "Mas Man" Peter Minshall and became a mentor to Carl & Lyn on thier quest with wire bending.  Other works include "Zeus" the Olympic God, inspired by the 2012 Olympic Games and the female bust is "Mangbetu" after the DRC tribe (which I researched on my Tumblr).  Carnival has always encapsulated different cultures and been integral to its core from Trinidad with London's Notting Hill Carnival becoming one of the world's largest.  This has come about from the diversity of the capital's population and the influences brought from both the participants and creators.    As Carl & Lyn say.....

"No other street event in London can boast the conviviality that Notting Hill brings to the city and gives to the world.  Described as an organic enriching, its ability to create fusion and cultural mixing across all ages and ethnicities, dismantling of all boundaries as London and the world come together for this intermingling of cultures"