The next stage to Notting Hill Carnival after the Steel Pan concert on Saturday night is an early start on Sunday morning for the "J'ouvert" opening ceremony which runs from 6-9am. This is the traditional sunrise start of smearing yourself with mud or paint to symbolise the oil used as camouflage from civil disturbances in Trinidad, and in remembrance of the emancipation from slavery. Therefore a "JabJab" Carnival character is full body makeup of slick black tar, horn headwear and chains wrapped around, trailing down. That is the most classic aesthetic but has morphed into any variation of covering yourself in paint and has become a multi-colour explosion of primary and pastel splashes.I love seeing all the girls with their hair carefully protected, tucked up into wraps, nets and scarfs. There is no mercy. Paint, glitter glue, clay and talcum powder all get slapped onto every piece of fresh meat that crosses the path of the procession. It's a legitimate chance to get mercilessly messy and channel your inner Jackson Pollock. The accidental amalgamations of pigment is just another dose of intense colour in the weekend's attack on the senses. Im in heaven. Obviously.
(see my post from last year, some text duplicated)
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