PAT GANASE

Jean Minshall, Peter’s mother, wrote the Talk of Trinidad the social column for the Guardian newspaper, under the pen name Hummingbird. It was she who requested of her son a Carnival costume for her adopted daughter Sherry Ann Guy, and “let it be a hummingbird.”

The rest of the story has often been cited as the start of Minshall’s career in mas.

[caption id="attachment_1067835" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Adele Rose looks at the drawings with Shane, a member of the Callaloo Company. Photo courtesy Anthony Scully. -[/caption]

The memories of makers and contributors and friends of the mas are now well documented in the 50th-anniversary exhibition which has been attracting those who witnessed the masman’s creation, as well as many who know nothing of Minshall's mas.

Fifty years later, the event at Castle Killarney (Stollmeyer's castle) on the evening of February 26 would surely invoke the spirit of Jean Minshall’s Hummingbird to record the new community that came together for the exhibition, From the Land of the Hummingbird. So many people with their companies came forward to help. Mention must be made of the state agencies that stepped up: the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, the National Lotteries Control Board, the National Carnival Commission and its Carnival Institute, the National Gas Company, the National Museum and Art Gallery and the National Archives. Very special guests were Pennelope Beckles, Shakka Subero, Davlin Thomas, Peter Pena, Margaret Gittens and Ken Crichlow.

[caption id="attachment_1067833" align="alignnone" width="768"] For his performance of The Dying Swan: Ras Nijinsky in Drag as Pavlova created by Peter Minshall, Jhawhan Thomas receives a tribute from Ronald Julien. Photo courtesy Lisa Carr. -[/caption]

Castle Killarney is a fine setting for a gala, managed by the capable and classy Dominique Inniss. This location as museum was offered early for the staging of the exhibition. The generosity of this gesture surely precipitated the largesse coming from others.

Dr Farley Cleghorn, representing his family trust, the Frank and Myrtle Cleghorn Foundation, was the first to believe in the project and support it generously. Cleghorn, in his address, expressed his hope for the survival of important collections of culture.

[caption id="attachment_1067832" align="alignnone" width="819"] Ronald Julien and Sherry Ann Guy go way back! In 1974, Ronald was holding her wings while Minshall was adjusting the costume, on the back of the truck driving them to the Savannah for Red Cross Kiddies' Carnival. Fifty years later, Julien and Guy were honoured guests at the anniversary event. Photo by Anthony Scully -[/caption]

Inside the castle, the elegant immersive pod purpose-built to showcase the artist’s working drawings was designed by the curator, Kathryn Chan, in collaboration with architect Stephen Jameson, constructed and installed by Francis-Lau Construction, a gift for this show and the future. Paula Francis-Lau and the team of Andre and Royce Francis-Lau were th