Pictured: Amnesty International Banner from Notting Hill Carnival 2001. (Photo: Lesley Ferris)
The exhibition identifies carnival's historical context and looks closely at the carnival art form, examining the creative process, themes, aesthetic considerations and how carnival artists tell stories and explore ideas in designing for carnival. To this end, in the exhibition, you will find over 70 fully captioned photographs and original designs, a timeline of London's carnival history, costumes, the Carnival Interactive and video of interviews with featured artists. A Catalogue is available, to order, containing photographs, interviews, an essay on carnival heritage and art, the timeline and a glossary.
While Notting Hill Carnival is the central focus of this exhibition, on tour each venue is invited to contribute a section representing local carnival art, demonstrating both the diversity and the diasporic dimension of the carnival art form. We are delighted that work from the Cleveland Museum of Art's Cleveland's Parade the Circle is presented at the Columbus exhibition.