J’Ouvert: Playing the Citizen with Felisha Carénage

Faggamuffin Bloc Party presents Black History Season Workshops! These workshops are a first look and invitation for Queer people to explore the history, practice and play of Carnival and Soundsystem practices.

Workshop #3: J’Ouvert: Playing the Citizen with Felisha Carénage

Trinidad & Tobago’s J’Ouvert movement signals the opening of Carnival Monday, the opening of a spirit. Evolving from different practises, whose spirits does this dutty mas liberate, and in what way? In diasporic, creole societies, what can even be called tradition?  

In creating and maintaining spaces for the carnivalesque, Caribbean Diaspora organisations, like Faggamuffin, in Britain and Europe move in constant tension between creolisation and commercialisation. Our art forms and rituals carry layers of history, often navigating complex questions about class, race and gender identity. At Carnival as in J’Ouvert, the private impetus of seeking kinship unfolds under the gaze of mass consumption and is circulated in real time. Leaving little room for deciding how we want to be seen or how we choose to take part in that.

With this J’Ouvert workshop, Faggamuffin Bloc Party has invited Felisha Carénage to share with us her personal modes of access to J’Ouvert as an artform. 

We will look at resources provided by contemporaries who struggle with creating and disseminating knowledge, as well as carrying on ‘traditions’ that were created for bodies and societies and climates and geographies historically subjugated by the nations in which we find ourselves. These narratives include short films, music videos and literary extracts that are framed by rituals and rites of sexuality and dignity that are mirrored in the performance of citizenship. As a release from this work, we will then explore rhythm, costuming and movement: making horns, cutting up clothes, pounding iron, behaving rude and throwing paint.

Faggamuffin, Felisha Carénage and Ruby Cruel offer a vibe and space and a slow down kinda ting to do and reflect: Is the mas an inherently unsafe time-space, and if so, so what? What occurs in our bodies and amongst each other when the mud reach us, when we consent to play a mas? 

About Felisha:

Felisha Carénage uses painting, textiles and performance to explore the ethics of empire as played out in the carnivalesque of her own biography. Architectural, legal and literary tropes guide this work. A citizen of Trinidad & Tobago, she is currently resident in London and Berlin as a participant in BPA// Berlin program for artists. In 2026, commissioned performances will be shown at KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin and Van Abbe Museum in the Netherlands. 

About Faggamuffin and the Workshops:

Faggamuffin was founded in Hackney by a collective of QTBIPOC thinkers, activists, artists, and community leaders to address the lack of queer representation in Carnival spaces. Our aim was to create a platform centring the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people of African and Caribbean heritage, and in 2018 we did just that, debuting the UK’s first openly Queer stage at Hackney Carnival.

That first stage drew 2,000 people and proved the hunger for such a space. By 2019, it had become one of the Carnival’s biggest stages, with over 4,000 people filling Bohemia Place for a radical homecoming where QTBIPOC Pride, Carnival, and sound system culture collided.

Since then, Faggamuffin has continued to champion our community by hosting digital programs during lockdown, and appearing on stages at Southbank Centre, Somerset House, Village Underground, and even Notting Hill Carnival. At heart, we remain true to Carnival’s legacy while bringing our own flair of queer culture.

This Black History Season we want to celebrate the legacy of Faggamuffin Bloc Party by launching a short educational program that teaches and shares the traditions of Carnival culture, while exploring the history, practice, and play that shape UK Carnivals and Soundsystems.

The program highlights the role Queer people can play in sustaining and shaping their own Carnival legacy. We would like to invite our community to get involved, connect with Carnival custodians, meet like-minded people, and feel empowered to build our own futures and cultural lineages.

Who are these workshops for:

These workshops are aimed for LGBTQ+ individuals who are of African and Caribbean heritage who have an interest in learning about Carnival practices. If you are an ally and wish to attend, please contact us ahead of booking as we will have limited spaces for allies.

These spaces are about learning together, communing and practicing mutual respect.

We have zero tolerance to sexual harassment, cultural appropriation, unwanted touching, stalking and all forms of abuse or discrimination based on race, gender, disability, sexuality, religion or age. Don’t come here with that energy, or you will be removed and barred.

Please note these workshops are part-funded as part of Hackney Council's Black History Season. For more information visit lovehackney.uk/black-history!

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